<div style=”transition: opacity 1s ease-in-out 0s;” data-rss-type=”text”> n <div style=”text-align: left;”> n n One of the big things I do with businesses during the growth period is to help them refine their demo day pitch. How you pitch is important, because investors (and other people you will be pitching, like the press, potential employees and customers) don’t have an obligation to expend the mental energy to figure out what you are talking about. More likely, if you approach someone with a pitch that takes work to understand, they will just turn their brain off and go back to checking their phone (if they are in an audience) or nodding and planning an escape (if it’s just you and them). When an investor checks their phone during your pitch, you have already lost.n n </div> n <div style=”text-align: left;”> n <br/> n </div> n <div style=”text-align: left;”> n n In three minutes you will be able to communicate between 1 and 3 things that the audience remembers afterward. Your whole goal should be to make those few points as compelling as possible so that they want to follow up with you afterward. Your goal is not to convince them to invest right there on the spot by providing them with dozens of slides of diligence information. Here are some presentation basics for startup pitches:n n </div> n</div> n<h3 style=”transition: opacity 1s ease-in-out 0s;”> n <div> n n Speak slowlyn n </div> n</h3> n<div style=”transition: opacity 1s ease-in-out 0s;” data-rss-type=”text”> n n This is the most important thing you can do: the instant you stop being understandable is the instant I start looking at my phone. I am not going to work to understand you. If you are presenting in your second language, or your audience is listening in their second language, you should go extra slowly.n n</div> n<h3 style=”transition: opacity 1s ease-in-out 0s;”> n n Your pitch should follow this basic flown n</h3> n<div style=”transition: opacity 1s ease-in-out 0s;” data-rss-type=”text”> n <span style=”background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0);”> n n market and problem, your solution, evidence that your solution works or will work (traction, sales, your team’s expertise, etc). I’ve seen pitches that just talk about the market but don’t actually explain what the startup does! Don’t do that.n n </span> n <br/> n</div> n<h3 style=”transition: opacity 1s ease-in-out 0s;”> n n Explain everything simply in plain languagen n</h3> n<div style=”transition: opacity 1s ease-in-out 0s;” data-rss-type=”text”> n n Your audience is not full of domain experts. Use simple concepts and analogies to explain what your product does, otherwise, you risk people checking out and going back to their phones.n n</div> n<h3 style=”transition: opacity 1s ease-in-out 0s;”> n n Don’t do a demon n</h3> n<div style=”transition: opacity 1s ease-in-out 0s;” data-rss-type=”text”> n n Demos break. If your product is truly that amazing (like a self-driving car), show a video, and interested audience members will clamor for a demo afterward.n n</div> n<h3 style=”transition: opacity 1s ease-in-out 0s;”> n n Don’t show full screenshotsn n</h3> n<div style=”transition: opacity 1s ease-in-out 0s;” data-rss-type=”text”> n n It is almost impossible to understand a full UI at a glance. If you want to highlight something, blow it up huge and only show a selected part of your UI.n n</div> n<h3 style=”transition: opacity 1s ease-in-out 0s;”> n n Make sure everything on the screen is legiblen n</h3> n<div style=”transition: opacity 1s ease-in-out 0s;” data-rss-type=”text”> n n Don’t put up a full Excel screenshot of your P&L or your Wikipedia page. No one is going to read that. Yes, this means that you are limited to only a small amount of written text on your slides, and that is a good thing. Your slides should emphasize the points you are making verbally.n n <div> n <br/> n </div> n <div> n n More on legibility: make sure you have a high contrast between your slide backgrounds and your text. Remove random flashy graphics and animations (they just distract the audience from your message).n n </div> n <div> n <br/> n </div> n <div> n n There are many more advanced presentation tips and techniques, but from what I’ve seen most businesses out there would do well to just master the basics. Regardless of how good your idea is or how far along you are, if you can’t communicate to your audience, your pitch will not be successful. Make sure to reach out to me if you need any help with your business pitch heren n <a href=”httpss://perfectpitchesbyprecious.com/contact/”> n n httpss://perfectpitchesbyprecious.com/contact/n n </a> n </div> n</div>
