13 Ways To Effectively Deliver An Awesome Pitch Presentation

So you just started a new business and in need of customers, or you have been nursing particular idea for a while now and just like every newbie starting out in the business world, don’t have the right capital or people to partner with you to bring this idea to fruition. This, of course, can pose a real challenge for a lot of persons in this position.

The irony of the situation though is, most of the time, we are in closer proximity to our biggest future partners than we might think, and because we are ill-prepared to pitch our business and ideas to a potential investor when the opportunity arises, we miss out on the opportunity altogether. Hence, why it is critical to learn how to deliver a great pitch presentation.

Knowing how to pitch a business or an idea is no longer an option in the 21st century, in fact it is almost critical to survival in a fast, noisy and ruthless market space filled to the brim with competitors seizing up those opportunities you failed to capitalize on.

In this article, we are going to explain 13 ways to effectively deliver a great pitching presentation in a formal or an otherwise informal setting, with the right skills and persuasion to put that idea of yours in the face of the right kind of people who can be instrumental to taking it to the next level.

13 Ways to Effectively Deliver a Great Pitch Presentation

1. Always Be Prepared

Before setting out to make a pitch presentation, preparation is always key! We couldn’t stress that enough. Expend a great amount of time and energy to get your facts and figures before the presentation day.

Your level of preparation is going to be the determinant factor on how well or not your idea will fly before a panel of investors. And in the wise words of business magnate and investor Mark Cuban, “Do the work. Out-work. Out-think. Out-sell your expectations. There are no shortcuts.”

2. Appearance

Your appearance on that day is also very important. Your aim should be to leave a good impression with the investors. Try your best to appear sharp and look the part. And by looking the part, I mean taking into cognizance certain key details that would help you come up with the right outfit.

First off, you need the right colors and dresses that suit your business brand or idea for example when pitching a mobile food truck business, a chef’s attire should come into play to lay an undertone for the theme of your pitch presentation.

The logo of the business should also be inscribed in full glare and should be bright and attractive to anyone who sees it. Putting on a suit to this type of presentation shouldn’t be the best option. Save it the suit and tie for more a corporate pitch presentation.

3. Know Who You Are Pitching To

It is very important that you know who you are pitching your business or idea to. Make it a point of duty to do some background check on the panel of investors. Study their biographies, check on their track records, go as far as getting their social media accounts and follow them to keep tabs on their lives, so you can get as much information as you can about them. These information can then help you tailor your pitch towards each investor’s taste and interests.

4. Show Expertise And Ambition

One way to really stand out in your presentations is to show just how knowledgeable you are in the business world. You need to shine as a business-savvy intellect who knows how to roll his sleeve and get dirty in the real world. Above all else, that is what a potential investor wants to see — a hungry entrepreneur who is ambitious and knows his onion, and is willing to go to any length (positively of course) to achieving his vision of conquering any market space.

Let them see what they stand to loose if they choose not to join forces and build a partnership with you, and watch how they all eat from your palm when all goes well.

5. Practicing Your Pitch

One way to completely nail it at any given pitch presentation, is to have months or even years of practice doing the same thing to customers at your small business, such that when it is eventually time to take the business to the next level, you are so on-the-arm with it that it is almost as easy as taking a walk in the park.

Now you must understand that this takes a deliberate effort on your part before this becomes a habit. Make hauling your products as fun and natural to you when with your customers.

Watch yourself to be in sync with the script you have written about your business that it almost becomes an anthem when you reel it out to your customers. Come day of big presentations, and it will be just another day at the office.

6. Avoid Unnecessary Information

The trick is to maximize time by being as brief and precise with your presentation. Avoid unnecessary details that serve no purpose to the pitching process other than sentiments.

Mind you, you are dealing an elite class of intellectuals and industry-smarts, whose intelligence you do not want to be messing with. Always keep it brief and straight to the point, but not to short that it strips away the message altogether.

Say only the most important things first before adding any extra information if time permits. Speak with precision and with a target in mind, and the panel will come along.

7. Be Visual With Your Pitch Presentation

The truth of the matter is visual illustrations always make the most out of any pitching presentation.

Before stepping on stage to make a pitch, have some PowerPoint presentations prepared beforehand to highlight some key information that you might want to show the panel. This could be pictures or short videos of your business place, a product, the customer turns out and such forth. It could also be some statistics about the market or industry you are in.

Suffice to say, images convey information faster than a thousand words! So make great use of them at every given opportunity.

8. Learn To Negotiate

When preparing your pitch presentation, it is best to always come up with a strategy for negotiation. This can be tricky, but when done with the right facts and figures straightened out beforehand, one can become pretty confident with the numbers they project when asked how much they needed to invest in their business.

The truth of the matter is that a lot of people fail in this part of their pitch presentation for lack of long term goals and a plan to achieving them, so when they are suddenly tasked with a game of numbers, they are held tongue-to-chin and often times mumble through indecisive outcomes which end up being the beginning of their doom.

You should always know your product and service like the tip of your fingers and just what size of the market you occupy in the present and precise estimations of any plans for future expansions. These are the facts and figures that will be the deciding factor for any potential investment.

9. Highlight Your Achievement So Far

One way to show you are an expert in what you do is by telling the panel what you have been able to achieve so far on the small scale you are. This is actually the only time in the pitch presentation that you get to brag a little, so to speak, about what you have accomplished in your small space and limited resources. This will go far in showing how resourceful you are as an entrepreneur.

Your achievements should underscore details as customer and patronage level, the customer statistics like age, gender, race as well as customer feedback. All these at the long run are one of the deciding factors for an investor before he or she chooses to make an investment.

10. Show Confidence

Being a little bit anxious is only natural when you have to make a pitch presentation to an elite panel of investors who are paying close attention to your every move and watching out for the “horse crap” you just might be led to drop.

This might give you some goosebumpy feeling about not wanting to make a mess of yourself and as such you tend to second guess your every strategy for perfection. Well doing this at an extreme can be very counter-productive and you just might fall off your elements if you let your nervousness get the better part of you.

Related Article: How to become Confident Speaker?

Know yourself and your worth and work on that basis. After a while of laying your point, you will begin to ease up and the rest stuff will be on auto-pilot.

Also, don’t flatter yourself by trying to over-impress with your pitching presentation. The truth is, no one cares. Your type comes a dimes a dozen, so it is your responsibility show them only what you bring to table through proven facts and not gimmicks. These are smart influential people so there is really nothing they haven’t already seen.

11. Tell A Short But Great Story

Great stories are the fluff that gives your pitch presentation street credibility. Don’t shy away from throwing in a few good ones along the way preferably as a concluding part of your presentation.

You can tell a brief story about a great service experience you had with a customer. This story could be accounts of real events or could just be something you experienced or someone shared with you. No matter the case, it doesn’t matter, because no one will care to investigate. The most important thing is to keep it as organic, brief and interesting to the listener, and at most, try to elicit some emotion with a panel of investors who might just love it details and care after all.

Related Article: Storytelling: Tips to help You Master the Art

12. Know Your Competition

In this part of the pitch presentation, you need to focus all of your energy and confidence into explaining to the listener that you know your competition.

You should also explain in concrete details how you intend to create a space for yourself in the market space. What size of the market do you occupy? What are your marketing plans? What campaigns have you put in the place to achieving them? Do you already have a marketing team to help push this agenda?. Give them current stats in the market to validate your knowledge base of the industry which you are in.

13. Showcase Your Product

What is the need for a pitch presentation without the display of the actual product in question? When making a product pitch, always have an actual working prototype of the product in question.

Give the panel of investors a real feel of the experience by showcasing the working features and components of the product.

Show them how it is used and just what quality and special attributes make the product stand out from probably any other related product already in the market. This is why user-experience is so key to every product.

The whole display should be very smooth and power for everyone to immediately buy into the idea, otherwise it is a bye-bye from the team.

CONCLUSION

From all we have seen above, it has become quite clear that delivering a great pitch presentation can be very easy especially if done with the right persuasion and mastery at the art of making a lasting impression.

People put up good pitching performances almost every day so much that simply having a “good pitch presentation” doesn’t just cut it for a lot of investors and industry professionals who are looking for the next big thing to put their money into.

Putting up a solid pitch presentation enough to draw the coveted attention of an influential personality requires stealth and the right skills and all that has been explained above, it should no longer be difficult to pull off a stellar performance when the opportunity presents itself. Good Luck!

This is one of our posts on the types of speech series, should you be interested in learning about other types of speeches, please click on of the links below when you are done reading this article.

Types of Speech Series

Part I. 8 Persuasive Speech Techniques & Topics

Part II. 9 Tips for Writing and Amazing Informative Speech and 120+ Topic Ideas

Part III. 5 Quick Tips on how to Give an Effective Motivational Speech

Part IV. 15 Demonstration Speech Ideas and Techniques

Part V. How to Give an Effective Special Occasion Speech?

Part VI. 6 Key Tips for a Memorable Entertaining Speech + Topics and Ideas

Part VII. Explanatory Speech: 7 Key Tips to Help You Deliver an Effective Speech

Part VIII. 5-Step Strategy for an Effective Debate and Speech Delivery

Part IX. 7 Oratory Secrets: How to Deliver Effective Oratorical Speeches

Part X. Public Speaking Contests: 7 Ways to Nail at Forensic Speech Competitions

Part XI. 80+ Impromptu Speech Topics & 7 Ways to Nail One