It can be nerve-racking to step into a room with busy people and, in the short time you have available, get them excited about your project—one you know is solid. While part of preparing for that meeting is getting your numbers together, the way the information is presented matters a lot, too. So how do you make sure you’re putting your best foot forward?
Q. What is your top tip for practicing your pitch to new investors?
1. Present to friends
I am a big believer in pitching to friends. If you can’t get through your pitch to them, you may struggle when the pressure is on. Allow them to give notes. Did you rush? Did something notmake sense? Were you engaging? It’s good to get out of your head and allow others to hear what you have to say before it is all on the line. —Abhilash Patel, Abhilash.co
2. Walk through the talk by yourself and listen to the language
A lot of people practice their pitch in their head. Find a quiet space and talk through the pitch out loud. Word and phrases fit together differently when you speak them, and it enables you to incorporate your natural idiosyncrasies. This allows you to practice a more natural pitch than the one you typed out, which means the audience is more likely to connect with you. —Douglas Hutchings, Picasolar
3. Speak to a startup community
Get involved in the startup community. In Miami, we have Founder Institute, and the jobs of these kinds of companies is to provide feedback, whether they are funding you or not. Every pitch—just like every person—needs editing and has to be willing to accept a third party’s edits. Being able to pitch to founders in an open format is invaluable to an entrepreneur, and these organizations are in most major cities. —Matthew Capala, Search Decoder
4. Think ahead about your answers for questions
A deck and scripted rundown about your company is only the beginning in terms of preparation. Any investor worth your time will certainly have questions. Know exactly how you’ll want to answer questions before you even begin the presentation. If you’ve done your research, you should be able to anticipate where gaps in understanding may occur and plan for the best possible ways to close them. —Ryan Wilson, FiveFifty
5. Tell a story
Storytelling is compelling; slide decks are not. Pitching is all about sharing a story with investors in a way they want to consume your message. Do your research on the investors, put yourself in their shoes, and have your story nailed down before going into the meeting. —Matt Hunckler, Powderkeg
It’s easy to get flustered and forget key points when making a pitch. I break pitches into bullet points and use the method of loci to remember them. Associate each point with an image and, in your mind, put the images into a well-known place: your office, your home, a familiar walk. Go over the locations a few times, and you’ll find it much easier to hit all your points under pressure. —Justin Blanchard, ServerMania Inc.
7. Don’t load a presentation with jargon
Loading a pitch with technical or business jargon doesn’t impress experts. I’ve been pitched ideas that were a muddle of jargon disguising an idea with little originality. I’ve heard innovative and well-considered ideas in clear and simple language. I’m suspicious of jargon-filled pitches, especially when the person making the pitch becomes confused when I ask them to explain in simple language. —Vik Patel, Future Hosting
8. Research the investor and make it relatable
Every investor is different, so take your time to find out about them so you can speak their language. What are they tweeting about? What articles have they written? Once you’ve found out more about them, adjust and tweak your pitch to make it more relatable. —Syed Balkhi, OptinMonster
