David Beckett is a professional pitch coach for entrepreneurs and TedX speakers. In this video, he articulates some helpful tips for creating an effective pitch. Not all of the details will apply directly to your particular pitch (for example your pitch is 2-minutes, not 3, and you will not be developing slides), but there are a lot of solid principles here that will help you craft and prepare your pitch.
Watch the video below, and answer the following questions by replying in the “Leave a Reply” section below.
1. Identify 5 conceptual principles that David mentions in this video that strike you as helpful for creating a good elevator pitch.
2. Identify 2 practical methodologies that he mentions and tell me how you plan to use them specifically in the development of your pitch.
#1. Five conceptual principles
– simplicity, clarity, and focus… the more you say the worse the pitch sometimes is.. find what is important and use that.. no longer than 7 min
-conscious decisions… know the first 2 sentences that you are going to say
-certainty/confidence- believe in everything you say and have confidence in yourself and the product/service youre providing.
-put all your ideas (brainstorm) on post it notes and create a story– “your mind is a great place for having ideas, not holding them”
-End your pitch w a call to action– what do I specifically want them to do after this 2-3 min pitch?
#2. Two practical methodologies and how I plan to use them
-talking about customer traction- my pitch already has customers spending money on the program and I didn’t even think to include that. It will just amplify the need and the desire for a program like mine.
-investment… how much money have we raised with it… what are we planning to use the money we get for (how to improve it)… I will use this in my pitch by explaining my plans to make our program available online for testing for companies.
Part 1: 5 Conceptual Principles
1. The first conceptual principle David Beckett talked about was the idea that you need to take time in preparation for a a big pitch, because it is such a big moment.
2. Another principles is to keep in mind that communication is what the listener does.
3. Beckett spent the time to talk about the rule of 3 twice in his talk. He tells the listener to remember to focus on simplicity, clarity and focus.
4. A very important principle that he brought up is to make sure that you display certainty. You do not have to be confident when giving a pitch but they need to have confidence in you.
5. Another major principle is that when you find pain then you can identify the problem.
Part 2: 2 Practical Methodologies
1) The first methodology that I will use in writing my pitch is to make conscious decisions about what I say and do. For example, I’ll make sure to create an introduction that is a story that relates to the audience and captures their attention. In addition, I’ll make sure to say thank you at the end of the my pitch to signal that I am done.
2) I think that another methodology can be summed up by the idea of preparation. He talked about practicing your pitch against the clock which is very important. In addition he talked about writing put your speech and getting the words onto sticky notes and out of your head. I plan to use this methodology to develop my pitch better.
Part 1: 5 Conceptual Principles
1. Communication is what the listener does. In other words, not about the story because the story is only relevant if it connects with the listener and objective.
2. Simplicity, clarity, and focus. Need to be thinking about what you take out of your pitch, not what you put in. Shrink and get to the essence.
3. Make conscious decisions. Be professional from the very first second. Start with a strong intro and end with a bang and a thank you.
4. Certainty. You want your audience to have confidence in you because you never say a word you don’t believe in. You have to say it like you mean it.
5. Open 3 Close: this includes script, design, and deliver. A way to map out your pitch so you grab the audiences attention and are organized.
Knowing these concepts will help me shape my pitch so I focus on what is important.
Part 2: Two practical methodologies and how I plan to use them
1. Brainstorming: I loved his idea of using post-it notes to get my ideas out of my head and onto a pitch canvas. I can use this idea to help make sure I include relevant and important information, but it also lets me move ideas around so I put everything in the strongest order.
2. Keeping time in mind: this was interesting because you can say 390 words in 3 minutes. It is important to keep this in mind because you do not want to go over your given time. In the video, it was mentioned that everyone has different feelings of time, so it is critical you practice over and over again to make sure you can close your pitch before time runs out. I will make sure to practice over and over so I get comfortable with the two minute time limit.
#1 – Five Conceptual Principles
1. Your mind is for having ideas not holding them. Your mind can only remember 5-6 things at once so if you don’t write things down and map your pitch out, you are likely to forget.
2. Certainty: Stand by every word you say and it will create confidence in you.
3. Make sure you have your story straight.
4. Take a step back and organize your pitch into three chapters/topics to make it easier to remember.
5. Simplicity, Clarity, and Focus is what you take out of your pitch, not what you put in.
#2 – Two Practical Methodologies and How I Plan to Use Them
1. Post-It Notes: I am starting to use Post-It Notes more and more and never thought about using them to create a pitch. Creating a visual aspect of the three chapters, an opening, and a closing with Post-It Notes seems like it will be very helpful and something I am planning on trying. It will help me to organize my thoughts better and make sure I am including relevant information in a concise way.
2. Verbalize It: Writing something and saying something are definitely two different things. Just saying my pitch out loud over and over again will help me to figure out the exact words I want to use and become more comfortable with the pace and rhythm of my pitch. It will also help with timing.
Part 1:
David Beckett had some good points on how to present well and many of them can be used for my elevator pitch and for any presentation that I give. First, communication is what the listener conveys. You have to strike a position with the audience in order for them to identify with your pitch and connect with your solution. Second, a simple pitch is a great one because it saves time and you can convey your ideas in a more meaningful way instead of just using a bunch of fluffy language and boring ideas to fill time. Next, you need to be making conscious decisions about what you are going to say and do. Don’t just “wing” it. You need to know what you are going to say and how you are going to express it in a meaningful way. Fourth, Beckett says that you need to be certain about what you are presenting. Finally, you need to know who your audience is. This will allow you to tell them what they need to know so that your presentation will be more effective. This will also allow you to effectively end with a question or a point that the audience will think about and make an impact on them.
Part 2:
One main issue that should be addressed in your pitch is the pain. No one will care about your product unless it is solving a problem. Without a connection with the pain point, there is no way that investors will want to take part in your idea if they don’t think that people will actually want it. For my elevator pitch, I will be stressing the pain point more than anything else because it is such an integral part of my idea. If the audience and the potential customer doesn’t feel the pain, they won’t use my service.
Another methodology that Beckett uses is that whenever you are pitching, you need to think as though you are pitching yourself. If you aren’t passionate about what you are pitching, no one will care. If you treat the pitch as though it is your lifeline and you are dependent on it, then you will emphasize it, show more energy, and hopefully get an investment. As someone who hates presenting, this is a hard task for me but it is vital in the success of a pitch. If there is no energy, investors won’t care about your idea, even if it is a good one. So in my pitch, I need to practice it and give lots of energy and emphasis on the problem and the solution to keep the audience engaged.
Part 1: 5 Conceptual Principles:
1. There are certain moments in your life that really matter…there is always time to prepare for the important stuff.
2. Make pitches your big moments, put everything aside and go for it. Stand by every word that you tell. Set the story straight and tell it like you mean it because you mean it. Certainty of what you say creates confidence in yourself.
3. Communication is what the listener does – not about the story I want to tell. The story is only relevant if it resonates with the listener and my objective. Do something as result of your pitch.
4. Simplicity/Clarity/Focus: it is about what you take out of your pitch, not what you put in
5. Make conscious decisions. Be a professional from the first second in terms of what you will say and what you are going to do.
Part 2: Practical Methodologies
1. Sticky Notes: I really like what David said about using sticky notes to get ideas out of our heads and onto paper. This will help make sure I have important and relevant information in my pitch about my topic. It will also help in structuring the pitch and I can move around ideas so I can have a well prepared informative pitch.
2. Make sure to emphasize what is unique and different amount my idea compared to competition. What stuff is out there already and how are you better? He made a good point that we are pitching business ideas, not products. This is good to keep in mind as I am writing my pitch so I don’t get off path. If the pain isn’t clear, then investors are not interested.
5 Conceptual Principles
1. Communication is what the listener does. The story that I want to tell is only important if it connects with what the listener does. Focus on what I want the listener to do from what I have to say.
2. Simplicity, Clarity, and Focus- it’s what you take out of your pitch that matters. The pitch should be clear, and concise.
3. Conscious decisions- be a professional in all you say and do. This is who I am and what I am going to do. Finish with a big bang. Those final words should be memorable. Say thank you at the end, because doing so tells the audience that you’ve finished the pitch.
4. Certainty- believe what you’re saying and stand by every word that you ever tell in a pitch. Tell it like you mean it because you mean it. Give the audience confidence in you because you know and believe what you’re talking about.
5. Organization- get your ideas out and write them down on post-it notes. Organize them to create a storyline. You need to get the ideas from your head into words.
2 Practical Methodologies
1. Focusing on the pain- for my idea, I think it’s good to focus on the problem and those who struggle with it. That way, I can show that there is a need for my product and why it isn’t being met with similar services that already exist.
2. Knowing exactly what you’re going to say beforehand, and especially knowing the first few sentences. I’ll have to use this. because I sometimes have trouble knowing where to start with presentations. If I can plan exactly what I want to say beforehand, I’ll feel much more prepared than by just starting with a general idea.
5 Conceptual Principles
#1 – Simplicity, Clarity, and Focus. You have to shorten your story and get right to the good part. People tend to lose focus after 4 minutes.
#2 – Conscious Decision – You have to know what you are going to say and what you are going to do.
#3 – Certainty – Stand by every single word that you say. The goal is to have the audience have confidence in you.
#4 – Know Your Audience – You have to think about how the audience is going to be affected not yourself. 90% of people think of how they will be affected. Be the 10% that thinks of the audience.
#5 – Power of Three – Make things simple and focused. Threes are in the air and threes give you a kind of rhythm. Three is the smallest number with complexity. It is complex enough for a crocodile brain to accept.
2 Practical Methodologies
#1 – There is always time to prepare for something that is important – I plan to use this method very effectively. Instead of waiting last minute and having a bad pitch, I am going to prepare for the elevator pitch.
Rather than waiting until the day before, I am going to rehearse my pitch in advance because it is important and I will have time to prepare.
#2 – Closing with Power and Passion – My goal is to finish the line like a true professional. I have to be persuasive as possible at the end of my pitch and finish strong. I am going to write a strong closing statement to end my pitch in order to swing the judges opinion of my product and finish like a true professional.
5 Conceptual Principles:
1. Communication is what the listener does: The audience I am speaking to is the most important factor to consider because my pitch is only as powerful as it engages the listener. I am obviously already on board with my own idea, so my goal is to intrigue others, and people best resonate with what they can relate to.
2. Conscious Decisions: If a 3 minute pitch contains only 390 words/27 sentences, and we have even less time than that, every single word needs to be purposeful and direct-including the introduction.
3. Certainty: Not that I should lie, but if I don’t speak with confidence, how could I possibly expect my listener be confident in my idea? Say things as though I am 100% sure about them, and my audience will be more likely to trust me.
4. Focus on the pain: Instead of creating a pitch based off my product, build it around the problem the product will solve. The audience is more likely to have an emotional response to common pain than to an impersonal object they’ve never interacted with before.
5. The power of 3: Listing things in sets of three provides complexity without creating confusion, and it follows a natural rhythm which will make the pitch sound more cohesive.
2 Practical Methodologies:
1. Brainstorm with Post-It Notes: Before writing the next draft of my elevator pitches, I am going to rewind and take a few minutes to write down every related thought that comes into my head on sticky notes. Then, I will organize them by category and rank the points by relevance/importance.
2. Write something down, say it out loud, get feedback, repeat: This process of getting immediate feedback on my pitch rather than waiting until I’ve created my “final product” to practice and take criticism will save me a lot of time and unnecessary effort. Saying things out loud and in front of someone else helps to quickly identify what doesn’t flow or come off as intended.
#1 Conceptual Principles
1. Communication is what the listener does. What do you want them to do? and focus on that.
2. Simplicity, Clarity, and Focus. It doesn’t need to be long and drawn out, that will lose the audiences attention. short and concise.
3. Conscious decision. Have a plan, know what you are going to say, and be prepared.
4. Certainty. Be confident about what you are saying and truly believe it.
5. Knowing your audience. Focus on their needs and what will interest them not on your idea or story.
#2 Practical Methodologies
1. Brainstorming and writing things down was something that David Becket said that I will definitely do in preparing for my pitch. I think it will really help me stay organized and focused on my main points as well as help me remember everything. I love when he said “your mind is a great place for having ideas but not for keeping them”. I find that to be extremely true.
2. Another important point he had was knowing the pain. In my pitch I think I need to make really clear what pain I am focusing on and validate it. That is something that I haven’t focused to much on so far but definitely will need to. Also I think it would be important to narrow down the pain to tie it to something personal in my pitch to connect it with a story.
5 Conceptual Principles
1. Communication is what the listener does. Have a story to tell that can relate to the audience and connects with them
2. Simplicity, Clarity, and Focus. Your idea needs to be short and concise so listeners can pay attention and not lose focus.
3. Conscious decisions, such a being professional, are incredibly beneficial. Finish with a big bang and say thank you to your audience.
4. Being certain in what you are saying creates confidence for yourself and the audience.
5. Organization is so helpful when preparing to present an idea. Having your thoughts and ideas laid out in a clean fashion helps get ideas from your head into words on paper.
2 Practical Methodologies
1. Writing. Whenever I have to study for an exam or something, I will either typically create a Quizlet or write out a study guide to help me study. Since this isn’t an exam, I thought it would be pointless to write everything by hand, but using Post-It Notes to get everything out of your head sounds incredibly helpful.
2. Truly knowing your material. A problem that I deal with is not fully knowing my presentation and being unable to present it without the use of notes or a PowerPoint. I want to be able to know what I’m saying, how I am starting and ending, and be confident while doing it.
(1). Five Concepts:
1. Simplicity and clarity- Your idea should be short and interesting so you do not loose the listeners attention.
2.Communication- The person listening to your pitch or idea simply listens, so try to create a story that engages and interests your audience.
3. Being certain- You should be confident and stand behind all of the information that you are presenting in your presentation, this will make your pitch much better and more believable.
4. Organize your presentation- If you are able to organize your presentation, then your pitch will make much more sense to the audience and it will help you convey your ideas better.
5. Conscious Decisions- You have to know what you are going to talk about and you should control the message and goal of your pitch.
(2). Practical Methodologies:
1. David Becket’s advice on organizing and planning out your presentation is great advice that we can use for our Elevator Pitch competition. I will use this to help flesh out my ideas better, and I will also use this advice in order to try to organize and think out my presentation better in order to make it easier for the judges to understand.
2. His advice on the need to understand and feel the pain is crucial for any business or startup idea. I will definitely utilize this idea to try to do more research into the problem that my idea is hoping to solve, and to help me better emphasize with the pain that my customers feel. If I am better able to understand their pain, then I can develop my product to be better by attempting to meet some of their specific pains better.
Five applied standards:
1. Straightforwardness, clearness, and center… the more you state the more awful the pitch in some cases is.. find what is significant and utilize that.. no longer than 7 min
2. Cognizant choice: know the first couple of words/sentences to say.
3. Sureness, trust in all that you state and believe in yourself and the idea/pitch you’re giving.
4. Put every one of your thoughts (conceptualize) on post it notes and make a story.
5. End your pitch w a source of inspiration, how do i want them to respond after this 2-3 min pitch.
Two viable approaches and how I intend to utilize them:
1. Discussing client footing my pitch as of now has clients burning through cash on the program and I didn’t think to incorporate that. It will simply intensify the need and the craving for a program like mine.
2. Venture: how a lot of cash have we raised with it… what are we intending to utilize the cash we get for (how to improve it)… I will utilize this in my pitch by disclosing my arrangements to make our program accessible online for testing for organizations.
5 Concepts
1. To be short and clear- It is important to be concise and quick, because the average person has the attention spans of a goldfish.
2. To come in on a bang.- Within the first 3 seconds of the pitch, an audiance member decides in their mind whether or not I am worth listening to, so it is important to come in strong.
3. Make it clear what is in it for them. – People won’t listen if it doesn’t apply to them.
4. Lay out with Post it notes- Your brain does better when all of the thoughts and ideas are out in front of you, rather than when they are bottled up in the head.
5. Practice so much you ask yourself “Why am I investing all this time for a 2 minute pitch?”
2 things I will use:
1. I plan on practicing a ridiculous amount, like the man advised. I feel the best when I have practiced an unreasonable amount of times. I have already practiced over 10 times, and am not nearly where I want to be, so I hope to get that number up past 50.
2. Ending with confidence is something I want to incorporate more into my pitch. I haven’t done well with ending presentations in the past, and want to do better with this one.
5 Conceptual Principals:
1. Communication is what the listener does – making sure to focus on the what the listener does and what they want to hear. If they don’t care about what you are saying, that doesn’t help anyone.
2. Simplicity, Clarity, and Focus – the pitch needs to be all of these things because the audience needs to be able to understand what the company is in a short amount of time. If the pitch is not fully clear the audience will not understand it and the point will be lost.
3. Conscious Decisions – making sure that I know what I am saying and doing. Writing my thoughts and what I want to say down before I pitch so I know what I want my main points to be and don’t lose my train of thought.
4. Certainty – this is so my audience or whoever I am pitching to has confidence in what I am saying. I need to be so certain about my thoughts that everyone who hears my pitch is as engaged in it as me.
5. Open3Close – Script, Design, and Delivery. 3 HUGE steps that anyone who is pitching needs to realize.
2 Practical Methodologies:
1. Making sure to state what the problem is. When asked, investors said they always want to know what the problem being solved is, and how it will help benefit buyers. This is very important for me because my elevator pitch will be so short I need to make sure my problem is stated and everyone knows why my product will benefit those who buy it.
2. Having a BIG ending. This is also very important because people have very short attention spans, and if I do not close off my pitch with something memorable, people will forget about my product. Also, if they don’t retain anything from the pitch, the last thing I say needs to be able to stick with them.
5 Conceptual ideas that will help my pitch
1. There is always time to prepare, don’t ever slack off
2. It’s about what people take out of the presentation, not what you put
into it.
3.Be certain! If you doubt your product there no way you can sell it to others.
4. Write down the audiences traits and their stories to get out of your head and into the head of the buyers and investors and into the audiences head.
5. If the pain isn’t clear, no one is interested (No pain, no sale)
2 methods to apply them
1. Get the pitch out of your head, write it down so you can look at it and visualize it, ideas and changes should constantly be put down on paper rather then kept in your head.
2. Make your pitch into a story, it makes the pitch more entertaining, engaging and gives the audience something to track
1) Principles that make a good pitch
– Communication. Communication is not about the story, but about how the pitch can connect to the audience and the objective.
– Simplicity, clarity, and focus. Focus is not about what you can add to your pitch, but what you can take out. A pitch should be clear and to the point.
– Conscious Decisions. The audience does not need to hear any fluff. Get right into the pitch and give the audience a reason to listen to the pitch from the moment you start talking. Conscious decisions are about what you will say and do from beginning to end, so make sure it is worthwhile.
– Certainty. Every word in your pitch should be delivered with confidence. This is important because if you don’t believe in what you are saying, then nobody else will.
– Finish on time. It is important to keep a pitch concise and on time. You do not want to lose the audience’s attention by overcomplicating your ideas or concepts.
2) Practical Methodologies
– One of the methods I plan to put into practice is brainstorming ideas for my pitch by using chapter headings and then sub ideas to organize my thoughts. This will allow me to lay out all my most important points and see where I need to expand upon ideas within my pitch.
– Another method I will use is writing out my first two sentences of my pitch, and then read it out loud to someone that I don’t know. Doing so will help me to go through the process of creating the best possible opening sentences for my pitch.
-Where there is pain you can identify a problem!!
-Confidence and certainty, in order for others to have confidence in you and your product, you must as well
-Script, Design, and Delivery, 3 very important steps for your pitch
-End the pitch with an inspiration so that the listeners feel like they need to do something about it and help you with your idea
-Focus on the listener and say things that they want to hear. If it doesn’t apply to them then whats the point??
1. I can really organize my thoughts for my pitch. Arrange all my ideas out and figure out what needs to be said vs what does not need to be said. Get my thoughts onto paper so that my pitch can be the very best possible.
2. Make the ending spectacular. I can really finish it off with something inspirational that causes people to want to act on my idea rather than think about it.
1) 5 Conceptual principles:
-Communication is what the listener does, David says this because the person you are giving your pitch to is cognitively thinking and communicating to their self to make a decision on whether or not they will support your idea.
-Simplicity, Clarity, And Focus, Many people want to be detailed about everything that their idea is about but in reality you need to put it nice and simply to entice the listener to want to know more about your idea.
-Conscious decisions, being able to have the ability to make those conscious decisions and being able to voice your conscious decisions to your audience.
-Certainty, having that form of confidence in your idea is unmatched. Being able for the audience to feed off of your certainty is a great way to convince your audience to be get along with you.
-Brainstorming, this exercise can be more than helpful when you are trying to find a new idea and you can talk about how you came up with the idea that you are presenting to your audience.
2) Practical methodologies and how you will use them in your elevator pitch:
-I would use investment in my pitch because my idea is one that can make a small but effective change in peoples lives.
-Another Practical Methodologies i would use would be Simplicity, Clarity, and Focus because my idea is all of those things and it can be really straight up with the benefits that it has and the effectiveness that is creates in today’s world.
–
Part 1:
-Communion is what a listener does. Make sure your message is understood by the person to whom you are giving a pitch.
-Keep your pitch simple, clear, and focused.
-Make conscious decisions through out your pitch; this goes from the beginning to the end of your pitch, but it is what keeps you in the light. Everything you say should have a purpose.
-Have certainty. If you are certain and confident about what you are trying to pitch to the person listening than things will go better as it makes you more convincing. This does not mean you should fill your pitch with rubbish, however it does mean you should present with certainty that your product is the best.
-Make sure your pain is clear because your pain drives the story in which you are trying to tell.
Part 2:
-The post it note method was very important when trying to practice your pitch. Start by setting up key points in your pitch and then put more post it notes next to the specific topic. This will help you keep order and will make things easier to practice and keep things in focus when you are actually presenting.
-Make sure when you are pitching to the audience that you differentiate yourself. This is crucial because it makes sure the investor knows you can benefit them. This effects the brain in the first 20 seconds which allows the person to be focused or completely distracted. Make sure you are the one who is going to make a change will nobody else will.
1. Within the first few minutes David mentions something that says, “Talented people with great ideas that can change lives may never be heard”. This stuck with me because it is easy to imagine several scenarios where what if Bezos didn’t have his idea for amazon, Jobs didn’t get the idea into his head about Apple and the computers, etc. These great entrepreneurs so a solution for a problem that most people were not even aware of making their lives so much better.
Another great thing he mentions is putting aside time and preparing for something big. He is correct when he says “you will always have time to prepare” because for the things that truly matter and are important in your life you will have to prepare and set time aside to make sure you do them right.
The notion of certainty behind what you are pitching is a great point as well. Your confidence in your idea and pitch skyrocket when you have certainty and belief behind what you are doing and people like confidence because it shows you truly have faith in whatever it is your trying to sell.
“What do you want them to do?” is an interesting point that he makes because while we are the ones pitching the idea it can only get started if the people, we are pitching it to take action. But what kind of action do we want them to take? What direction should we direct them in? He makes great points on okay now you’ve sold them on your idea but what do you want them to do now.
The biggest thing that I think he focused on though was “Take a step back: what are the big issues?”. It is a great way to revise your pitch repeatedly until you have down to perfection. It is also a great way to find the problems within your pitch or find things you may have left out, added for no reason, or might have overlooked.
2. The biggest practical thing to take away from this is to brainstorm and use post-it notes to keep your brain from feeling crammed and cluttered. He makes a great point of people wanting to start to early instead of letting other ideas come to them or write other ideas they already have in their mind. After we do all of that than we can organize our ideas.
The practical canvas that he mentions is something I didn’t even think of using but after having seen him explain it and it should be used, I am utilizing it as my pitch structure. Using the four questions that he has researched most customers are going to want to know the answers to are vital to if your product is worth their time, money, and effort to back you.
5 Conceptual Principles
1. Communication is what the listener does. The story must connect with the listener and the objective. So rather than simply telling a story on should focus on how the audience will interpret it.
2. Simplicity, clarity, and focus. About what you take out of your pitch rather than what you put into it.
3. Conscious decisions. Important to be professional from beginning to end and in everything you say and do. Be prepared and purposeful.
4. Certainty. Deliver a well thought out pitch with confidence in every aspect.
5. Open 3 Close. Script, design, and deliver. Have a checklist so that only the most important information is included.
Practical Methodologies
1. Practicing script against the clock. It is important to write or edit your pitch to the time allotted by your event. This can also help with deciding what is most important to include and how to design your pitch. There is “No time to lose!”
2. Be professional from the first second. Have a plan of exact sentences that you know you will say within the first 20 seconds.
Response 1:
a. Making it short and straight forward.
b. Start and finish off with a strong sentence.
c. Be certain and confident. Get your story straight and stand by every word you say.
d. Make sure to prepared!
e. “Communication is what the listener does”, do your best to communicate with the listeners.
Response 2:
a. Getting my ideas out on a sticky note and then place them in order. I think it is a smart idea to visually see what you want to mention, and it helps you remember specific important touch points. I am going to use this to write my initial thoughts for the pitch and decide what are the most important parts and then put them in order so I can more easily remember what to say.
b. The pitch canvas is another great idea. It is a layout of what to talk about and elaborate on to the listeners for them to understand what you’re pitching. I am going to use this after I make the sticky notes and figure out if I missed anything that the listeners might be wondering.
1. Five conceptual principles that David mentions in this video that strike me as helpful for creating a good elevator pitch are: practice is key, communication is what the listener does, simplicity, clarity, focus, make conscious decisions about what you will say and do, and certainty of what you say creates confidence in you. Each of these principles reinforce that preparing a clear, targeted, and well-versed pitch is the best way to reach and impact your audience.
2. Two practical methodologies that David mentions are The Pitch Canvas and Open Three Close Model. The Pitch Canvas outlines multiple steps to aid in the preparation and organization of your pitch. The three steps that I found most applicable to the development of my pitch are identifying a specific pain, asking what is unique about my product/service, and to end the pitch with a clear call to action. The Open Three Close Model has three core segments: who is your audience, establish your objective, and brainstorm with post it notes. Considering these segments while developing my pitch allowed me concentrate on the service that I am aiming to provide to the community and to organize my thoughts in a concise way.
Part 1: 5 Conceptual Principles
#1 Communication is something the listener does, so make it captivating, honest, and persuading.
#2 Know your audience – this allows you to connect better and deliver a more personalized pitch.
#3 Connect your passion to your business, and convey that to investors.
#4 Make time to prepare – this is the difference between excellence and mediocracy.
#5 Be professional from the first second, and continue that throughout the entirety of the pitch.
Part 2: 2 Practical Methodologies
#1 Brainstorm with post-it notes. This exercise is helpful for taking a step back, and looking at the big picture of your pitch. When preparing my pitch, I plan to use sticky notes to develop the story, and to decide on my visuals.
#2 The power of 3’s. This methodology is not only useful for your audience to follow along with your pitch, but it also helps keep the storyline clear, concise, and simple. When developing my pitch, I plan on using the “power of 3’s” to communicate my ideas.
1. Identify 5 conceptual principles that David mentions in this video that strike you as helpful for creating a good elevator pitch.
1. There is always time to prepare
2. Communication is what the listener does
3. Simplicity, clarity and focus are the crux of presentation
4. Conscious decisions: this is who I am and this is what I do.
5. Certainty: No unsure words. Stand by what you know.
2. Identify 2 practical methodologies that he mentions and tell me how you plan to use them specifically in the development of your pitch.
a. Scripting: Get your story straight. I intend to create and further revise my value proposition to target my market segment.
b. Pitch the business not the product. I will focus more on the opportunities for marketing and sales rather than how good a product could be.
Conceptual Principles:
1) Decide what you want the listener to do.
– This made me rethink my whole pitch idea (and I’ll now be rewriting it). There really isn’t any point in giving a pitch if you aren’t sure what you want to get out of it.
2) Certainty
– Stand by every word you say in your pitch and make sure you really believe in your ideas. Your dedication will show.
3) Identify the audience, define objective, and brainstorm.
– This ties into the first point. We need to think through ahead of time what the concerns of our audience may be and how we can address those concerns before they have to ask. We need to define the goal of the idea in the pitch, and we need to brainstorm that idea to outline it effectively.
4) Simplicity, clarity, and focus
– We should keep our pitch simple and concise so anyone can follow along. It should stay focused on the point and clearly indicate what that point is.
5) Rule of threes
– Don’t overload information and cause the “crocodile brain” to phase out. Keep it short and employ groups of three to tune in the audience.
Practical Methodologies:
1) Great opening and closing sentences to grab attention and finish with a bang. Get to the point and be professional. In my pitch, I plan to memorize and rehearse a (hopefully) strong opener with another person to make sure I have it and that it sounds right.
2) Keep it brief and practice against the clock. Our pitch is only 2 minutes, so I need to keep it very short and to the point and practice giving my pitch with someone timing me to make sure I don’t go too long or too short.
1: 5 Conceptual Principles
1. Communication-connects what the listener hears with your objective.
2. Simplicity, clarity, and focus-find a simple and invigorating way to communicate your pitch.
3. Make conscious decisions-Be professional, starting and ending with a thank you.
4. Certainty-You want your audience to have confidence in you because you never say a word you don’t believe in. You have to say it like you mean it.
5. Open 3 Close; script, design, and deliver. A way to map out your pitch so you grab the audiences attention and are organized.
2:2 methodologies
1. The first methodology that I will use when writing my pitch will be making sure it has simplicity, clarity, and focus. I don’t want to overcomplicate my pitch or bring up unnecessary details that will only bog it down.
2. I think that another methodology that holds weight is certainty. If the recipient hears my pitch and see’s me as uncertain, then I doubt he will place certainty in me or my pitch. A way I plan to reach certainty is by focusing on the most important details of my pitch.
Conceptual Principles:
1. Simplicity –
Be focused, be clear, and get to the point.
2. Communication –
When talking observe social cues to know how to properly communicate your topic. If the audience shows disinterest, shift the way you’re speaking.
3. Be Confident –
Speak in a way that the audience is confident that what you’re saying is accurate and worth listening to.
4. Organization –
Ensure your presentation is organized and easily understandable.
5. Be Conscious –
Don’t lose your listeners in extraneous information. Be interesting.
Practical Methodologies:
1. Write it down –
Putting your pitch on paper so you can digest it differently and refine it.
2. Tell a Story –
Provide the audience with a story that gives them a good idea of the passion and applicability to the pitch.
Part 1: 5 conceptual principles
1. Communication is what the listener does: the story is only relevant if it connect with the listener and with what you’re trying to accomplish.
2. Its about simplicity, clarity, and focus: you shouldn’t do a pitch longer than 7 minutes because it isn’t simple, clear, and focused. It’s a waste of time to pitch longer than a few minutes. Get to the essence of the story.
3. Make conscious decisions: plan out what you will say and do before you start your pitch. Know the first two sentences that you’re going to say. Say hi this is who I am, this is what I’m going to do, and a big resounding thank you.
4. Certainty of what you say creates confidence in you: believe in what you’re saying and they will have confidence in you.
5. Build your graphics, body language, and finish on time: these are all important parts of your pitch. Finishing on time is important because nobody does so it;ll make you stand out.
Part 2: 2 Practical methodologies
1. Find who your audience is. It is important to find who you’re speaking to and who you’re trying to appeal to. Focus on you’re audience and what you want them to do. Pitch to your audience only and no one else, this way you will be speaking only to your audience and no one else. Think about your audience’s story. I am going to tweak my pitch to consider my audience and their needs so that I can get them to buy into what I’m trying to sell.
2. Know your objective. You have to know what you’re going to get out of it. Think about what you want to get your audience to do. This is getting you to your goal. I am going to make sure that my objective is clear and my execution works well. I need to establish an objective with my product and make sure that the audience knows what I want to accomplish and how I want them to take action.
Five concepts that seem helpful for creating a good elevator pitch
1.simplicity, clarity and focus-only meed 2 minutes for a great idea.
Conscious decisions-your first words are vital
What do you want them to do- to understand that this idea is about world hunger
Communication is what the listener does-the story is Only relevant if the listener likes it.
Certainty- have confidence
2.end the statement with action- I plan on ending my pitch with finding a way for future progressions to be made.(I.e. application construction)
Why me?- because it takes someone passionate to take on large scale problems such as world hunger. I will make it clear that it takes someone with energy and passion like myself to take on these challenges in my pitch
Conceptual Principles:
– Great ideas need a voice, but are not always heard
– Communication is what the listener does — the story is only relevant if it connects to the listener
– Simplicity, clarity, and focus — it’s about what you take out of your pitch, not necessarily what you put in it
– Make conscious decisions in what you say and do
– Certainty – it’s all about confidence in how you say things
Practical Methodologies:
– I really liked the idea of using post-it notes to get all of your ideas out. I can definitely relate to what he said about your brain only being able to handle six ideas at once. It really helps to write it all out and be able to move it around.
– He really spoke a lot about the importance of practicing your pitch, especially within 3 minutes in less than 400 words. I tend to write things out with a lot of words, so this is something I will keep in mind when writing out my pitch.
1. Speaking with a sense of certainty. If you seem like you are certain of what you are saying, you will instill confidence in your audience
2. Simplicity, clarity, and focus. If you dance around your idea with fancy words or plain old fluff, you’re not gonna entice your audience. Be professional and direct your pitch exactly where you want it to go.
3. Write it down. Your brain can only organize 6-7 bits of info at once. Write it down and let your idea fill the paper, not your head
4. Great ideas need a voice! Give your idea a voice! and do it in an engaging way.
5. Organization. A jumbled pitch will confuse your audience, and thus will turn them off to your idea.
1. Know your audience. Instead of writing what I think is good, I should focus on what my audience will find compelling
2. Practice the first 20 seconds. I’ve found the principal “if you can get through the beginning, you can get through it all” to be true. How you start a pitch really sets the tone, so I should really be on the money for this section.
Identify 5 conceptual principles that David mentions in this video that strike you as helpful for creating a good elevator pitch.
1. There is always time to prepare for important stuff–this may be a “small” moment but it is important, so it deserves your time and energy.
2. Communication relies on the listener–the story you tell is only relevant if it connects with the listener and with what you want them to do.
3. A good pitch relies on simplicity, clarity, and focus. You don’t have much time to communicate a message so you have to get the clearest point across to them as quickly as you can. (What you take OUT of your pitch, not what you put in.)
4. Making conscious decisions about your presentation. Be a professional from the moment you start. You have to start on a strong note with a clear sentence that immediately connects with your audience and introduces you and your goal. In that same way, finish clearly and strongly.
5. Certainty. Know, or appear to know, exactly what you are talking about. As far as they are concerned, you must be the expert.
Identify 2 practical methodologies that he mentions and tell me how you plan to use them specifically in the development of your pitch.
1. Know the speech from beginning to end, and especially know those first few seconds of it. A first impression is super important. I need to be able to connect quickly with the judges, and communicate right from the moment I walk on stage what it is I want to tell them.
2. Body language. This was an interesting note. I’m pretty good at practicing words, but sometimes I forget how our physicality when we’re talking is just as important–if not more.
1. Certainty- Audience can sense if you aren’t fully confident in your idea and you will have a hard time selling them on a product or idea if you lack confidence and certainty.
2. Communication- Make sure that what you are saying is relevant to the audience and experiences that they might have. If your audience seems to be losing focus or interest, it is not their fault but yours. Change things up a bit.
3. Simplicity- Stay on topic and to the point. Too much dancing around especially in a short period of time can cause confusion. It can be easy to overthink things, but take a step back.
4. Organization- Make sure that your presentation is easy to follow. A presentation that dances around and has no clear direction is confusing and will not sell your idea to your audience.
5. Prepare- this may seem obvious, but many people do not spend a long enough time.
1. Brainstorming- My idea can go a lot of different ways so I think that it will be important to think of as many scenarios as I can and see what will end up working best. If I just use the first idea that pops into my mind, more than likely it could be improved.
2. Practicing the first 20 seconds- If the beginning is not intriguing and exciting, the audience can tune you out. I believe that my idea is interesting, so I need to take advantage of this.
Identify 5 conceptual principles that David mentions in this video that strike you as helpful for creating a good elevator pitch.
1. Take the time to understand your audience, even 1 minute of identifying who it is you are talking to and what drives them and what their needs are.
2. “Your mind is a great place for having ideas, not for holding them”, so writing things down helps you to organize your thoughts.
3. Identify the pain you are trying to fix, and clearly explain this to your audience, then end on a happy note by showing how you/your product fixes this.
4. Cycle of “think, write, say it out loud, gain feedback”.
5. Powerful endings, and professional beginnings. Don’t waste the time before your pitch by fumbling to know what to say, how you act before you pitch sways the audience more than you think. How you close has a tremendous effect as well, so end it with power and a thank you.
Identify 2 practical methodologies that he mentions and tell me how you plan to use them specifically in the development of your pitch.
1. Making use of the power of 3 for my statements, giving complexity and power to the story.
2. Using post-it notes in preparation for the pitch, that way I think, write down, and vocalize what it is I’m trying to communicate.
#1
• Confidence
• Clarity
• Create story/ Narrative
• Know from heart word for word exactly what you are going to say
• Idea generation is easier then retaining the information, so right it down.
#2
Clarity- I struggle with clarity because I always want to cover more ground then I have time for. So I constantly have to take things out or make abbreviate. I am just not very good at taking a message I know and understand and switching it around. But this pitch is forcing me to do practice both weaknesses. Because I have never had a 2-minute time slot. I was not thrilled when I saw that was the time slot but I’m glad it is challenging me.
Confidence- This is something I constantly I pay attention too in every conversation I am a part of. If you, yourself do not express that you believe what you are saying; the person you are talking too will not. I have been working on my posture for over a year and a half, with the intent to rid my natural slouched stance. Because there is clear psychological evidence that backs the concept that, good posture increases the confidence you have in yourself also the confidence others assume you have. All confidence, of course, must be regulated with humility.
1. Identify 5 conceptual principles that David mentions in this video that strike you as helpful for creating a good elevator pitch.
-Have certainty when presenting to create confidence in yourself.
-Call for an action in the beginning parts of the presentation.
-Drive home what the problem is.
-Stay understandable by keeping the number of words around 390 words for 3 minutes.
-Don’t just create slides right away, write down ideas, then organize.
2. Identify 2 practical methodologies that he mentions and tell me how you plan to use them specifically in the development of your pitch
-Take a minute to write down 7 things about your audience because 90% of people think about their story and not their audience’s. I will write down buzz words about the people I am selling to and then use those frequently throughout the presentation.
-Write down your objective whether it is to sell your product to a customer or to get an investor. Also, if your goal is to get money from an investor, your goal should be to get a follow up meeting. My objective would be to clearly articulate the idea to these investors and to get another meeting.
5 Conceptual principles-
1. Communication is what the listener does. We always want the listener to do something because of your pitch.
2. Simplicity, clarity, focus is key. Get straight to the essence of the pitch.
3. Conscious decisions about what one will say and do during the pitch.
4. If you get your story straight, the other things will happen automatically. Have a clear objective.
5. Great pitches focus on customer needs.
2 Methodologies-
1. Brainstorm with post it notes. We are not equipped to organize more than 6 things in our heads, before we have to write it down. Get the ideas out on post it noted
For my pitch, I will write out on sticky notes, all of my ideas and different possible directions my idea could go. This will help me be more organized with my thoughts and be able to see more clearly how I want to organize my pitch.
2. 4 things investors want to hear. Investors want to hear the
Pain
a. What is the problem?
b. Is it big? (market size)
c. Will people pay to have the problem fixed?
d. Have you validated that?
What’s unique?
Who is the team that’s going to make this whole thing happen.
Why You?
This is very practical advice to keep in mind for making my pitch. I will definitely make sure to be keeping these questions in mind when working on my pitch.
– 5 conceptual principles.
1.)Compelling opening is important to keep people from checking out immediately.
2.) Focus on pitching the business, not a specific product.
3.)Shrink down the pitch and have a clear focus
4.)Practice the pitch many times and finish with 5 seconds left on the clock
5.)Generate confidence in the audience that you know what you’re talking about
2 practical methodologies
1.) You can only say 400 words clearly in three minutes.
I found this interesting as I am preparing a script for my pitch. I will only have about 250 words for my pitch so I will make an organized plan and make sure all the words I use are as clear and powerful as possible.
2.) Break things down into threes.
I liked how Beckett talked about the power of three. When listing features or problems groups of three are the most people can remember. The other advantage of three is it allows a good pacing and meter. I will use this in my elevator pitch when explaining my product.
5 Conceptual Principles David mentioned that strike me as helpful:
1. The first idea that David mentioned was about how talented people with great ideas may never be heard. I like this because you could be so smart and have such a brilliant idea, but if you do not know how to present the idea, it could go to waste.
2. Your audience must have confidence in you. This means that you must be confident and know what youre talking about, so that the audience believes you and your ability.
3. Too much information causes people the check out. This is a huge issue for me because I want to spit out all the information I can, as fast as I can, but this isn’t the way to do it.
4. Practice is key, I would say this goes with the audience having confidence in you, because, if you practice and are comfortable and know the material, you will be more successful.
5. Sticky notes are useful to outline the key issue. This strikes me as helpful because its a tactic I have used all my life.
2 Concepts I plan to use:
1. It is all about simplicity and focus. I know in my pitch I need to be direct and to the point, I struggle with “word vomit” and wanting to share too much, but i need to and will keep t the point and express what is necessary.
2. Allow the audience to understand the pain of the issue you are trying to solve. There is real pain in the issue I am solving and I think it is really important to convey that, because most people will not even recognize that it is an issue until they have heard it.
(1). Five Concepts:
1. Simplicity and clarity- Idea should be short and interesting.
2.Communication- The person listening should be easily intrigued, catch their attention right away.
3. Being certain- Be confident and represent all of the information that you are presenting in your presentation, this will make your pitch more creditable.
4. Organize your presentation- Organization creates a better representation of your information making sure it is all in order and concise.
5. Conscious Decisions- Know what you are going to talk about and control the ultimate message of your pitch.
(2). Practical Methodologies:
1.Organizing and planning out your pitch is key in delivering a great Elevator Pitch. In order to make sure the people who are following you in your pitch it need to be planned out step by step, so there is no confusion.
2. He places an importance on putting your shoes in the consumer and how they feel so that you can ultimately implement this into your market strategy. To be a good marketer you need to understand and feel the pain of another. In order to succeed you must fail, they go hand in hand.
1) Communication- Communication is important it is what the listener does, communicate what you want them to do.
2.) Simplicity and clarity- Keep things short can clear, people respond in a matter of seconds subconsciously on if they’re going to listen or not.
3.) Conscious decisions- Be professional start out with a professional bang and end with a bang.
4.) Organization- Keep your pitch organized in an easy to follow manner.
5.) Story- Keep your story straight, you don’t want to confuse the audience.
He places lots of emphasis on time. He goes into how within seconds a person subconsciously judges and evaluates what is going on. It is important for an elevator pitch to be very professional and memorable.
He also takes time to emphasize knowing what your audience needs/wants to hear. Identify the pain with them and connect emotionally or financially to them in order for them to be interested and identify with your problem.
Five Concepts
#1- Communication- The story must encourage the listener and spur them to do something
#2- Simplicity and Clarity- Don’t waste people’s times– get to the essence of the story
#3- Conscious Decisions- Know exactly what you are going to say before you start– tell them you are a professional– finish strong
#4- Certainty- Put great stuff in pitches, but STAND BY it– get story straight, tell it like you mean it because you mean it
#5- Know your audience– this determines how you tell your story, do not waste your time with things they don’t want to hear
Practical Methodologies
#1-The Power of 3–
Make sure you know what you are going to say, organize and practice “like hell” know your pitch like the back of your hand, and also check your timing. Know what you are saying and believe it. Make sure you know who you are pitching to because if you focus only on your own story, your pitch could be ineffective
#2- Think about Why you–
Make sure you personalize, connect your passion to your business, convinces investors WHY they should believe you care about the business.
Identify 5 conceptual principles that David mentions in this video that strike you as helpful for creating a good elevator pitch.
1. Communicate only what is relevant to your listener and to your product.
2. Make a conscious decision about being a professional from the beginning of your pitch, this is especially helpful for me as I am perceived a young girl more often than a business woman.
3. Make sure to have a call to action, it is very true and I had to learn this even in the business of financial planning because every “closing” meeting is like a pitch. It might not be clear how it applies to our elevator pitch, but I think you want to ask them their thoughts so you get them thinking about your product. That is a call to the action of thought.
4. Certainty/Confidence, I know this is slightly out of order but this just hit me, I need to make sure I am confident about what I am doing and how I present. I need to believe that my product is the best thing in the world and that nothing could get in the way of it succeeding. If I portray that, the judges will at least acknowledge some value.
5. Create a story, my entire product is based around an idea which is based around a problem with a real life story to go along with it. I need to tell the story and get my point across.
Identify 2 practical methodologies that he mentions and tell me how you plan to use them specifically in the development of your pitch.
1. Practice, Practice, Practice, this will help the pitch go smoothly and for you not to get caught by stutters and filler words. If you know what you are doing, you will communicate that you know what you are doing.
2. Post-It Notes, I loved that idea because I use post-it notes all the time to keep track of what I am supposed to be doing anyway. Post-Its are fun, easy reminders for me.
1) The first thing I picked up was that communication was on the part of the consumer.
2) Second, being certain is very important by holding true to the points you present.
3) Third, it’s better to be simple and get your ideas across clearly than be convoluted and confusing.
4) Fouth, as Beckett put it simpally you have to find the pain to identify a problem.
5) Finally, his idea of organizing your pitch into 3 “chapters” is a good way to remember and clearly deliver your pitch.
PT 2 –
Firstly, I wanted to identify a “pain” for my idea. Once I located the problem I was then able to formulate my product on how to more effectively solve the problem.
Secondly, I thought the sticky-notes idea was good. I liked the simplicity of jotting ideas down on a tiny note of paper to better organize my pitch.