A pitch is a presentation designed to convince your audience to react, whether that desired reaction is a feeling, action, financial investment, or purchase. Most non-profit organizations, for-profit companies, and budding entrepreneurs will need to craft compelling pitches to further their missions and goals. Crafting a great pitch isn’t just about delivering information; it’s about captivating your audience, inspiring action, and leaving a lasting impression. Whether you’re a nonprofit looking to gain corporate grants, an individual working to sell a product, or an entrepreneur launching a new app, your pitch should be clear, concise, and compelling. At Trepwise, we’ve supported countless organizations and entrepreneurs in building their pitch for a wide range of audiences. Here’s our step-by-step guide to creating a presentation that resonates:
1. Insight: Start with a Powerful Problem Statement
Every great pitch begins with a compelling insight – a concise articulation of the problem you’re solving. Dive deep into the core issue, highlighting its significance and the impact it has on your target audience.
2. Market Size: Quantify the Opportunity
Paint a clear picture of the market size, or in some instances, the size of the population suffering from your identitifed problem, to underscore the magnitude of the opportunity at hand. Utilize data-driven insights to showcase the potential for growth and the scale of impact your solution can achieve.
3. Background: Establish Your Credibility
Establish credibility by providing background information about your team and your firm. Highlight relevant qualifications and past successes to instill confidence in your ability to deliver results.
4. Solution: Showcase Your Solution
Unveil your solution with clarity and conviction. Emphasize how your solution addresses the specific needs of your community or cause and what makes your approach particularly effective.
5. Ecosystem Advantage: Highlight Your Edge
Demonstrate a thorough understanding of the other organizations who are working in this sector and articulate your unique advantage. Showcase how your solution stacks up against alternatives and why it’s the more effective choice.
6. Business Model: Illuminate Your Path to Sustainability
Illuminate your business or organizational model, emphasizing operational efficiencies and revenue generation strategies. Clearly articulate how your organization plans to sustain itself and drive long-term growth.
7. Growth Trajectory: Chart Your Course to Success
Chart a clear growth trajectory, outlining key milestones and performance indicators. Showcase your current traction and paint a compelling vision for the future to inspire confidence in your ability to execute.
8. Accolades: Leverage Social Proof
Leverage social proof to bolster your credibility. Highlight any recent awards, recognition, or endorsements to showcase validation from industry peers and stakeholders.
9. Team: Showcase Your Collaborative Spirit
Introduce your team and highlight their expertise, passion, and dedication. Emphasize the collaborative nature of your organization and showcase how your collective strengths drive success.
10. Next Steps of Growth: Outline Your Plan for Action
Outline your plan for action and detail how funding will be allocated within the organization and its initiatives. Articulate the tangible steps you’ll take to achieve your goals.
11. The Ultimate Benefit: Connect with Your “Why”
Anchor your pitch in your organization’s overarching purpose – your “why.” Connect emotionally with your audience and articulate the ultimate benefit of supporting your cause or initiative.
A few common mistakes to avoid when presenting your pitch:
- Don’t talk at the audience – talk with them. For example, ask quick “show of hand” questions (e.g. “who here has ever had this problem?”) to keep folks engaged.
- Don’t get lost in the details. When presenting your pitch, focus on key takeaways and high-level details. The nitty gritty numbers and logistics can be sent in a follow-up.
- Don’t ramble. Keeping track of your key messages is imperative to an impactful pitch.
- Don’t just read from the slides. Summarize them and elaborate on them!
- Don’t put too many words on a slide. Make slides easy to read in a glance, using images over text when possible.
- Don’t use note cards. Practice your pitch enough so that you don’t have to read from note cards to hit your queues. You’ll look more confident and approachable!
- Avoid putting too much information in your presentation. Leave room room for follow up questions and come prepared to answer them.
By following this framework, we hope you’ll craft a presentation that not only informs but inspires, leaving a lasting impact on your audience. To learn more about how Trepwise can support your organization in reaching its goals for growth, reach out to us at https://trepwise.com/get-in-touch/.
