Have a story, a vision, a why.
How did you come up with the idea for your project? What obstacles did you encounter? How did you overcome them? Story-telling will help you capture the attention of your audience. Focus your pitch on your vision, your story, your why will sell more than presenting only a product or service.
No room for the superfluous.
To keep your interlocutor's attention, be sure to be quick, concise and precise in your speech. This is about arousing the interest of your audience; you can elaborate in more detail during a second meeting or during an exchange of questions and answers.
Know your market.
Investors are looking for the next market leaders. When pitching your project, it is important to highlight the opportunity you have identified in the market and how you intend to respond to it. Highlight why your product stands out from the competition. It is the size of the market and the affinity with the product that will help the investor decide
Anticipate questions.
No secret here, you have to be 100% prepared to be able to confidently answer all the questions you might be asked. When pitching your project, don't forget to include some key figures: How much do you want to raise? The level of income to be reached to be profitable? How quickly do you expect to be profitable? You should not drown your interlocutor in figures but it is necessary to show that you are prepared and that you master your business.
Focus on potential.
One of the best strategies for convincing an investor is to show them why your product or service is different from anything else on the market right now. It is not enough to solve a problem; you have to do it in a way that no other company can match and you have to be able to demonstrate it in your pitch. Highlighting patents, licenses or distribution agreements can support these claims.
Practice.
In front of your family, your friends, your colleagues. Encourage them to ask you questions - they'll think of an angle you hadn't considered before. Ask them to time you, so you become aware of the timing of each part and can practice sticking to a “target” time. It may also be interesting to plan several versions of your pitch - 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes - in order to plan for all eventualities!
This is what your pitch should look like to be as impactful as possible:
- Capture your audience's attention with a catchy phrase.
- Describe the problem you have identified in the market today.
- Describe the solution you want to provide.
- Explain why your solution stands out from your competitors.
- Summarize where you are today and where you want to go. What is your vision?
- Highlight your team and why you are qualified to achieve your vision.
- Clearly state what you want to get from your interlocutor.
- Summarize your project in one sentence.
- Thank your audience for their attention.
- Invite your audience to ask you questions.
