Pitch 101: Believe In What You’re Saying

In 7 seconds, people will judge your trustworthiness, competence, warmth and confidence. First impressions mean a lot!
If you’ve ever given a presentation, lead a seminar, or pitched your company; chances are you’ve agonized over the preparation and delivery leading up to your moment in the spotlight. This is perfectly normal, and actually a good thing. A little bit of stress can keep you focused, but too much stress will cause unnecessary anxiety.
I’ve had the incredible opportunity to present in diverse contexts and to a range of different sized audiences. Public speaking is not natural for me. It’s a skill that I continue to refine, and I’m fortunate to work with a number of mentors and advisors with a lot of experience. I recently had the opportunity to share a bit about my company, MySwimPro at the WeWork Creator Awards linked below:
I’d like to share a few tips that I’ve picked up from top mentors and entrepreneurs over the last few years.
1) Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Professor Albert Mehrabian has stated that 93% of communication is nonverbal — with 55% coming from body language, 38% from tone of voice, and only 7% of communication relying on the actual words used. When you present, your attitude comes through your posture, smile, eye contact, eyebrow inflections. The audience can feel your emotion, and they want to make a deeper connection with the speaker, give them that chance.

You can build this deeper connection through storytelling, vocal inflections and building empathy. This is tricky because you want to make the audience feel like they’re part of your story, but you need to stay on point with what you’re trying to say. This balance is what separates the truly great presenters from the rest. Building empathy can be improved with practice and continuous feedback — it just takes time to develop.
2) Visualize
I generally try to imagine myself on stage or in front of the room I’ll be presenting in when I’m practicing. I visualize everything: my clothing, the visual aesthetic of the venue, and all its associated sights, sounds, and smells that you’d experience on the big day. It’s a skill I picked up from competitive swimming. By immersing yourself in the environment you’ll be in before hand, you’re in a better mental state to rehearse your presentation. When it comes time to present, you’ll have squashed some of the initial stage fright because you were already on stage several times in your preparation.
3) Prime Your Brain For Success
The body does what the mind says. Conveying confidence is important not only for your audience, but also for yourself. In the few minutes before presenting, try to hold a power stance. This could be done standing or sitting. Keep your feet wide, with firm contact to the ground. Hold your hands on your hips and maintain a very strong and confident posture. Breath deep with your belly and visualize the confident delivery you’re about to lead.

4) Be Authentic
Be yourself!
You be you. Believe in what you say! It’s so much easier to present on a topic that you know deeply about and are passionate for. Conveying authentic enthusiasm in your presentation is something that can be difficult, but if you can get comfortable being yourself, the audience will appreciate your relatedness.
5) Lead with Why
It’s not exactly what you’re saying that matters, but why you say it. The audience will empathize with your passion, but you have to show them why it matters to you. If you’ve seen Simon Sinek’s famous TED Talk below, you know how important it is to lead with why. It helps you build a lasting relationship and inspire action with your audience.
It’s true that the fear of public speaking is America’s biggest phobia. If you surround yourself with great mentors, practice like heck, and truly believe in what you’re doing, you’ll be able to wow your audience!
“It’s not who you are underneath, but what you do that defines you.”
I’d love to hear about your own experience preparing and delivering pitches. How do you prepare for your moment in the spotlight?
What’s working for you?
What do you need help with?
Thanks for reading! This post was originally published on LinkedIn. If you enjoyed it, please recommend it to a friend!
