First Stop: London (Days 3–4)

Shelby Jade
Aug 22, 2017 · 5 min read

Day 3

This was the big day for the start-up’s first main PitchDrive event! Therefore, most of the day was spent back at Campus London (the venue). We took a scenic route back via London Bridge, grabbing a coffee along the way. The view was lovely, although British weather was cloudy as usual, the sun eventually found a way through.

Early Start — Coffee was well needed

After arriving, Amy Jin who has 12 years experience in the sales business, helped to mentor the Start-Ups with a Presentation Skill Workshop. She was very bubbly and charismatic, and she believes that fun interactions are the most productive methods of learning.

I learnt quite a lot about how to give a successful presentation, so I thought that I would share the main points I received from her workshop. I know that these same hints will definitely benefit in future presentations and pitches I will have to present at university and beyond.

Brains have a part to play

It’s a common fact that extroverts prefer interacting with audiences than introverts. This is most likely due to social interactions producing a greater arousal in the Central Nervous System for introverts than extroverts. Therefore, introverts tend to prefer to avoid such circumstances to prevent the arousal reaching uncomfortable levels. Brain imaging studies have shown this (Johnson et al., 1999). Public speaking can sometimes feel like a bigger fear than death, due to the same ‘fight or flight’ hormone, adrenaline, going into overdrive. As previously mentioned, because introverts already have higher levels of adrenaline, more added by public speaking can produce excess feelings of nerves/discomfort. Therefore, introverts tend to find it harder to do presentations or public speaking. Additionally, Amy highlighted the importance of moving and speaking whilst presenting, but it can also be difficult as this stimulates different regions of the brain at the same time. The way the brain is set up simply makes it difficult to move and present, however with practice it can improve such skill.

Charisma

What is charisma and why is it important for giving presentations? By dictionary definition, charisma is a ‘special personal quality of power making an individual capable of influencing or inspiring large amounts of people.’ It was interesting joining a debate with the team as to whether or not charisma is innate or learnt. In my opinion, it is a mixture of both and research has shown that certain people can be more charismatic than others, however it is an attribute that can be taught.

What are investors looking for in a pitch?

  • Excitement/ambition
  • Confidence, but not arrogance*
  • Crisply answered questions
  • Detailed numbers/statistics
  • Pitch flows well
  • Points backed by evidence (usually numbers)

* There can be a fine line behind confidence and arrogance. Straight shoulders rather than slumped, hips positioned forward is preferred, feet shoulder apart rather than hip apart (hip suggests tightness like nerves). And the importance to always allow your hands to be seen. For example, palms up feels welcoming, palms down feels condescending, and pointing suggests orders/strictness.

Advice from the expert— Amy Jin sharing her tips

3 main elements of communication

Finally, what you say (content) how you say it (pitch, tone, flow) and body languages are what your audience receive from your message. Shortly we found out that body language gave out the most information compared to content and voices/tones. Body language shown in Kennedy vs. Nixon’s 1960 first ever televised political debate showcased this. Kennedy flipped the polls and won the general election shortly after this debate. Small things such as pauses after important points, holding your head up, raising intonation whilst saying most important points, stance during questions, looking healthy, facial expression, and eye contact strongly influence audiences positively.

Afterwards, we had the pleasure to meet Tom Ilube, an English Entrepreneur. He stressed the importance of prioritizing tasks, keeping to time limits and being persistent (for every 100 doors, 99 close and 1 opens). He also highlighted how failures aren’t often referred to by entrepreneurs and that it’s how you bounce back from failure that is important. Failure is dealt with by talking about it. And when this man said he keeps to time limits, he meant it. After exactly thirty minutes he finished all he had to say! He had to leave for other agendas.

The start-up’s meeting with Tom Ilube

Day 4

The day after the PitchDrive event, which was a huge success, we went to eat lunch with Global Innovation Funds, located in Shoreditch. The architecture of the building was quite futuristic, whilst the area outside was full of cultural restaurants, shops and beautiful wall art.

A Jamaican restaurant — The outdoor art attracted everyone’s attention

Visit to Westminster

Before we prepared for Amsterdam, we had a meeting with Chi Onwurah, a British Labour Party politician. I felt inspired, as I feel like there is not enough women, let alone African women in Parliament. In my opinion, women of colour are one of the most oppressed categories of people and it’s encouraging to see such people in positions of power, making a change and becoming role models.

Right to Left — Chi Onwurah MP, Onyinye and I

So that’s London completed. One stop down, four to go. Amsterdam, we’re coming!

Shelby x

)
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade