Make your idea matter: How to pitch a project

The first thing your audience will notice about you is the way you look and carry yourself. Dress nicely and be genuine. Dressing nicely will give you confidence during your pitch and show your audience you’re putting in effort and you care about your project. They can also pick up on insincerity. If your smile is painted on, they’ll know. But if you’re genuinely excited, that passion will shine through.

Your pitch should appeal emotionally to your audience. Make them care. There is a sense of theater to pitching a project. A big part of this is knowing your audience. So, before you pitch, get to know your audience by doing a bit of research. What’s important to them? And keep these things in mind so you can pluck at their heart strings.

Show that you will make good on your pitch. Explain how you’ve made other ideas become a reality in the past. Investors want to know that you’ve got the goods to make your idea happen, not just drop it mid-way through.

Make it seem like your audience will be collaborators. Invite them to participate in your pitch, and in the project itself. Ask if they have any suggestions. This gets your audience invested in your project, and the chance of you being shut down diminishes.

Level the playing field between you and your audience. Bring up a shared memory or bring the audience into a shared imaginary world (or thought experiment). Having a shared experience together strengthens the emotional bond to your project…if you’ve made that connection. Get them to buy in to your shared experience.

Keep it to five minutes and under. You don’t want to lose your audience, you don’t want to waste their time, and you want to show them you have a clear idea of your project plan. Three to five minutes is a solid pitch length.

Practice a lot. A lot a lot. This will give you confidence when you go to stand up in front of your audience, prevent slip-ups and from you getting flustered, so you can give your best pitch possible.

Elsbach, Kimberly D., Bronwyn Fryer, and Chris Anderson. “How to Pitch a Brilliant Idea.” Harvard Business Review, July 14, 2015. https://hbr.org/2003/09/how-to-pitch-a-brilliant-idea.

Symonds, Matt. “7 Tips For Pitching Your Entrepreneurial Idea, Whether To Angels Or Sharks.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, March 28, 2016. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattsymonds/2013/10/24/7-tips-for-pitching-your-entrepreneurial-idea-whether-to-angels-or-sharks/#4baacbed35a2.