Executive Summary

Compelling pitching—selling the value of something tangible or intangible—takes practice, confidence, courage and learning from mistakes. This toolkit offers best-practice guidance based on the existing research.

Best Practices in Pitching, Presenting and Public Speaking

From storytelling to delivering ideas that “stick,” there are specific tactics for myriad types of pitches and audiences. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools available to ensure that what you present makes an impact. They include the following:

• Blend competence and warmth to project competence and exert influence. 

• Prepare your story and keep them top of mind, whether a narrative detailing your personal values,a personal perspective, an anecdote showing courage, leadership, selflessness, or empathy or a story exploring key learnings from a failure.

• Be creative and clear in how you express your ideas.

• Make your ideas “stick” by bringing abstract concepts and conclusions to life via simple, concrete, unexpected and credible stories.

• Project confidence by treating the pitch as branding (not bragging), practicing with others, receiving and incorporating feedback, reining in apologies and using deliberate pauses to convey calm.

• Establish credibility by sharing your credentials and background, speaking simply, and supporting your pitch with relevant and reliable research, data and reliable research and highlightingmentions of influential sponsors, investors or advisors.

Turning Prevention into Promotion

Whether investors use questions that are predominantly promotion-focused (emphasizing gains and potential) or prevention-focused (emphasizing losses and risk) affects the outcome of a pitch, particularly for women. However, prevention questions can be turned into promotion questions. Tips include the following:

• Use redirect language such as: 

• “We find the more important issue is…”  

• “It would be more accurate to say…”  

• “Thank you for that insight, but here’s the real problem.”  

• “What matters most is…” / While that is important, it’s also critical to remember that…”  

• “Before we leave this subject, I need to add…”

• Motivate investors to ask promotion questions such as: 

• “How many new customers do you plan to acquire this year?” (rather than “How do you plan to retain existing customers?”)  

• “What major milestones are you targeting for this year?” (rather than ‘How predictable are your future cash flows?”)  

• “How do you plan to monetize this?” (rather than “How long will it take you to break even?”)

Best Practices for Virtual Presentations and Meetings

With virtual presentations and meetings now commonplace, it is important to ensure these are as compelling as possible. Tactics include the following:

• Environment: Set up your workstation in a quiet place with a neutral background, make use of elevated lighting and set up your camera to record at head-level. 

• Presence: Look straight at the camera when presenting and consider standing in order to make it easier to gesticulate, breathe and prevent slouching. 

• Engagement: Vary your intonation, use words such as “excited” or “challenge,” use chat or polling features and invite participants to turn on their video.

• Virtual leadership: Set expectations by including discussion questions and engagement etiquette (“State your name”) in the meeting invite.

• Speak up: Ask a polite, concerned or direct question or start with an emotion (“That concerns me” or “I’m excited by…”) to set the stage for a follow-up.

All leaders, managers and entrepreneurs need to pitch on a regular basis. Whether pitching a strategic vision to the board of directors, raising funds to develop a product or sharing an idea in a meeting with your peers and superiors, the approach will vary—but the principles outlined above will pave the way for pitches that are compelling, engaging and ultimately, effective.