What to consider when pitching as a startup - PART 1
As we enter the final weeks of our current cohort of incubation, we are turning our focus toward the skills startups need when moving into the fundraising and scaling phase.
The FSAT Labs are hosting labs sessions for our startups, and for the first of these labs sessions, we invited Nicholas Bjorklund (pitch and public speaking expert from Paris) to share his wealth of experience on pitching as a startup. Below are a few key points written by Nick.
Meet Nick
Here he is speaking to startups at the 2019 AfricArena Founders Bootcamp hosted by FSAT Labs.
ALWAYS BE YOURSELF
People usually think that when they work with me, they will leave with a perfect pitch that fits every occasion. But nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is that there is no one-size-fits-all pitch. You may have a standard format or order to your ideas, explanations that are succinct and effective, but the pitch will always change slightly or largely depending on the context and the audience. The true work to get a perfect pitch is to focus on technique and method, and then authentic communication.
I learned to communicate on stage in acting class and most people think that the job of an actor is to wear masks and cover who we are. But the truth is that we are trained to remove all the masks the humans wear in society, and to communicate authentically. Once we can do that, then we can recite any text and get the emotional response desired. It is my belief that this is true for all public speakers.
Technique and method are good, but it will only get you so far. The true master of public speaking has learned technique and craft, but then communicates authentically with their listener. Thus, it doesn’t matter if they’re giving a TED talk, a keynote address, a one-on-one meeting, or an elevator pitch at a challenge, they know they will succeed because they know how to be themselves.
PREPARE, PREPARE AND PREPARE
If you have absolutely no training in public speaking or no technique, there is one thing you can do to succeed, PRACTICE AND PREPARE. Learn and know what you’re going to say - the more you know what you’re going to say, the more confident and comfortable you’ll be.
Memorize your storyline and not necessarily a word-for-word script. Most pitches in your career won’t be timed, nor will they be the “Silicon Valley showman” that demo-days and pitch challenges demand. They will be professional meetings between you and a client, investor or potential partner. In these situations you will have more freedom to develop your ideas.
In terms of timing, about 20 minutes should be sufficient. Work on the order of the subjects you wish to talk about and different talking points within each subject. In the moment you will notice, either by your listeners verbal or non-verbal communication, if you need to explain further. Remember, in these situations, you can ask questions too!
The breakdown of these meetings begins with a meet and greet, then you will pitch and then the rest of the meeting will be dedicated to discussion and Q&A. You should be actively participating in the Q&A, not just waiting to field questions. This is when the sale will actually take place. Your pitch is a shop window, the following discussion is when we enter the shop and “make the purchase.” All that being said, in many different situations in your career, you will have to learn a text word for word and present with a bit of show and a big smile. (Large audience presentations, TEDx talks, demo-days etc.)
Ask people to listen to your pitch to get feedback, iterate, and do it again. It’s the build-measure-learn loop of the lean startup, but for pitching. Receive the notes and consider it. See if it is really relevant or works for you. It is also really helpful to record yourself and self-analyze. Watching and listening to yourself pitch may be somewhat cringy, but having a look at how you are conducting yourself is a great learning tool.
THEORY AND THE TRIANGLE OF RHETORIC
References: Triangle of Rhetoric 1 and Triangle of Rhetoric 2
The best way to approach any public speaking situation is to first ask the question, “who am I speaking to and what do they want?” The more you focus on who you’re speaking to and what they hope to learn, the more you can direct your content specifically to them. For a broad example, potential partners will most likely be familiar with your market so you can be more specific in technical terms whereas an investor needs more time to be acclimated to details. It is also key to remember that because we focus so much on crafting the best pitch, storytelling and things like this, we sometimes forget clarity. It has been an emerging trend (bad habit) that an investor or audience will be listening to a 10 minute pitch and by minute 7 they still have no idea what the company actually does. So to remedy this, often we’ll include in our introduction a clear sentence that explains what our company does.
The Triangle of Rhetoric is a good tool to make sure you balance the three key elements of public speaking or a pitch which are, ethos, logos and pathos, or in today’s terms, confidence in the speaker (ethos), message (logos), and emotional reaction (pathos). You’ll want to go over your speech and presentation in rehearsal and make sure each angle of the triangle is present.
Another theory of threes is the balance of subject, details and point of view. The subject is what you’re speaking about, the details support and explain the subject, and a point of view helps guide the audience on how they should feel about the subject. A point of view can be communicated with adjectives and descriptive words or just simply, “I think” or “I feel” sentences. A good point to note is that sometimes we can feel like we’re losing our listeners attention. We can feel this in both professional and informal contexts and it produces stress reactions such as your temperature rising, you might start speaking quickly or even feel a slight sweat coming on. Most times it is because we get caught up in the details of what we’re saying. Just changing gears and moving on with the next subject will regain attention and get you back on track.
HOW TO CONDUCT YOUR PITCH VIA ZOOM OR ANY OTHER ONLINE PLATFORM?
Doing your pitch online is very much a reality at the moment and something that you can prepare for. Make sure that you have a good internet connection and you know your way around the platform that you are using when doing your pitch (do you know how to share screens, use the remote, mute all, etc). Try and not get distracted by the chatbox or any sudden movements by anyone watching. It’s important to slow down slightly and speak more clearly than you normally would. Also, most of us rely on reading the room, which in this case is sort of impossible, so just trust that your audience is attentive and listening to you, and conduct yourself just as you would in person.
To be continued…
Part 2 launching next week
INTRODUCING NICK
Nick is a people person and loves to talk and exchange with others. Email him today if you’re interested in working more with him or have any thoughts or questions.
ARE YOU A STARTUPS AND INTERESTED IN JOINING OUR INCUBATION PROGRAM?
We are opening our next cohort in October 2020 - Call for applications coming soon! Read more about the incubation program here. Stay connected here.