Pitches

= **How to Pitch** = || media type="youtube" key="1lJHOEoUP1c" height="315" width="560" || toc = = =Great Quote=
 * [[image:going up..JPG width="344" height="97"]]

**An “entrepreneur must engineer consent, using powers of persuasion and influence to overcome the skepticism and resistance of guardians of the status quo (Dees & Starr, 1992: 96)**
=** The five steps to a great pitch **=
 * A few words about pitching **. Pitching is a way of selling an idea you have in a way that causes your audience / listener to say " **Tell me more** ." That is your goal in pitching - tell your intended audience just enough to "bait the hook" so that they are willing to give you some of their precious time in a meeting to hear your idea fully. To accomplish this, your pitch must
 * 1) Begin with a " big pain " that is readily identifiable to your audience and invokes an ** emotional response **.
 * 2) Your **brilliant solution naturally follows the big pain** with a remedy that is simpler, more effective, faster, and/or cheaper than the imperfect means your audience currently uses.
 * 3) Once you have described your solution in simple and crystal-clear terms, you can use would-be competitors to **differentiate your product or service** from theirs in a favorable way. The key phrase to remember here is " **acknowledge and dismiss** ." An example for someone pitching the concept for The Container Store might be, "Unlike Wal-Mart, which offers limited selection and untrained staff members, we provide a wide range of attractive storage solutions and highly-trained staff members to help you find the best solution."
 * 4) You may also need to convince your audience why you should be the person they listen to. ** Answer the question "Why you?" ** with reference to your experience, alliances you've formed with key suppliers and other stakeholders, and/or existing customer base.
 * 5) Your pitch should close with a **call to action** to your audience - get your audience to provide you with financing, a purchase, or some other steps that ensure their commitment to your idea. You want their reaction to overwhelmingly be "Tell me more."

= **Instructions for your in-class pitch:** =
 * 1) Identify a big pain that invokes an emotional response in your audience
 * 2) Offer a brilliant solution that logically follows and solves the big pain you've identified
 * 3) State how your solution is different (i.e., better) by acknowledging and dismissing current solution providers
 * 4) State convincingly why you are the right person to make this opportunity a reality.
 * 5) Push your audience to act - get them to the point where they say "Tell me more."


 * YOUR PITCH IN FRONT OF YOUR CLASSMATES SHOULD FOLLOW THESE FIVE STEPS. ** Do steps 1 through 5 in less than one minute. Be brief, be brilliant, make them ask for more.

=** Here is a worksheet to help you organize your pitch **=

** Further reading on pitching ** =Useful links= Talk Like Ted How TED Talks have changed business communications

See also: SlideShare - Wow! The Art of Pitchcraft Guy Kawasaki on the 10:20:30 Rule media type="custom" key="24959080" Acknowledgements: My philosophy about pitching benefited tremendously from presentations by Bill Joos when I was a doctoral student in entrepreneurship. Here are some links to Bill Joos-related articles:
 * [|Bill Joos on Perfecting your Pitch on Fast Company]
 * Bill Joos' [|Tips from the Trenches on GotoMarketConsulting.com]


 * More pitching links! **
 * [|1,000 Pitches Competition at the University of Michigan]
 * Perfect your Pitch: Brad Feld offers eight mistakes entrepreneurs should avoid when pitching for capital