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EUROPEAN COURSE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES

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THEELEVATOR

PITCH


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Communicating the business idea

Sources:

Colin Clark “The Impact of Entrepreneurs’ Investor Forum Pitch Presentation Skills on

Business Angels”

Danilo Ballota, Public speaking and presentations a critical review: The caring

speaker, Lisbon, ISCTE, 2009

Let us make a special effort to stop communicating with each other,

so we can have some conversation

Mark Twain

The “Elevator Pitch” – How Investors Think

To make a great presentation or business pitch it’s important to consider how the investors’

mind works, and which are the main aspects that they usually consider to approve or reject

projects. According this research the main subjects that investors (venture capitalists, business

angels, private equity, State funding agencies, benefactors) take in consideration are in the

table 1 and 2 below.

An elevator pitch (or elevator speech or elevator statement) is a short summary used to

quickly and simply define a product, service, or organization and its value proposition. The

name "elevator pitch" reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the

time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty seconds to two minutes. In The Perfect

Elevator Speech, Aileen Pincus states that an elevator speech should "sum up unique aspects

of your service or product in a way that excites others." (Wikipedia)

TABLE 1: Type and frequency of Business Angel’s presentational comments


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TABLE 2: Frequency of Business Angel’s positive and negative presentational comments.

Considering the Business Angel’s mind‐set, it is important to create great presentations, with

clear and supported ideas, with a focus in the market with a sustainability business model.

Therefore, it is also important to expose your entrepreneur characteristics, and how you

should prepare a pitch session to investors.

Pitch session guide lines

1. Prepare and rehearse

I am easily satisfied with the very best

Winston Churchill

To make a great elevator speech, you must find the core message, with a great engage story,

and only then go on details. Choose the right words, to small and very well comprehensive

phrases, with an effective beginning and end, spotting the right place for humor, and using an

appropriate body language to the situation. It’s highly recommended to make a good

rehearsal, which will probably inspire you and gives you high confidence to “touch” the

audience. Be sure about how many time do you have, and Keep you on time, focused in

relevance information, and well synchronized with the presentation. If you have lot of

information and few time speeches, leave some smart questions inline to be asked by the

audience in the end of your speech – it will be a strategy to get some extra time. Prepare also

these answers.

Key point: Take the time to prepare carefully each speech and rehearse

2. Start with a ‘bang’ end with a vision

In every phenomenon the beginning remains always the most notable moment.

In my end is my beginning

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3. Care about connecting

It is very important to make a connection with the audience, showing confidence,

applying rhetoric questions, create a mental structure with the main ideas, expose a

clear mind‐set about the subjects, making some pauses to emphasizing, which means

that is important a certain degree of acting, but be sure the audience see it as

communication propose to telling the true, not to foist ideas.

Key point: When speaking in public don’t present, just talk to people

4. Engage with emotions

When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic,

but creatures of emotion

Dale Carnegie

To promote a connection between speaker and the audience, don´t just provide data

or information. Let the emotions flows, and make the difference between a great and

vibrating speech from just another one. Engage you public with emotions. “If you're

trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use

their language, the language they use every day, the language in which they think. (David

Ogilvy).

Key point: Let emotions go

5. Presenting being present

Eighty percent of success is showing up

Woody Allen

The speaker must be conscientious that the audience is there to listening you and see

what you have to show them, and it must be your propose too – to present new idea

or proposals, to add more knowledge or to make a challenge to the audience, and at

last, if you don’t have any important to tell, you must entertain the audience at least.

In any situation, the speaker must communicate with a non‐verbal language as much

as the verbal. It is important to establish eye contact with the public, mind the posture,

use facial expression and gestures, take the space as a stage, and if possible, walk and

get close with the audience (Whiteford, 1999; Reynolds 2005; Gallo, 2005;).

Key point: Talk slowly, pause and look at your public


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6. Learn to use some techniques

Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men

Plato

Using rhetorical devices in communication, increase effectively the capacities of the

speaker and enlarge the possibilities to create empathy with the audience, and create

more impact, to spread his ideas. Thus, considering the audience, the message tone,

and the context of the presentation, the speaker may use some of the rhetoric devices

like: Rhetoric: analogies, simile, anaphoras, metaphors, etc..

Anaphora: I have a dream (Martin Luther King)

Chiasmus: A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees

the opportunity in every difficulty’ (Winston Churchill)

Analogy: The iron Curtain (Joseph Goebbels or Winston Churchill)

Metaphor: All the world's a stage/And all the men and women merely players

(Shakespeare)

Compare and contrast: Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you

can do for your country

Key point: Adapt your style to gradually integrate rhetoric, visual images,

stories and the rule of three

7. Humour works

A joke is a very serious thing

Winston Churchill

Some authors consider humor as a way to persuade the audience, even if it is in

advertising, education and business (Heinecke and Wallinger, 1997 in Lyttle, 2001;

Antion, 1998). However, it is very important analyze the atmosphere in the room, the

kind of the audience is in front of the speaker, and be sure that using humor will be

helpful to generate a good interaction and to break some ice, especially at the

beginning, because it helps the speaker to get some space in the stage, and create

additional motivation form audience. Using humor is not similar to pretend to be

funny. This technique must be used as a strategy to engage the audience, but

shouldn't go beyond of the reasonable situations. Indeed there is nothing more

embarrassing that trying to be funny in front of a glacial public (Audrieth, 1998).

Key point: Humour works when speaking in public, but not always, not

everywhere and not for everyone


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8. “Kiss” with your public

I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote a long one

Mark Twain

KISS – Keep It Short and Simple.

Don’t lose the audience in considerations without relevance. Nobody can retain large

messages with a lot of details, especially if most of them are insignificant. If the

audience is mostly potential investors, or potential clients, speak about your idea or

business, tease and persuade them until the climax point, and let them ask you to

become partners and if they can be part of it. This will be the best return that the

speaker could have from an audience on a business pitch session. If it doesn't goes like

this, that means you probably had failed your propose.

Key point: Just give them the essential and never, never run too long.

The Elevator Pitch Guide: 45 presentation tips for startups

If you want to see more about this subject, you’ll find “The Elevator Pitch Guide: 45

presentation tips for startups”, with entrepreneurs testimonials in video, that may be

useful if are preparing your pitch session. Follow the link:

http://www.presenterimpossible.com/presentation/startup‐pitch‐how‐to