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Business Pitch

First and foremost, remember that you live with your idea in your head 24/7. You have developed mental shorthand, along with the jargon and
assumptions/concepts of your field. But, your audience probably doesn’t know any of those things. You need to be sure to break down complex concepts into “disarmingly simple” situations and ideas.
● Business elevator pitches: 30-90 seconds.
● Presentations: 3-7 minutes.

Audience: Keep in mind who your audience is and craft your pitch to that audience.
● Will they be a tech savvy group? Customers or investors? Older or younger? Make sure your wording is appropriate for them. If you don’t know, take an educated guess and aim lower/simpler.
● If you get an outline, follow it—be sure to address the topics they are asking for (investors, competitors, and events).
● Also be aware of your situation; is this a large “demo day” event or a conversation with a small number of investors? Scale appropriately.

Design: Use a consistent design throughout your presentation.
● Two different fonts TOPS. Create a color palette that matches your brand and make sure it’s used in a consistent way. Editing templates is an easy way to make a presentation look cohesive.
● Images are good, but don’t overdo it. One per slide. Make it relevant. Your images should ideally add an emotional element to what you are communicating.
● Have some whitespace—don’t overwhelm your slides. But don’t have too much whitespace. Your text should be no smaller than 20 pt. font (30 pt. is usually better). A larger font size will also prevent you from putting too much text on your slides.

Context: Tell a story.
● Hit the high points in the text on your slides. Know your pitch (no reading off your slides!)
● Start strong—an engaging, relatable story about the problem you intend to solve is best. Have a hook or attention getter! Start off with a question or story.
● You want your audience to FEEL the pain and the relief when you explain your solution.
● Use a call to action for your audience. What do you want them to do? Use action words.
● Bring and display a sample product or props for your pitch or presentation! Hold it up or demonstrate when you talk about your product or service.

Bottom line: Drive home your main value proposition points:
● The problem that your customers have (that your competitors aren’t solving).
● The solution that you have and why your solution is better.
● What makes you different; why you, why now?

Business Elevator Pitch Guide

1. Hook / Attention Grabber and the Problem
   1. Question, story, phrase 
   2. State the problem your business is solving
2. Introduce Yourself
   1. Greeting
   2. Name
   3. Role(s) in business
3. Introduce Your Business
   1. Business Name
   2. Business Description
   3. Summary: what is your business, what do you offer
   4. Talk about product / service and keep it simple
4. The Solution
   1. What is the solution to your problem? Why is it better or different?
5. Tie it Back to Your Hook / Story
   1. State your "Why" factor using emotion
6. Call to Action
   1. What do you want your audience to do? Use action words.