Mastering Pitching and Presenting

What is a Pitch?Sales pitch, elevator pitch, business pitch... many different names, but the same purpose.

“a speech or act that attempts to persuade someone to buy or do something”

So, the purpose of a pitch is to get the listener to do something.

Sales Pitches• The length of a sales pitch (or simply, pitch) varies: 30

seconds, 60 seconds, 3 minutes or 5 minutes. These are the most conventional lengths of business pitches.• In the Uskalla Yrittää final, companies give a 30-second sales pitch

and a 4-minute company presentation.• The purpose of a sales pitch is to convince the listener of the

company/product/people behind it.• A short sales pitch should leave the listener thinking "I want

to hear more about this".• A longer sales pitch (company presentation) describes the

essential facts about the company in a clear manner.

"The best pitches made me feel like the train was leaving the station whether I got on board or not.”Jon Callaghan, True Ventures

Short Sales Pitch (30–60 seconds)•Briefly describes the essentials of the idea•Makes the listener interested•Aims to continue the discussion after the pitch•Ends in a clear call to action, i.e. where to go from here

Fill in the blanks 1Hi, I’m from [company name]! The problem that we want to solve is [problem].Our solution is [solution].Our key customers are [target group].Our business is unique, because [value proposition].Let's discuss this further!

Fill in the blanks 2People who are [description of the customer] and who have this [need/problem] are our customers.Our [product/service] provides a solution to this problem and its benefits are [key benefits].Unlike our competitors, [mention one competitor], our solution is [unfair advantage].

You now have a roughly 40-second pitch for your company.Next, we will create a 4–5-minute company presentation.

Company Presentation• There are hundreds of examples online of ways to create a

company presentation or a business pitch.• Watch the pitches of the Slush 100 competition on YouTube.

• A company presentation provides the listener with the essential facts about the company and its business in an exhaustive, but concise manner.• The presentation should be created from the perspective of its

target group.• Usually, presentations lasting 4–5 minutes are delivered to investors or the

judges of various competitions – so they focus on profitability, practical actions and future prospects.

• Please note that there is a separate set of slides describing how to create a pitch deck.

Start

Problem

Solution

Business modelValidation

Competitors

Team

Request

End

In the Uskalla Yrittää final, an additional presentation element was learning, which is an important assessment criterion in the competition.

The order of the elements can and should be changed so that they meet the specific needs of your company.

Elements of a Pitch, Questions 1/5Start• You can only make a first impression

once. Create a strong start.• Who are you, which company do you

represent?• What is the tag line/slogan of your

company? Sum up in one sentence what value your company creates.

• Keep in mind that you are competing for people’s attention against e.g. phones, social media and other less useful things.• Do not spend too much time on this.

Problem• What problem does the

customer have that the company will solve?• If there is no problem, there is

no business.• In 1–2 sentences, describe

the heart of the problem and why it must and should be solved.

Elements of a Pitch, Questions 2/5Solution• How will the company solve the

previously mentioned problem?• What is the product or service it

will provide?• How will it benefit the customer?• Briefly describe how the solution

has been created and what makes it unique.• Do not make the mistake of starting

to describe the product in detail.

• Use pictures rather than words.

Business model• How does the company make

money?• Who is the customer?

• Note: The customer is the one paying for the product or service.

• The user may be different.

• How will customers be reached?• How will the product be priced?• What is the size of the market

where the company will operate?

Elements of a Pitch, Questions 3/5Validation• How has the problem been

examined?• Has your company surveyed

market size, customer needs and problems?• It is important to describe how

validation has been done:• Interviews• Surveys• Research• Analyses

Competitors• Who are the most important

direct competitors of your company?• How does your company

differ from these competitors?• Be honest and do not

underestimate your competition.

Elements of a Pitch, Questions 4/5Team• What kind of expertise does the

team have? • What are the team's special skills

that can create unfair advantage, for example?• What (work) experience does the

team have in the field where your company is planning to operate?• What expertise does the team

still need (this can also be part of the request)?

Request• The request gives the

listener an idea of how to proceed.• The request may be related

to:• Investment (money)• Networks• Help with entering the market• New team members

(expertise)

Elements of a Pitch, Questions 5/5End• The ending is just as important as

the beginning.• Think about what you want the

listener to think after your presentation.• If the company has a slogan/tag

line, you should also mention it at the end.• End by saying thank you, so that

the listener knows that the presentation has ended.

Learning (extra)• Learning is at the heart of

the JA Company Program.• One of the elements of the

company presentation in the Uskalla Yrittää final (and the European Championship) is learning, i.e. what has been learned during the Program.

A winning sales pitch and company presentation consist of three + one elements.Know your facts. Know your audience.Know your story.+ Believe in yourself. You are the best expert on your idea.

Do’s & Don’tsDO• Capture your audience's

attention – you can only make a first impression once• One topic per slide• Practice makes perfect• Tell a story• Use pictures

• A picture says more than a thousand words, a prototype says more than 10 000 words

• Use single words

DON’T• Bullet points• A font that is smaller than

30• Guesses• A language that the target

group does not understand• Text – the listener will start

to read the text and will not listen to the speaker

Additional Materials•Slush 100 pitching competition• https://www.youtube.com/user/KickNetwork/featu

red•Guy Kawasaki. Art of the Pitch.• https://guykawasaki.com/the-art-of-the-pitch/

•Templates for pitching and pitch decks:• https://fi.co/pitch_deck

Mastering Pitching and Presenting