How can you prepare for a successful pitch competition?

Slides should be treated as a visual aid that help the presenter move the story along. The 10-20-30 rule is one of the first principles that's cardinal. Have no more than 10 slides which are 20 minutes in presentation length and have fonts that are at least 30 point in size. This ensures that your presentation is not text heavy and relies on visuals to get your point across.

Craft visually compelling slides that enhance your pitch story and emphasize key messages. Prioritize clarity, consistency, and aesthetics to captivate your audience. Utilize high-quality visuals such as images, graphics, and charts to reinforce your data and evidence. Avoid overwhelming slides with excessive text or details, maintaining a clean and focused design. Align the colors, fonts, and layouts with your brand identity to create a cohesive visual identity. Aim for one slide per minute of your pitch, ensuring each slide conveys a single main idea or takeaway for optimal impact and understanding.

To prepare impactful slides for your pitch competition, prioritize clarity and visuals. Aim for one slide per minute, focusing on a single key message each. Use high-quality visuals, consistent design, and limited text to effectively tell your story and convey data. Ensure colors, fonts, and layouts align with your brand identity.

The key is to create a truly impactful pitch deck! This should only provide an illustration of your speech. Therefore, focus on impactful visuals that are easy to understand and complement your narrative. Use simple titles, numbers that provide evidence for your arguments, avoid lengthy texts, and steer clear of complex diagrams. Your slides should enhance your speech; use them to evoke emotions in your audience, but be cautious not to distract them from your words. Opt for a concise deck with around ten slides, and don't forget to include elements that help people understand who you are, what your brand is, and how to contact you.

Ensure that for every minute of run time, your practise is at least 10x in duration. For a 20 minute pitch, you should practise delivery for at least 200 minutes, if not more. Share recordings of your pitch with people that will give you free, frank and fair feedback.

Cultivate confidence, engagement, and authenticity in your delivery. Practice in front of a mirror, camera, or friends to receive constructive feedback on voice, body language, and timing. Refine your tone, volume, pace, and eliminate filler words like ums and ahs. Leverage gestures, eye contact, and facial expressions to communicate passion. Memorize your pitch while maintaining a natural, unscripted delivery. Anticipate potential questions and objections, preparing concise and clear responses to enhance your pitch performance.

The structure helps a lot. A well-organised presentation contains the most important information. A startup should have several thematic presentations. For example, a presentation for investors should be different from a sales pitch. In many cases, you need to tailor your message to the needs of your audience. But one thing you should always keep in mind is that your pitch should be focused and informative.

The key is to make your pitch as smooth and natural as possible. You should demonstrate that you are perfectly comfortable with it and genuinely enjoy presenting it to the audience. To achieve this, you need to rehearse it numerous times until you know it by heart. The goal is not to recite it like poetry but rather to be so familiar with it that you can adapt and deliver it very naturally on any occasion. To achieve this, seclude yourself in a room with a screen displaying your slides, and recite your pitch over and over as if you were on stage. It should become as natural as possible!

Murphy's law is a thing. Whatever gremlins exist, they will manifest on demo day. One way to recover from a demo or PPT snafu is to better describe what the audience should have seen and then move on. Replicating the process will most likely replicate the error/bug.

Verify the functionality of your equipment, software, and internet connection, ensuring your laptop, microphone, camera, and projector work seamlessly. Confirm slide compatibility with the event format and platform. Prepare for contingencies with backups like printed slides, USB drives, or cloud storage in case of technical glitches. Arrive early to the venue or platform for thorough tech testing and prompt adjustments, demonstrating preparedness and reliability on the pitch day.

From my own experience 😀 Preparing for a successful pitch competition involves enjoying the moment, trusting in your knowledge of your startup, and avoiding stress during the presentation. Even if the first pitch doesn't go perfectly, each experience improves your skills. So, embrace the opportunity, stay calm, and focus on showcasing your startup's potential!

Despite the inherent stress, find joy in showcasing not just your startup but also your team and yourself. Infuse your personality, humor, and passion to forge a genuine human connection with the audience. Proudly highlight achievements, learn from missteps, and celebrate successes. Approach the pitch as a chance to network, learn, and grow. By radiating confidence and enjoying the process, you'll leave a lasting impression and potentially attract valuable connections and opportunities.

Pitch is a performing genre. It is a short public speech that conveys a message to the audience. It is very important to deliver it in your own rhythm and style. Your confidence, professionalism or assertiveness can be winning in such a presentation. Do not use anything that is unfamiliar to your personality. Your belief in and enthusiasm for the idea is the most authentic way to make a good presentation.

As founders and co-founders, it's your job to stand up for your product or service the way you would stand up for family or other causes close to your heart. That said, this doesn't come naturally and will require some effort on your part to make it part of your practice. It's my opinion that one of the best investments you can make both in yourself and your company, is to work with a public speaking coach. This skill will serve you far beyond the pitch and will build your confidence to represent yourself in any situation. You may also want to extend the coaching to your entire team so they too can build confidence in communication.