Importance of the Practiced, Unscripted Pitch

You have an idea. 

In your mind, the idea is fully formed. After all, you daydreamed about it for weeks, months, and maybe even years. You could mentally picture the idea in a fraction of a second, imagining every detail with precision and clarity. 

Then your friend, co-worker, professor, potential customer, or potential investor enters the room.

Suddenly, you are apprehensive. The idea is in your mind, but can you articulate it in words? Can you clearly and simply state why your idea is the best and why it will help make the world a better place? 

Unfortunately, having a good idea is not enough.

A good idea is only the first step in the long process to starting a business, creating a service, or implementing change. One of the many steps along the way to success is having the ability to share your idea with potential customers, partners, and investors. I will call this “the pitch.”

When I talk about “making a pitch,” please note that I am talking about concisely sharing your idea with another party in a few short minutes. I am not talking about a business pitch competition or a formal meeting but a casual conversation with an opportunity to network. 

Here are a few tips from my own personal pitching experience:

1. Recognize that having a pitch is crucial to the life of your idea. You never know what opportunity you could be facing at the moment. That random guy asking about your business idea could be a potential investor or business partner. So when the moment of opportunity arises, you want to be ready to take action.
2. Keep your pitch concise and to the point. To be honest, if your idea cannot be explained in a few sentences or a few minutes, it probably isn’t as developed as you think it is. Even the most complicated idea, if developed enough, can be shared in a handful of sentences.
3. Understand that practicing a pitch and scripting a pitch are very different. Definitely practice your business pitch and be sure that you have your key points and ideas not only memorized but understood inside and out. You have to know what you’re trying to say better than anyone. However, you should not have the pitch written down word for word (unless you’re in a competition!) It’s important to sound natural and organic but also professional without sounding scripted.
4. Learn to adapt your pitch depending on the person and situation. Practice the art of listening and try to understand exactly what angle of the idea your listener is most interested in. As Professor Sweet would say, elasticity is key to a successful business pitch.

Remember that giving a pitch is simply another form of selling. So sell your idea! You know why it’s great; all you have to do is show other people why your idea is so fantastic.

Happy selling.