If you have an idea that you want to grow, then sooner or later you are probably going to have to pitch it to someone. In fact, to grow your idea and turn it into something real, you may need to pitch it dozens of times. Inside an organisation, you may have to pitch it to your boss, or someone else who has the power to approve or reject it. Outside an organisation, you may need to present it to potential partners, investors, clients and customers.

Why a pitch is important

Many people who have ideas undervalue the importance of the pitch. They think, ‘Surely a good idea should stand on its own merits'. Well, yes and no. Of course the quality of an idea is important, but so is how you pitch it.

When you are asking someone to embrace an innovative idea, you are asking them to make a decision to change, and change makes people nervous. If you can explain clearly, succinctly and confidently how your idea is going to make things better, it helps a great deal. If, on the other hand, you are nervous and unsure and your pitch is unclear and long-winded, it will be a lot harder for the person listening to feel safe about supporting your idea.

You aren't just selling your idea. You are selling yourself, because those listening to your pitch will be thinking that if they get involved, they are going to have to work with you. So they will be assessing both you and your idea.

A strong pitch can hook someone; a weak one can lose them. Managers need to be convinced and made to feel safe; so do potential customers, investors and partners.

Who should pitch?

If you are the only one involved in creating the idea, then you have to pitch it. But what if several people are involved? How do you decide who should pitch the idea? The question to ask is, ‘Who will do the best job?' That won't necessarily be the person who has done the most work to develop the idea. Try to take ego out of it and work out who is able to pitch most clearly and convincingly.

Also, think about any baggage anyone may be carrying. For example, if someone has a history of negative experiences with management in general, or with the person you are pitching to in particular, it's probably best they don't do it. You don't want a good idea to die just because Bob might not get a fair hearing.

What are you trying to achieve?

The first step, before you even start to write your pitch, is to work out exactly what you are trying to do. Think about your audience. Who are they? Someone higher up in your organisation? Or potential investors, customers, or partners?

Think about what they want. Put yourself in their shoes and try to imagine what is going to make them receptive to your idea, and what will scare them off.

When pitching an idea, people often focus too much on how clever it is, and not enough on how it can make the other person's life better. Focus on what your idea can do for the person you are pitching to. If you are pitching to your boss, focus on how your idea can improve the way the organisation does things. If you are pitching to an investor, focus on why it is a good investment. If you are pitching your innovation to a potential customer or client, explain how it can make their life better.

Next, think about what you are trying to get the person to whom you are pitching to think, feel and do.

• What do you want your audience to think? If you are pitching to management, you want them to think your idea could help the company and is worth developing. If pitching to an investor, you want them to think the innovation will be successful, and that you are a good businessperson. If pitching to a customer or client, you want to convince them that buying your product or service makes good business sense.
• What do you want them to feel? Interested, intrigued, excited, FOMO (fear of missing out). And that you are credible and trustworthy.
• What do you want them to do? You want them to take the next step. If you are pitching to your boss, that is probably to commit to taking the next step forward with your idea. If you are pitching to an investor or a customer, you want them to be interested enough to seriously consider getting involved.

Once you have answered these questions, you are ready to start writing your pitch. As you do, keep checking back to make sure that what you plan to say will help you to achieve your aim of getting your audience to think, feel and act in the way you want them to.

How long should your pitch be? If in doubt, make it shorter rather than longer.

You should be able to pitch an idea in thirty seconds if you need to, by explaining clearly how it can make your listener's life better. A fridge, for example, could be pitched in this way:

It's like a kitchen cupboard that you put food in but it
keeps the food cold so that it doesn't go off.

Note there is nothing in the pitch about how the refrigerator actually manages to keep the food cold. Rather, the focus is on how having a fridge will make someone's life better.

There are basically just two things you need to think about when preparing a pitch: what you say and how you say it. Each aspect is important. A great story, badly told, is not very convincing. A passable story, brilliantly told, can be inspiring. For a good pitch, you need to have good content (what you say) and to deliver it in a way that is engaging (how you say it).

What you say

Think of your pitch as a story. The story begins when you describe a problem or an opportunity. Next, you explain how your idea solves the problem or takes advantage of the opportunity. Finally, you offer your audience a chance to become involved.

First, clearly set out the problem or opportunity. Explain how big it is, what the benefits of tackling it are, and what the costs of ignoring it are.

Second, explain your idea. Use clear, simple language. Think about your audience's level of technical knowledge. Don't use technical or industry-specific jargon, unless you are absolutely sure that everyone you are speaking to will be able to follow it.

It's important to ensure that everyone you are pitching to can understand every word you say. If you lose someone, you can't expect them to stop you and ask for an explanation. People are often reluctant to admit they don't understand something because they don't want to look stupid. Instead they will sit there in silence, and you will have lost them. So make sure your explanations are clear. Before you do your pitch, test it on someone who has limited technical expertise and make sure they understand every word. If they don't, then make your explanation simpler and clearer.

During your pitch, each time you touch on something technical or complex, check in with your audience to make sure they are still with you. ‘Did I explain that clearly?'

That way, if there is any confusion, you can clear it up.

Emphasise what your idea does rather than how it does it, especially if the ‘how' part involves something that is complex and technical. People will be much more excited by: ‘These changes in the supply chain will save $50 000 a year' than by a detailed description of how you are going to revamp stock deliveries. Of course you need to explain how your innovation works, but don't get bogged down in detail.

Keep focusing on what it is that your audience wants. Remember, it's not about showing them how clever you are. It's about exciting them with an opportunity that can benefit them. A couple of key statistics about the benefits your innovation may bring would be helpful, but don't drown your audience in figures.

Explain the clever bit. A lot of new ideas have something about them that makes you go ‘Wow!' For example, I got a new laptop recently and the bit that makes me go ‘wow' is that it has a touchscreen like a tablet. (Of course, by the time you read this, that will probably be old hat.) Work out what the ‘wow' bit of your innovative idea is, and allow the audience to experience the excitement of it (without drowning them in jargon).

Explain why it makes sense for your audience to embrace your pitch. Often that will involve explaining to them how implementing your idea is going to save or make them money.

Finally, focus on the opportunity your audience have. Make it really clear to them exactly what it is you want them to do, and why it makes sense for them to do it.

Remember, a good pitch has three parts:

1. Explain the problem or opportunity.
2. Explain how your innovative idea solves the problem or takes advantage of the opportunity.
3. Explain why it makes sense for the audience to take the next step.

A word on the language you use: Use spoken English, not written English. The way we write is different from the way we speak. The words, sentence structures and rhythms are all different. A beautifully written sentence can sound stilted and unnatural when spoken aloud. So make sure you practise delivering your pitch aloud, and use words and sentences that sound natural coming out of your mouth. Where necessary, rewrite your pitch.

It is important to sound natural and conversational, not formal and stiff. The more conversational your pitch, the better. All you are doing is telling someone about your idea and why it makes sense for them to give it a go. Speak as you speak every day, not as you think a formal presenter should speak. Don't hide behind overformal language. Be yourself.

How you say it

Once you have worked out what you want to say in your pitch that's it, right? You just go in and say it. Wrong! How you deliver you pitch is just as important as what you say. If you speak confidently, engage your audience and make your points clearly and concisely, then you will have a much greater chance of success than if you are unsure, nervous and waffly.

Good public speakers are not born; they are made. If you work at it, you can become a much better public speaker than you are now. It's not a natural talent; it's a learned skill. It's a cop-out to say, ‘I'm just no good at public speaking'. It's like learning the violin. Everyone sounds awful when they start. Then they practise and they get better. Here are some tips.

Respect the fact that a good pitch is hard

If you have finished writing your pitch that doesn't mean it's ready! A good ten-minute pitch should take hours of preparation. When you have it all written out, what you have is a first draft. The way to make it better is to go over it again and again. Not reading it, but saying it aloud. From this you:

• learn it, and get comfortable with it
• find ways to improve it.

Each time you go over your pitch, and say it aloud, you should be able to find a way of making it clearer, sharper and more focused. Keep improving it right up to your presentation. Don't just practise the words and emphasis. Practise your commitment to the words, your belief.

Before the real thing, be sure to test your pitch on others and ask them for feedback:

• Was there anything they found unclear?
• Did they find their attention wandering at any point?
• Were they convinced that the idea will work? Would they take the next step?
• If not, why not?

Your pitch starts as you walk in the door. As soon as your audience see you, they start to form an impression. So enter the room with confidence and enthusiasm.

Two things can build confidence:

• Preparation. Make sure you know your pitch (and your innovation) back to front, inside and out.
• Belief. If you don't believe in your innovation, you probably shouldn't be pitching it.

Nervousness

What if you get nervous? That's okay. You don't need to feel totally confident to give a great pitch. You just need to act confident.

It's normal to feel nervous about public speaking. Harnessing the energy those nerves generate can help you to create a vigorous pitch. If you can't control your nerves, though, they can end up controlling you and cause you to sweat, stumble and lose your way, which will make your pitch a lot less effective and distract your audience.

The important thing to remember is that we're not trying to completely eliminate nervousness. Feeling nervous is unpleasant, but normal. What we are just trying to do is to stop those nervous feelings from sabotaging your ability to do an effective pitch.

This is what to do about nerves.

Nervousness before the day

If you feel anxious in the days leading up to the event, either do something productive to improve your pitch, or distract yourself by doing something else. Don't sit and ruminate unproductively. It doesn't help!

The nerves may be a sign that you are underprepared. If so, do more preparation. The better prepared you are, the more confident you will feel, and the less nervous you are likely to get.

If you are feeling nervous but you don't want to or don't have time to work on your pitch, then do something that distracts you. Exercise usually works. Or do some other work, or watch TV or something else. The worst thing you can do is to just sit there and worry. It just increases your stress, drains your energy and makes you feel bad.

Nervousness on the day

This is how to control your nerves before your pitch:

1. Notice the symptoms. How do you respond physically when you are nervous? Do you fidget or pace, speak faster, get a dry mouth, drink lots of water, speak with a quiver in your voice? Become aware of your nervous mannerisms.
2. Control the symptoms. It's very hard to tell yourself not to feel nervous, but it is possible to control some of your physical responses. When you notice you are exhibiting a nervous symptom, just make yourself stop doing it. For example, if you pace about when you are nervous, then make yourself sit quietly somewhere. That's not so hard. Slow down and take deep breaths. If you tend to stammer or speak with a quiver in your voice, find someone to talk to. If there's no one around, talk to yourself. Warm your voice up. Speak clearly and calmly. One by one, identify and control your nervous symptoms.

   Controlling the symptoms of nervousness often makes us feel calmer. But even if it doesn't, it makes us look calmer, and that's vital. The goal isn't to completely eliminate all feelings of nervousness. The goal is to avoid looking and acting nervous.

3. Bring yourself into the moment. A lot of nervousness is caused by worrying about the outcome. Will it go well, or will it be a disaster? To distract yourself from such unhelpful thoughts, look and listen. Forget about going over and over your pitch in your head. Focus on the here and now. Look around you and notice what is going on.
4. Redirect your fear into excitement. Just before you start your pitch, focus on the opportunity that you have. Think about it. You had an idea, and now you have the chance to convince someone else to help you turn it into reality. Get excited!

Verbal ticks

Many of us are prone to verbal ticks, especially when we're tense. Too often we fall back on ‘umm' or ‘you know' or some other filler while we work out what to say next. Using verbal ticks too much can distract the audience. They stop thinking about what we are saying and instead start noticing how often we say ‘you know'.

Identify any verbal ticks you overuse and make a conscious effort to stop relying on them. For example, if you find that you say ‘you know' too much, practise talking without saying it. Slowing down your speech a bit can help. That will help your mind stay ahead of your brain, rather than vice versa (but don't slow down too much).

If it's important, say it like it's important

If you think your innovation is a pretty darn good idea, then don't talk about it in a monotone. I have heard people pitch amazing innovations as if they were reading names out of a phone book. How can you expect your audience to get excited by your innovation if you don't sound excited by it?

Communication isn't just about the words you use. The audience takes cues from the way we speak. If you say ‘This is really important' in a monotone, it's hard to believe. If you think it's important, then say it like it's important!

What you say and how you say it have to be compatible. In normal conversation, we match our tone to our content. If you say, ‘I nearly got hit bit by a car while crossing the street this morning,' you wouldn't say it calmly. You would say it with energy, like it was a big deal.

If you think your innovation is important, give your words weight and gravitas. Make it sound important. Part of preparing a pitch is to go through it and work out when to speak in a conversational style, and when to slow down, speak with intensity and really emphasise something that you want the audience to take in and focus on. Rehearse both what you say and the way you will say it.

PowerPoint

‘My pitch is ten slides long.'

No, it's not! Your pitch is ten minutes long, and in it you are using ten slides to help you to make some of your points. PowerPoint is a tool to illustrate your message. It is not the message.

People try to hide behind PowerPoint, but it doesn't work. There's nowhere to hide. If you are pitching an idea, then you will be judged. Get used to it.

Use PowerPoint where it can help you to illustrate a point better than by talking — for example, using diagrams, pictures, graphs and key bullet points.

Don't fill your slides with too many words. You'll just distract your audience. They will half read the words on the screen while they half-listen to you, and probably won't fully digest either.

This is how to test if you are over-dependent on PowerPoint. Imagine you are just about to start your pitch and the projector blows up. Is that a disaster or just a slight inconvenience? You should be able to continue with your presentation without PowerPoint, and still do a great pitch. If you feel that without PowerPoint you couldn't do your pitch, then you are probably over-dependent upon it.

Fill the room

Begin your pitch with confidence, real or faked. Gather yourself and focus. Speak up and out. Try to fill the room with your voice. Project. Give weight to your words. It's better to be too loud than too soft. Imagine you are speaking to someone who is partially deaf and is right at the back of the room.

Don't rush, but keep the pace up. There's nothing worse than the audience knowing how your sentence is going to finish before you get there.

Use silence. If you have made an important point that you want the audience to remember, pause for a couple seconds to allow your words to sink in. Silence is a great tool for emphasis.

Don't read your pitch. Speak it. Make eye contact with your audience. Talk to them. Remember it's an opportunity. Gather yourself, fill the room, be clear, tell them what's in it for them, and make them want to join you.

After it's done, think about what went well and what didn't. Which bits felt like they really connected with the audience? When did you feel you might have been losing them a bit? Were you asked any questions that suggested that some things you said weren't clear or that you should add something further next time? Treat each pitch as a learning experience and use it to make your next pitch better.