2.2 Developing your elevator pitch
If you have not already started drafting your elevator pitch, you will now have a chance to begin developing one for your drone business idea. In Activity 2 you will draft three pitches, each more detailed than the next, and then practise pitching them to a colleague, friend or family member.
Activity 2
To start:
Write a one-line pitch of your drone business idea. This is your idea at its most basic and most easily understandable for all stakeholders (even those who are unfamiliar with drone technology). Your first stage pitch should be no more than 15 words (a single sentence).
Your first stage pitch…
Next:
Draft a slightly longer, more detailed version of your pitch by adding to your one-line pitch. Note who the audience is for this pitch and how you want to connect with the audience with this pitch. You may want to touch on parts of the ‘hero’s story’ that Mar Hershenson talked about in her video. This pitch should be about 50-75 words maximum and could be delivered in about 30 seconds.
- What is the core idea you are pitching?
- What is the problem or issue that your product or service will address?
- What does your product or service do to solve this problem (in simple terms)?
Your 30-second stage pitch:
Your full elevator pitch:
Now, draft your full elevator pitch. Draw on the guidance you have found through your searches or through the guidance of the videos in the earlier activity (about 100-150 words – keep it short, snappy and memorable).
- What is the core idea you are pitching?
- What is the problem or issue that your product or service will address?
- How does your product solve this problem? How is it innovative or better than the competition in doing this? (add more detail to the 30-second stage pitch)
- Why are you the right person for the audience to trust? (brief info on your skills and experience)
- What action do you want your audience to take (desire more information, ask questions, set a meeting, consider investing) – tailor the information you provide in the pitch toward these actions.
Practise your pitches
Now take your pitches and begin to refine them by practising them with family, friends and trusted colleagues. Through this practice you should be able to:
- a.Identify how and with what phrases you best connect with your audience (remembering that different stakeholders may need different messages).
- b.Identify the kinds of questions that your pitch provokes in the audience, so that you can prepare appropriate answers.
- c.Identify where you lose your audience. That is, if and when your audience may lose interest or may become confused, in which case you may want to simplify rather than add more detail.
- d.Keep note of what works and what doesn’t. You may want to use a notebook or an app to keep track of how you’ve changed your pitch over time.
Comment
Practising your pitches is an essential part of creating a successful pitch. This applies to both pitches you make verbally and other types of pitches, such as part of a presentation with slides. Knowing how your audience may respond is invaluable information, and keeping track of how you’ve modified your pitch will also help you to refine and tailor it to different audiences.