Often, a lot can be achieved with a convincing presentation and investments are worthwhile. But how much should the investment actually be?
Present the benefits in the beginning of your pitch
Present The Benefits In The Beginning Of Your Pitch
Presentation skills
The opening of your pitch
There are many strategies to consider in opening your pitch. Think about it twice, because those first minutes can make or break you.
Overview
Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Leonardo da Vinci
Pitching business ideas
Pitching business ideas is becoming more of an art. Given how easy it is to get distracted as a human being, you must learn the best ways to captivate your audience from the start. To do this, some strategies have been proven to work.
Too many presenters start with the typical introduction and dive right into the sections of the business. Then they state the problem, then the solution, the team, and so on. This is a surefire way to kill the entire room from boredom. Instead, grab the attention of your audience from the beginning and don’t lose it until the end.
Captivate the audience
There are some strategies and structures that have been proven to work. No single one is best, so it is important to them wisely. Most of them have one thing in common; they raise the level of curiosity right from the beginning to the max!
Benefits go into the opening of your pitch because the most important thing your audience will think is; “What’s in it for me?”. The only thing your audience cares about is; “Will this work for me?”.
When pitching someone, it is easy to just start blurting out your idea and delving straight into the details. But just because you are partial to a particular design or style does not mean others will share your sensibilities.
Think twice
There are many strategies to consider in opening your pitch. Think twice, because those first minutes can make or break you.
Regardless of the strategy, the direction of what you want to say should be heavily influenced by the takeaway.
The takeaway is that one thing you want the prospect to remember after listening to your pitch. It needs to be significant to the client. And hopefully, it will differentiate you from competitors.
Develop the takeaway by asking yourself what is the one thing that could be most memorable about what you want to say. Then ask yourself why you want that point to be remembered. Keep asking that question of every answer until you are expressing what the benefit of the takeaway is for the client. Then build your opening around that.
There are lots of reasons you might not win a pitch, because of the price, personal chemistry, and your background. But, you should never lose a pitch because you presented poorly.
Preparation of important speeches and presentations
Those who do not speak are not heard, and even those who speak up are not always successful. There are a few more steps that need to be mastered.
Do you want to convince with your message and also as a personality? Then I will help you to prepare your speeches and presentations. You determine the scope. At least, I recommend a test run with professional feedback for you and your message. Then you will know how you and your content are perceived, what you should do, and what you should leave out, where there is potential. Why do you want to get such helpful feedback so late after your real performance? Then it is too late for adjustments. Benefit from the advantage. My definition of luck: Preparation meets opportunity.
You can best estimate for yourself where the effort is worthwhile concerning the expected benefit. Here you will find the fees for my support (communication, psychology, language, structure, voice, body language, storytelling, rhetorical means, media such as PowerPoint and Co., etc.)
You are not in Berlin right now? Then choose meetings with me via telephone or video support. Whereby, there are quite good reasons for a trip to Berlin.
By the way, many people suffer from such intense stage fright in front of an audience, and therefore their performance lags behind their possibilities. Too bad, because with my help performance in a good condition is possible. Just in case...
A good start: Professional feedback with suggestions for improvement​
How persuasive are you and your messages in speeches and presentations? How good are you at the 111+ most important presentation skills? I have been analyzing speeches since 1998. After evaluating 14,375 speeches and presentations, and numerous mistakes of my own, most of which I only discovered after a delay, I can tell you exactly what works with which audience. Let me give you the feedback that will help you get ahead. You will receive essential feedback and recommendations, as well as the impulses you need to persuade your audience in concrete situations.
Are you interested? If so, here is how to get helpful feedback with recommendations for improving your speeches and presentations.
Just ask me personally
Please post any questions that may be of interest to other readers in the comments. Looking for professional help?
If you are interested in coaching, training or consulting, if you have organizational questions, or if you want to make an appointment, you can reach me best via this contact form (you can choose if you want to enter your personal data) or via e-mail (mail@karstennoack.com). You can also reach me by phone at +49(0)30 864 213 68 or by cell phone at +49(0)1577 704 53 56 from Monday to Thursday from 9:00 to 18:00. Most of the time I am in sessions, so please leave a message with your phone number in Germany. Please remember to be very specific about the reason for your call. I will get back to you as soon as possible. The privacy policy can be found here.
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What may cost the preparation of a presentation, which effort is justified?
read more
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Key messages create focus, control, and intensity in influencing your target audiences. How to create compelling key messages in speeches and presentations.
This article is a short excerpt from the more comprehensive course materials my clients receive in a group or individual training or coaching.
Published: June 21, 2001
Author: Karsten Noack
Revision: August 20th, 2023
Translation: ./.
German version:
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