Pitch pointers by Anne Day

I was serving as a judge at a pitch contest last night.   Most of the “pitchers” were in their early twenties.

I don’t remember being that confident or articulate at that age. Certainly I would never have made a presentation to a bunch of strangers, let alone in front of my peers. Very impressive.

There were several lessons to be learned in how they did their presentations.

• Don’t assume that the judging panel know what you are talking about. Drop the jargon and give a simple explanation at the beginning, so you can bring the panel along with you.
• Do your homework. If you are going to present an innovative idea, do the costings and have the statistics to back your case.
• Use your power points as memory joggers instead of holding your notes and reading from them.
• While handing out a large portfolio of data shows you’ve done research, the presentation is what the judges will remember and their decision is made without reading through the documents. A one-pager would have been fine.
• Think through the different applications of what you are proposing. There is often more than one way to implement a new concept. Give options.
• Make sure that your slides are in print size easy for the judges to read.
• Work through the logistics of how your idea would work. Consider the work involved in tracking and implementing your plan and include that information in the presentation.
• Using humour warms up the audience.

All told an interesting evening. I learned a lot and I am all set now to impress my family with my new-found jargon and knowledge of all things technical.

My congratulations to all the students.