Today I had to present my pitch to Daniel, Ronan McKinless who came in for a talk previously and also the 4 other people in my group.
The Pitch
I was really nervous about the pitch as not only was I in the first group of the day, but I was also the first person to go in my group so I felt a lot of pressure as I had no idea if I would be doing it right, and I had to set the tone for the day.
I created cue cards in case I forgot any information, but once I started the pitch I realised I had went over it enough to not really need to look too much. I think because I was actually excited and passionate about my product concept that it made it easier to sell.
Although I was nervous I tried my best to take it slow and have good eye contact with everyone. Once it was over, Daniel and Ronan asked me some great questions on things like why I had an advantage above my competitors, which I was thankfully able to answer because of the competitor research and SWOT analysis I had done prior. Daniel asked me about pricing which I hadn’t really looked into yet so I just discussed the average prices of my competitors.
At the end the class had to vote for the best pitch and I ended up winning! I was so happy and proud of myself as it was something I really wanted to improve on and I think that doing research and watching videos of other people doing pitches really paid off.
Reflection
I wasn’t too sure what to expect from this module at the beginning but I have honestly learned so much in the last few months. I wasn’t really educated on the business/legal side of being a designer up until now, so it was great to get so many lectures and projects to help us learn and practice these aspects, as it’s something I will need going into the working world.
I was glad that I had the opportunity to update my CV, Cover Letter and LinkedIn as it was something I had been meaning to do for quite a while. Daniel gave me some really useful tips about how to create an effective design. In the past I had been taught to make it as creative as possible to stand out, but now I realise that your CV should be minimal in order to let your portfolio do the talking. I think the updated version will definitely make me more likely to get interviews.
I used to hate the legal side of this business, but now that it’s been broken down a little I don’t find it as daunting. I struggled a bit with the project proposal and found the pricing quite confusing and time consuming, but now that I’ve done it once I know I would definitely find it much easier next time.
All in all, I found the module really insightful and look forward to implementing what I’ve learned into my working life.