In todays class we learnt about the importance of confidence when pitching your product.

Three volunteers from the class stood up in front of the lecture hall and were asked how they felt about it. They of course said they felt awkward and nervous. This task was done to show us that everyone gets nervous and the trick to pitching a good presentation is to just fake confidence until you feel it.

What would help?

1. Standing in the space, getting familiar with the space you will be presenting in
2. Eye contact- conscious of where eyes of looking to make everyone feel included. make sure to look at different parts of the room to help with this.
3. Can ask your audience to sit closer to you as it creates a more intimate environment and makes you feel less nervous.
4. Stick to your time limit- shows selfishness if you eat into other peoples time. a great way to make sure this doesn’t happen is to practise beforehand to make sure you don’t have to rush what you have to say and to make sure you do not go over your time limit.
5. Use pictures where possible- more eye-catching and powerful to put in a slide instead of text one very slide. an image also means that your audience will listen to you better as if it was a slide full of text your audience will be reading the text instead of listening to you.
6. Use plain English!!!!!- it is important that your audience can clearly understand what you are saying in your presentation. if you use too complicated language your audience will be distracted and won’t Listen to you as they are too busy trying to translate your text. Trying to sound smarter makes it difficult for everyone else and makes it less enjoyable.
7. Be succinct – say what you have to say in as little words as possible- get to the point!

Why use slides?

1. Visual guides- makes your presentation more interesting
2. Act as queue cards if used appropriately
3. What you are saying should make sense without the aid of your slides- should just be a reference or to show images or key points.
4. You will be nervous- helps you feel more prepared and acts as a protector as you can use it to fall back on if you forget what you have to say

Tips

1. only use one typeface! keep it simple and consistent
2. make sure the type is easy to read/skim
3. Use subtle transitions
4. Make sure if you use videos or gifs- use them sparingly!! using too many becomes awkward and boring
5. NEVER put paragraphs on the screen-too distracting for the audience as they will read it instead of paying attention to you
6. Use bullet points for text- 3/4 bullet points per slide
7. Check spelling and content

Slide Setup

16:9- widescreen ratio- perfect for projectors

Content

APPROACH 1– tell your audience before you begin what you are going to cover in your presentation

APPROACH 2– get to the point- start the presentation and tell the audience what’s in your presentation as you go through it. No point in telling your audience twice

Handing out Supporting Materials

When?

At the end- if you give out your supporting materials after your presentation as your audience will not pay attention to you as they will be reading your leaflets etc

Rhetoric- The way we speak

1. Repetition (useful for important points to make the audience remember)
2. Rhetorical Question
3. Metaphor
4. Alliteration
5. Humour
6. Personal Anecdotes

Be Prepared

1. Cables
2. Connectors
3. Clicker
4. PDF BACKUP-bulletproof

Investor Pitch- What should it include?

1. Vision– what are you trying to achieve?
2. Problem– what led to this idea? what is missing in society?
3. Solution-your overall vision of how your product will solve the problem
4. Market-who will use your product?
5. Team-who is working on it?
6. The Ask-what are you actually asking for? how much do you need?

Remember!

• Practice Makes Perfect!
• Keep it Interesting