Trim That Pitch

I frequently blog on the virtues of short, sharp, snappy pitching. Here’s yet more corroboratory evidence. Workshopped to advise tech start-ups how to deal with the press and opinion forming bloggers, three of this Boston USA conference’s 43 tips are useful general pitching pointers.

1. Know what your message is. What is important about your company and how are you going to talk about it? Have a brainstorming session to talk about how best to present your story.

10. Be able to tell your story in 30-60 seconds – be “Clear, Concise, Compelling.” Messaging is an exercise in cutting back, not saying more.

12. Be ready to answer this question: “If you’re at a cocktail party and had to explain what your company is doing to a normal person, what would you say?” Being overly technical or relying on too many buzzwords often winds up diminishing your role in a story.

They make a trio of terrific break-out session topics for your next internal sales team meeting or conference.

As an aside, four other points were noteworthy in the selling context; people better understand positioning within a trend, don’t say ‘our only competitor is customer ignorance’, pass on things no-one else knows and tell the truth.