Pitching ideas with passion

22 Sep, 2019 - 00:09 0 Views
Pitching ideas with passion

The Sunday Mail

Hunt for Greatness
Milton Kamwendo

The processes of life and hunting for greatness are just dialogue in motion. Unless, you can sell your thoughts, ideas, concepts and models, you will not influence anyone. If you cannot influence, you will not grow. You may not become a full time public speaker, but you have to learn how to speak up and share your ideas, when it matters. It is not just a matter of passionate delivery, but content also matters. It is not just content that matters, but how it is structured so that it is compelling and persuasive. Unless ideas are packaged and communicated, they will never have feet.

There will be many times when you will have to pitch your ideas to others. It could be some changes that you want your organisation or community to make. It may be to get an investor or funder interested in your projects. It may be that you want to generate buy-in to your programme of action. Whatever presentation you make is a type of pitch. Knowing how to pitch is critical and you need to practice, and keep getting better all the time.

Good pitching does not mean you will succeed all the time. However, it improves your odds of success. Greatness does not come through mere luck. You have to be ready to make your presentation when opportunity comes. Be prepared and be focused.

Here are a few ways to make your pitch presentation more effective and fruitful. To make it easy to pitch better presentations, I have used the acronym “P.I.T.C.H.”

P: Present clearly

the opportunity

Opportunities, not problems, are what makes your presentation interesting. You must bring out the “carrots” early. Show people the interesting opportunities and solutions. People are not naturally wired to be interested in you, because they are interested in themselves and their own problems and concerns. Your pitch presentation must, therefore, answer what is in it for the party that you are addressing. If your message does not speak to your audience, you will only be speaking to yourself.

Everyone can see the problems, dissect the problems, broadcast problems and pout about the problems. That does not take much thought or science. Investors are not interested in the size of the problem and its pain. They are interested in the canvas of possibilities, the size of the opportunity and the duration the opportunity is likely to last. You are more valuable when you can see opportunities in the midst of a sea of negativity.

Present clearly the opportunity, the change and the good that will come through. Show your audience the “land of milk and honey” that you are proposing. There is no need to glorify the fearful giants, the dangerous snakes and the discouraging snags. In every problem there are resident opportunities.

I: Illuminate your case

Whatever you claim, you have to be able to back it with supporting facts and evidence. What does the data say? In Zimbabwe, they would say,”Bring the V11 forms”. Illuminate the case with compelling and structured evidence.

Show clearly your theory of investment. If someone invests in what you are proposing, what are you asking them to invest in? This could be in terms of time, money, commitment or something else. What are you asking for and what do you want. What help do you need? Funding Structures?

Income/Impact Streams? What would be the payback and return? What can they expect to get back?

T: Touch the “hot buttons”

Your pitch presentation has to touch the “hot buttons”. These are the key issues of interest or concern. What are the key “tick boxes” that are in the minds of your audience? Appeal to the investor’s interests and show how your solution matters. People are moved by stories, so tell your story in simple, but effective language. Paint your solution set. The aim of communication is never to confuse people or to display your strings of vocabulary. The key of communication is to convey a message.

Tell stories of past success, this shows that you know what you are talking about. Tell your story in the language of your audience. As you tell your story, show that you have the capacity to deliver and the humility to learn. Profile the depth of your team and the solution that you have.

C: Clear in theory of action:

Talking big is not enough, you have to back this with a clear plan of action. Your theory of action must be clear. It must show what steps you intend to take and what will be different after you take action. Your theory of action must show that you have thought through what you are doing. It allows you to begin with the end in mind. Your theory of action must show that you have a clear picture of success.

A clear theory of action reflect your understanding of the context, what you will do to navigate through the obstacles and deliver results. Unless your steps are clear and logical, your listeners will get lost and so will the support you hope to gain.

H: How will this be

scaled and sustained:

One-day wonders are not worth bringing people around the table. People want to know how your concept, idea or move will be scaled up. How will you move from where you are to the next step. How will what you are doing be duplicated? How will the multiplier effect be applied to your model and thoughts.

The beginning is usually exciting. However, what the people giving you an ear want to know is how all this will be sustained. How will progress be monitored and how will it be evaluated. How will the lessons learnt be filtered back into the project to improve and take things to the next level.

Pitching any thought and idea does not mean that everything will be easy and perfect. However, it is a chance to show that you have applied thought to what you are doing and you have a clear roadmap ahead.

The basic rules of presentations apply here as well. Make eye contact. If you are going to use PowerPoint make sure that your slides are clear and that they are not a length handout. If you have supportive detailed information, like tables, graphs and other lengthy details, put them in a handout and give this out at the end of your presentation. Present with passion and show that you believe in what you are talking about.  Committed to your greatness.

Milton Kamwendo is a leading international transformational and motivational speaker, author, and growth mentor. He is a cutting-edge strategy, team-building and organisation development facilitator and consultant. His life purpose is to inspire and promote greatness. He can be reached at: [email protected] and Twitter: @MiltonKamwendo or WhatsApp at: 0772422634. His website is: www.miltonkamwendo.com

 

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