This topic provides tips and tools to help you structure and present your pitch so that your ask is clear and concise, improving your opportunity of success. You will be encouraged to adopt an abundance mindset, which means your pitch will focus on achieving a win, win, win for the customer, the organisation and your team.
Rather than starting with what you want to say, focus on why you are presenting and to whom. Start with the end in mind, and ask yourself: What will you achieve if your pitch is successful?
The four primary purposes for presentations are:
Think about your purpose when pitching a co-innovation project to your leaders, a funding body, or a potential partner; What do you want your audience to know, feel and do?
The presentation purpose will likely be a combination of the following:
To inform
Informative presentations generally appeal to the processes of understanding and reasoning. Above all else, you should try to transfer information and explain.
What do I do?
- Give facts, statistical evidence and figures
- Use reasoned arguments
- Offer well-balanced views
- Use visual aids such as drawings or graphics
- Keep non-verbal communication to a minimum.
To persuade
Persuasive presentations appeal to an audience’s “needs”. In a persuasive presentation, your goal is to change attitudes.
What do I do?
- Know and believe in your topic
- Show confidence
- Show enthusiasm
- Use visuals/audio-visuals
- Use body language to support your persuasion.
To influence
Influencing is about moving the client to a place of commitment to your ideas. The purpose is usually to galvanise the client into action. Your presentation should appeal to thinking and feeling, not just the transfer of information.
What do I do?
- Connect with the audience’s three critical motivations:
- Belonging – connecting with others
- Accuracy – making a good decision based on the correct information
- Positive self-concept – protecting the good view of ourselves
- Be relevant to the audience’s needs and focus on what’s in it for them
- Use aids for emotional impact
- Tell stories and use examples to engage the hearts and minds
- Aim for high credibility – refer to trends and practical examples that this project is moving in the right direction
- Clarify “the ask”, so the audience knows exactly why they are there.
To educate
Presentations to educate or instruct a person/group should be very carefully structured; clearly worded, incorporate “checking questions” for feedback and, if possible, should accompany an actual demonstration.
What do I do?
- Use a clear and consistent structure
- Remove all distractions
- Point out the purpose of the demonstration
- Frequently check for feedback.
While a presentation for funding, permission or resources for a co-innovation project will mostly rely on influencing the audience, it may also contain elements of the other three. It will depend on your audience demographic entirely.