Step 5 Pitching
Overview and Instructions
By this stage, you should be confident in your idea and have developed it as far as you can. You now need to outline your idea to the judging panel and convince them that your idea is a winning one.
For your pitch you are asked to XXXX.
What is a pitch?
A pitch differs from a presentation, which you may be more familiar with delivering.
Pitches are shorter, snappier and are designed to excited and convience the target audience about a particular venture.
Presentations are longer and designed to inform and educate the audience on a particular subject.
Making a good pitch
Ask yourself two questions.
a) What has been the worst lecture you have been to?
b) Who is the best speaker you have ever seen?
Your answers probably revolves around a number of things:
a) The worst lecture may have been unstructured, too long, too monotonous, not engaging and delivered in a boring or unconfident manner.
b) The best speaker you may have seen may have done something different, was clear and consise, used good storytelling techniques, was confident, potentially funny and you could keep track of what they were saying.
In order to deliver a good pitch, you need to do less of A) and more of B).
In the below sections you will have support in how to do this and how to submit the final pitch.
What to include in your pitch
Your pitch should give a comprehensive overview of:
- What problem your idea is solving – what route issue did you identify?
- Your idea– a summary of your solution to the route issue
- How and why your idea is innovative – what makes it different?
- Your target market – a breakdown of who this idea is for
- How it will work –key partners, estimation of costs, resources needed - using your chosen Canvas to help you cover the needed topics
We will now look at how to structure these 'headings'.
Preparing your pitch
The below video outlines how to structure your pitch, considerations around tone and style, how to pitch confidently and digital pitch considerations.
Digital pitch options and resources
|
Submission type |
What and how |
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Slides with voiceover/webcam |
Record a voice over or yourself on a webcam talking through a slide deck. Your slides could be PowerPoint, Keynote, Prezi, PowToon, SlideBean. Record it using PowerPoint/Keynote themselves. or use screen capture software such as Loom or Screencast-O-Matic. |
|
Pecha Kucha Slides with voiceover/webcam |
As above but follow the Pecha Kucha structure – 20 slides at 20 seconds each – totalling at 6 min 40. (You can go over the 5 minute requirement if you choose Pecha Kucha). |
|
Talking head with overlays/graphic |
Film yourself on your phone or camera. Edit your footage with free software such as Adobe Premiere Rush – iMovie's or Windows movie maker. Import images/video footage into the edit. |
Resources and support
|
Submission type |
Support and resources |
|
Record a PowerPoint presentation |
|
|
Pecha Kucha |
|
|
Screen recorders |
https://www.loom.com/ (Links to an external site.) and https://screencast-o-matic.com/ (Links to an external site.) |
|
Editing software |
https://www.adobe.com/uk/products/premiere-rush.html (Links to an external site.) https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/mac-software/imovie-mac-tips-3652888/ (Links to an external site.) |
|
Other slide decks |
https://www.powtoon.com/ (Links to an external site.) https://slidebean.com/ (Links to an external site.) |
Live pitches: handling questions + delivering elevator pitches
In this programme, winning streams will be selected in the final live session. Those who are selected will have to deliver a short 1 minute 'elevator pitch' and answer 1 or 2 questions from the group/judges. Please do not worry about this! This is a great experience for you to handle pressure and practice for interviews. Some top tips in the videos below.
How to submit your pitch
BESPOKE TO YOUR PROJECT
