You did the research for your pitch, you wrote your text, designed your slides and you even practiced your pitch. You are almost ready to perform your pitch.
At this point you should know your text by heart and you should have practiced it many times.
Unfortunately, even if your preparation was perfect, there is still a chance that your pitch doesn’t go well. This could have to do with nerves or external factors such as the environment.
By preparing yourself with a few small tricks you can minimize the risk of a blackout.
These small things can make or break your entire pitch, so please take your time to follow these steps. Underneath you will find 5 things you should prepare before you go on stage.
- Be on time
On the day of your pitch you will probably be a little bit nervous. Even though this isn’t necessary, as you prepared your pitch well, this might still happen.
As a high stress level damages the success of your pitch, you should do anything to prevent this.
In order to reduce the amount of stress and nerves on this day make sure to be on the location on time.
- Get used to the environment
Whenever you arrive at the location of your pitch, try to enter the room where you will be pitching early. By getting used to the environment you will feel more calm during your pitch. Spend at least 30 minutes in this room and make this room yours.
- Position yourself
The position a person takes during his pitch tells a lot about his level of confidence. When a pitcher stands all the way in back of the stage, this usually is a tell that he or she is nervous.
Not only does this hurt the credibility of the pitcher, it simply also causes that people in the back of the room can’t see you.
- Control your nerves
If you took steps 1-3 you should have a minimized stress level at this point. However, the lower your stress level the better.
Control your nerves and reduce your stress by doing one of the following things:
- Meditate a few minutes before you start your pitch
- Listen to your favourite song before you start your pitch
- Do some quick exercising before your start your pitch
- Practice a few more times in the bathroom before your start your pitch
What works best is different for every person. Try a few of them during your practice rounds and find out what works best for you.
- Keep control of the conversation
Depending on the size of the room it could be that some people want to ask questions during your pitch.
Usually the smaller the room, the more likely people are to ask questions.
Whenever you find yourself in the situation where you are pitching in front of 1-10 people there is a chance that people (try to) interrupt you.
This should never happen.
If you see that somebody tries to ask a question during your pitch, acknowledge his question with a slight hand movement. This way you let him know that you saw his question and that you will be answering later.
In the case that somebody interrupts your pitch with a comment or a question, you should quickly take back control of the situation. You simply say:
‘Thank you, I will come back to that later’
After saying this you directly continue with the rest of your pitch. This way you don’t give him the opportunity to continue with his interruption.
Conclusion
All your preparations have built a steady foundation for your pitch.
By using these 5 steps you leave no room for blackouts, interruptions or other external errors.
Practice these 5 steps during your rehearsal pitch in front of friends or family. This way you are prepared for every situation, which results into the perfect pitch!
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