HOW TO CREATE AN AWESOME PITCH
Would you like to know what the perfect pitch looks like? Bosse Nordmark, Product Manager Sensor Efficiency at SICK, has some bad news for you: "There is no perfect pitch!" The good news: There are many ways to create a really, really good one! Bosse is an expert in this field, and at the SICK Solution Hackathon, he is pouring all his knowledge into helping the hackers sharpen their pitches. Teams flock to his sessions, eager for the chance to receive tailored feedback that could make their final presentation shine.
Ines Zenkri from the "Give it to me" team admits: "Our team has a lot of experience in robotics - but we have never had to do a pitch presentation. This is completely new to us!" She came to Bosse's pitch training on behalf of her whole team to learn more about how to make a good pitch from scratch - and Bosse was happy to introduce her to his philosophy of good pitches.
"I know it is hard to convert 48 hours of work into five minutes of pitching," says Bosse. The secrets are efficiency and focusing on the important parts:
Ines and her team delivered well – you would never guessed they were new to the pitching game. Their presentation leaned heavily on video demonstrations, showing how their project, which uses webcam gestures to control humanoid hands, works in action. A pitch with much technical depth and visualization of it - and they focused exactly on Bosse’s advice for their structure.
Different teams, different problems: Team “SHD” decided that the pitch would be presented by the whole team - but in the end they did not really feel comfortable with their choice. "Some people have perfect knowledge of technology, but that does not mean they can present their knowledge equally perfectly," says Bosse. "For the limited time of a short pitch, you need a 'stage monkey' - a very lively person who likes to talk and perform on stage." A hackathon project needs a lot of people beforehand, but if you are the tech guy, for example, and you do not feel comfortable pitching, you did enough and let others take the stage.”
Team SHD took Bosse’s advice to heart, with Kim Nielsen stepping up as the sole presenter, giving the pitch a much more cohesive feeling. They also shifted their pitch’s story, raising the stakes from a simple improvement to a life-or-death scenario: how autonomous, intelligent guided vehicles could make surgical work safer by allowing medical staff to keep their gloves on.
Team “Felix Farm” presents an already pretty polished pitch at the training session - but Bosse would not be the expert he is if he did not find room for improvement. First of all, he focuses on their scenario: “Felix Farm” wants to change the way water is used in agriculture, stop wasting water and improve the efficiency of its use. Bosse advises them to strengthen their scenario: "You're focusing on agriculture, that's fine - but make it bigger, because this is a global problem. Paint a clearer picture of why it is important for all of us."
Guess what? Team “Felix Farm” won the first price! They already had a great pitch, but Bosse's advice certainly put the icing on the cake. They focused on their key messages, included lots of examples and, of course, sharpened their scenario. They emphasize that the farmers' problem with water is ultimately everyone's problem, but they also turn it into something hopeful, as Tomer summarizes: "If we use water more efficiently, not only the farmers win - we all win!" It was a well-deserved first price - congratulations!
Bosse's final advice to each team after the training: "If you have any questions, just come back and ask!" He laughs and tells his favorite anecdote: "At one hackathon, there was this team that suddenly came to me less than half an hour before the pitches started. I was already preparing for the stage, but they changed some things and needed an opinion. Well, I helped them - and they won! I should get a commission on their project!"
So don't hesitate to ask more questions - it could be your win! And never forget: Do not aim for perfection - aim for a pretty awesome pitch!
Do you want some additional advice from Bosse “the hero of pitching” Nordmark? Here are some more of his tips:
Don't write too much on your slides - just give the most important information. The audience should be listening to you, not reading your slides.
Be precise: Forget about abbreviations!
Make it easy to read: Make fonts and images larger so that everyone in the audience can read them.
A picture is worth a thousand words - so choose a good one (but don't overdo it).
Videos are great - but don’t overdo them. Playing a video always changes the flow and might create technical problems. Don’t forget: The audience should watch you and not a video!
Don't discuss prices before they need to be discussed.
Facts and figures are great - but give examples ("1.2 billion tonnes is like...") and find comparisons for them.
Practice your pitch - and then practice and practice again. Remember your time on stage is short, so practice as often as you need to - until you feel really comfortable.
Always have a backup: A copy of the presentation on a second USB drive and another computer that is compatible with the technology on the pitch. If you get a technical check beforehand, use it!