How to write an elevator pitch

Why make a pitch?

The goal of a pitch is to get your listener excited about helping your business move forward. A successful pitch might lead to a new investor, client, or a new contact.

Prepare the pitch

• Determine your target audience
  Who is your audience and what do these people care about? And how much do they already know about your product or industry? Once you know that, you can adapt your story accordingly. That way, your audience will feel addressed.
• Make it visible
  Collect interesting data that supports your arguments. Data, statistics and other important information can be clarified with a graph or infographic.
• Keep it short
  A pitch is short and sweet. Know what you want to say and make sure you can get it across in no more than 3 minutes.
• Prepare for questions
  Once your listeners have heard your pitch, they will hopefully want to know more. Think in advance what questions your audience will have and what your answer will be. Then you will come across as convincing and knowledgeable.
• Do research
  This will help you answer questions after your pitch. Get important information with market research, industry research, the KVK Company Counter or a location scan (in Dutch).

Powerful opening

Grab your audience's attention right from the start. You can do this with a striking fact or a stimulating question. Make your audience curious about your story. In addition, briefly tell what topics will be covered in the rest of your pitch. This way, everyone knows what you want to convey.

Personal story

People tend to remember stories better than dry facts. So, make your pitch a personal story. Do not emphasise what you do, but why you do what you do. Share your ideas, motivation and passion. People are more likely to connect with a product or service they feel emotionally connected to and understand why it exists.

Call to action

With your closing, you leave a final impression. If you do this well, your audience will remain interested even after your pitch. Summarise your main points in a clear conclusion. End your pitch with a call to action. For example, encourage people to invest in your business or visit your website.

Examples

Looking for inspiration and curious about how others make a rock-solid pitch? Check out speakers at TEDx for tips and examples. You will see how they immediately grab the attention, use the right body language, provoke reactions from the audience and make sure their story ends well.