How to open a pitch presentation with impact

Effective opening lines and strategies to captivate your audience from the start

‍

These days, attention spans are short. Everyone is being distracted by information abundance and technology devices. For those who are pitching to an audience - it's no longer enough to be able to present well. We need to capture audience's attention from the beginning and engage them throughout the pitch. Without doing that, compelling any audience towards investment/purchase/decision-making would be rather difficult.

For many individuals - the difficulty lies in that they are too familiar with what they are there to speak about. Without being able to see their own offering from a fresh lens and perspective, what they believe would make sense - may not easily make sense to someone without background. That's where a Pitch Coach would be able to give a fresh perspective. As PitchCrafters - allow us to share with you some common ways to kick off your pitch with some spice:

‍

📊 Present a Compelling Statistic

Without doing a complete data presentation - begin your pitch with a shocking fact that pertains to everyone in the audience. Something which they have not heard of. A number which would be reality if no action is taken in years from now. Or perhaps an analogy which is described with a number. For example - instead of saying USD$80 Billion Dollars - you could say "All of Facebook's revenue for the year of 2023"

If the number easily paints a pitcture in the minds of the audience - their ability to relate becomes quicker. When opening a pitch, it is important to be able to bring audience's in quickly. If we give them simple, easily relatable information, that brings people to relate instantly. Remember - they may not always be giving you full attention.

‍

🗣️ Engage with a Story or Anecdote

Storytelling is a natural way to engage audiences. But what kind of stories work best? Obviously, if you begin with a story, the story should be related to what you are pitching about. You could talk about a similar situation - the problems encountered, and how that situation may still persist today. Or another way to use stories is to begin with an imagination of the current situation - "What if this company today did not change? What would we become like in 10 years time? One time, I coached a team to quickly share a past success story of their client company - and then asking the audience - if the same approach was taken today, would they think the outcome would be the same? Although it was obvious what the audience would answer - it was a way to get the audience in the right frame of mind.

There are countless ways to use storytelling when presenting a pitch. Whichever way you choose - keep the story to be brief. Remember - the story is only part of the pitch. Storytelling is not the entire pitch.

‍

🧠 Leverage Team Dynamics

This is where we go beyond traditional presentation skills training.

Instead of using spoken words - try to begin with a short act:

A demonstration.

Short skit.

Music.

Etc.

Just no videos. (Because videos can not play properly and tend to run lengthy)

‍

The opening is to capture the audience's attention and bring them to quickly be able to relate to what you are presenting. So whatever you decide to use in the opening seconds should be related to your topic and recommendations. (I once saw a tech entrepreneur think he was being unique by taking off his jacket and shirt on stage. Not sure why he did so. He was pitching a Fintech product)

Opening a pitch doesn't need to be lengthy in duration. It needs to be eye-opening. A pattern which is not being experienced by the audience in the moment. Perhaps a change in the energy which will liven-up the audience. Or maybe something which the audience was not expecting to see or hear.

Apart from what is shared here, there are many other creative ways to begin a pitch. But for the audience's sake - try NOT to begin your pitch by "asking the audience a question". You risk getting the unexpected answer. I once coached an entrepreneur who insisted that he had data that most people had spent $xxx by the time Christmas was over. So he began his pitch by asking "How many people have spent $xxx by the time Christmas holidays ended?" When barely any hands raised, he was dumbfounded. He went on to his slide showing his 'data' that according to his source, most people had spent $xxx by the time Christmas holidays ended. The audience was confused. They felt that the presenter was not agreeing with the audience and not aligned with their situation. Buy-in was weak from the beginning. So - IF you decide to ask a question - try to keep the question closed-ended... more importantly, be prepared for a witty response whichever way the audience responds.

‍

Contact us now to find out how you make your pitches kick off with a punch!