As you may know, I reserve my solocasts for topics which have been nothing short of monumental in my journey as an outdoor founder. So this week, I’m talking with all of you about something that, having started two companies and been in the outdoor industries for fifteen years, I had never done up until a few weeks ago.
What I’m talking about is . . . writing a pitch deck! In just a few weeks, I’ll be presenting at the Outdoor Women’s Industry Coalition Pitchfest. I’m super honored to have been selected to be one of this year’s presenters, but it’s a new and challenging experience for me. In preparing my own pitch deck for the event, I learned so much about building and rehearsing pitch decks and I’m excited to share this process with you.
When I sat down to write my pitch, I had to really get to the nitty gritty and evaluate what my company needed, what I wanted to get from this experience. I had to know, specifically what my ask was.
And then, I started reading about how to give an awesome pitch. In my solocast, I’m talking about the two most helpful resources to me in preparing this pitch deck, and the hard editing process I’ve been working through to get it just right.
I’m also sharing some of the negative thoughts I’m refusing to believe about my pitch, and three steps for building an amazing pitch.
This pitch deck has been such a learning experience for me and for developing how I think about the needs of my company. I’ve never done one before, but I’m choosing to see this an asset, not a liability. If you don’t know what can’t be done, there’s nothing to stop you.
I hope you’ll learn from my process and the resources I’m sharing. This episode is a must listen for anyone looking to pitch or promote their ideas!
Bravery in Business Quote “Well, the way I look at that is I've never done this before and that's actually my biggest advantage. Because what I don't know won't hurt me, right?” - Kristin Carpenter Ogden (Click to tweet) Cliff Notes Entrepreneurs should pitch a story, not just figures and facts. Struggled with two limiting ideas about writing this pitch. She refused to believe them, but they’re still inside her head all the time. She didn’t have enough time to write a good pitch deck. Only had six weeks from the time she found out she got in to the presentation. The pitch is only five minutes long. She is “incredibly verbose” so 5 minutes is a real challenge. Started telling herself that not having done this before was an advantage. Because she doesn’t have the experience to know that it can’t be done in 5 minutes, she’s going for it. Rehearse your pitch in front of a variety of people to figure out what the different reactions are, and what engages each audience Edit out everything that isn’t causing an emotional reaction. Even pitching financials, she tried to frame them in terms of a story, hot cognition. When giving the pitch, stay present because this will keep you confident. Confidence also comes from being well prepared.3 Tips for Building a Pitch Deck
Focus on “hot cognition”, i.e. stories that will spark emotion (from Klaff). Confidence creates flow. Be Confident. Remember that you are just the vessel for the mission of the project. “I have two children in real life and I have two children in my business is I guess you'll love them both very much, not one over the other. They're very different.” (Click to tweet) Resources
Questions@IntrepidEntrepreneur.net
Show Notes: IntrepidEntrepreneur.net/pitchdeck
