Pitching your business: Voice (part 2)
In my last post (part 1) I spoke about creating a brand for yourself, an image of what people thought about you and not necessarily your company. Creating a positive image of yourself will allow people to think highly of your business, which will lead to more interest to what you’re offering. Make sense, right?
Now that we’ve got your image ready, let’s get ready for the actual pitch or presentation to either investors, clients, or an audience of people who have come to hear you speak.
You can have the best image in the world, but if people don’t like the way you speak to them, they will automatically lose some of respect for what you have to say, and we don’t want that.
Here are some things to remember when speaking:
Be Enthusiastic!
If you display a certain level of energy in your voice, your listeners will usually be just as energetic, too.
Not too long ago, I gave a very energetic speech to fellow college students about investing in the stock market. The speech was focused on the bare basics, so it wasn’t really an exciting topic to speak of. Most students just want to hear about the money aspect and not the fundamental analysis. However, I found out ways to make it explode with energy. I spoke of how millions were made in the days during the technology bubble of the late nineties as I ran around the room spitting out growth factors, ratios, and ways to analyze stocks. The crowd responded with “wows… laughs….cheers.” At the end of the speech, every one in the room had a solid grasp on studying and researching stocks.
Now, I’m not saying that you have to run around the room; I’m saying that you really need to show an extreme interest in what you’re talking about and make it fun for the listener. Make sure that you are properly projecting your voice –don’t sound like a mouse.
Tell a story
Bring your listeners through a story that somehow relates or serves to help the listener better understand the focus of your presentation.
During the summer I gave a speech to college students about building a cross-functional team for your business. A cross-functional team in any business is basically a team of people where each individual contains different skills of their own, serving to make the team extremely powerful due to the synergistic effects.
I started the speech off by telling a story (true story) of when I was 10 year-old running a small candy selling business in school. Within months of this operation I was able to establish a marketing department (which was basically another student who went around putting stickers and notes in lockers) and an accounting department (a student who wrote down how much we made each week on lunch napkins). I was able to successfully put together a group of students with different areas of expertise (even though it was on such a small scale — 10 year-olds) Yes, this example wasn’t the best, but it truly helped my audience understand the fundaments, and it was great attention getter (something that helps spark interest right away). I used this simple story to lead into more complex situations of setting up a team of programmers, coders, and designers. The simple story was crucial for the transition.
Essentially, your primary goal is to get your listeners to see what you’re seeing, believe what you’re believe, and to trust in whatever you have to say. This isn’t something easily taught, you just have to really conjure up those feelings and let them loose. In time, with some practice (I like to practice in front of a mirror or a small group of honest friends), you’ll be able to acquire the trust and respect from all of your listeners.
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