Presentations are an exceptional way of developing teamwork, communication skills and building a team’s confidence in themselves and each other. If you are thinking of holding an event to encourage your group to step up and present, then we’ve got just the thing. Our Sharks’ Den event allows teams to play the role of companies and pitch products or services to a panel of experts.
We’ve all watched the shows, and maybe you’ve seen or been part of local pitch competition run by schools and business organizations. They’re challenging, fun, and enthralling. Who has the better pitch? Who can handle the tough questions? What idea will win?
In our version of a pitch competitions, the team companies will be assigned a mystery product or service and will develop a marketing plan, and a sales pitch, to attempt to secure a financial commitment from the VIP Sharks. This is a perfect event to hold at your next sales and marketing conference. Everyone loves the opportunity to be creative and shine (and maybe get a little competitive?).
Here’s a short list of tips for helping you in your pitches for the Sharks’ Den event, or any presentations or public speaking opportunities you may encounter.
Don’t Go Swimming Without Your Armbands
When you learn to swim, you wouldn’t go swimming without armbands, so when you learn to pitch you wouldn’t go in without preparation. To do so, would be like jumping into the lake and trying to dog paddle to shore. In other words, don’t go into your pitch unprepared or you’re more likely to sink than swim…
For any public speaking engagement preparation is the key. We encourage making notes, not for reading off of during the pitch, but for referring to if you forget any information, this way you’ve made sure you’ve covered everything.
Split Up the Pitch
When presenting as a team, it’s really important that you properly split up the sections of your pitch among team members. This gives good structure to the pitch and allows the sharks to know who will be addressing what topics.
We’d recommend someone opens, introduces and closes the pitch, providing a short introduction to both the product or service, the team members and their roles and then closes the pitch thanking the sharks and welcoming any questions. Remember great pitches start with a hook and finish with a request for an offer - consider which team member is in the best position to deliver those important messages.
Practise Makes Perfect
Once you’ve decided who is working on what, it is time to start developing the different parts to your pitch and then practising the transitions between each section.
Run through your pitch a few times to make sure you have got the timings right and everyone knows what they are saying and when they are saying it.
At the end of each person’s section, they should introduce the next member of the team. Standing in the order you are going to present can be very helpful in case someone forgets who is following them in the order of the pitch.
Don’t Panic, Keep Calm & Swim On
Don’t rush through your pitch, you want to sound in your head like you’re talking slowly. Most people talk a lot faster than they realise in a pitch situation, and the Sharks will be trying to take notes, so be cool, calm and collected.
Add in the occasional short pause if you need to, to allow your thoughts to catch up and make the pitch seem more natural and comfortable.
Break Away from the ‘School’ and Be Yourself
One of the most important tips we can give is being yourself. Your potential shark investors make their decisions based on the people as much as they do the company. People invest in people.
You don’t have to have a flawless pitch, be human, answer questions, know your business and get the most out of the experience as you can.
Time to Swim with the Sharks?
Follow these tips and your pitches will go swimmingly, if you’re interested in diving into this event get in contact with us. We’d love to help you provide a seamless, professional and fun experience for your staff.
