Upgrade Your Approach: 6 Tips To Deliver An Effective Pitch

Preparing an effective pitch takes time and skill to ensure you are able to communicate your message effectively. Lucero Tagle is the co-founder of Pitch Ninjas, an organization that supports clients in mastering the art of effective pitching.

She has faced her own challenges and triumphs with pitching, her personal experiences in the corporate world inspired much of her client work today. Growing up feeling like she had no voice and her own ideas weren’t valid, carried into her early corporate career. “When I started working, that transpired into not saying much in meetings, being told to speak up, but you weren’t told how to do it, so that just made me more nervous.” 

She later noticed a clear inequality between the availability of pitching and communication training for executives or coaches at the top of the corporate ladder. “I started getting into the field and thinking, why can’t we offer this sort of coaching, communication coaching expertise to people very junior? They are sometimes the ones that need it the most. With that, came the idea of Pitch Ninjas.”

She shared some tips to apply when crafting and executing an effective pitch, no matter the context:

Whether you’re refining your best elevator pitch or preparing for a big presentation, she recommends adopting an infinite pitching strategy to prepare yourself for either scenario that expands or contracts depending on the time you have to pitch yourself or your company.

“An elevator pitch is unexpected. It’s being prepared to say what you do in a couple of sentences while a longer presentation is more in-depth. Having that flexibility between both I like to call an ‘infinite pitch mindset’ where you’re ready to weave your messages into any conversation at any length. Really thinking about your story or your company narrative, how you can adapt it to any scenario from a one-liner of what you do through to a longer presentation or  TED Talk.”

She notes that using strategic pauses is a powerful change you can use instantly to enhance your pitch; “most people rush to fill the silences, but well timed pauses can dramatically increase impact.” Although this technique takes time and practice to master, these pauses can separate you as an effective, experienced speaker while allowing you to leverage the power of silence instead of fearing it. 

“That also demonstrates a lot of confidence in the speaker. You have to learn to be comfortable with the silence, and you’ll stand out, in comparison to others who are nonstop talkers,” she said. “When you rehearse your pitch and get comfortable, and there are places where you can insert that strategic pause, I’d say it’s the easiest one because you just have to bite your tongue.”

Creating a captivating hook to begin your pitch is key to capturing audience attention. It also supports your pitch to be memorable. Tagle advises finding a compelling hook to enhance your opening and establish a point of difference. 

“Can you tell a compelling stat, your own personal story, or a thought-provoking question that captures the audience or the shock effect of saying a data point?” She has used a method to captivate the audience and re-engage concentration. “I start with the ending, and then explain how we’re going to get there; it creates intrigue.”

She finds a common mistake people make is overselling, so using a hook can open up a conversation. “The best pitches, ask the right questions. You’re not necessarily going to converse with the audience, but you can, by the hook, by asking a question, by flipping it, and by not saying so many things that you lose the audience.”

Striving for authenticity is more important than perfection. Part of this strategy means embracing vulnerable moments, which creates a point of relation with your audience. It’s equally important to avoid the temptation to apologize. 

“Even if you forget something, the best thing I’ve seen when that happens is that you take ownership, and there’s a vulnerable moment where you’re like, ‘Right, OK. Give me a second,’ as opposed to going, ‘I’m sorry.’ Your personality comes out, and then I relate to you. I think it’s fantastic if you do have that just to take it, soak it in. And move forward. Embracing that vulnerability, that authenticity really resonates – more than sort of that perfection, you know, that perfect pitch.”

She recommends visualizing both the moments both during and after the pitch, equally thinking through both the best and worst-case scenarios to harness maximum adaptability and combat nerves.

“I always envision or visualize the end result or the outcome; what do I want people to feel? It’s just a good way to envision success or even mitigate if I get a tricky question or if the audience isn’t with me, or they’re not smiling? How will I take that?,” she shared. “Worst case scenario, let’s say the slides don’t work. Do I know what the next slide is? Can I crack a joke off it and and and continue? I visualize all of that, and it makes me less nervous because I go through all scenarios in my head, all sorts of questions.”

One of the most important factors in performing your pitch well is to rehearse regularly. She recommends starting with people in your team or close to the work you do, but also engage maximum preparation by rehearsing with audiences who may be unfamiliar. “Remove yourself from people that know the business, the product, or perhaps are too married to it,” she added.

Taking advantage of unconventional or unplanned rehearsal opportunities can be the greatest way to become comfortable with pitching in any environment. “Those are just opportunities you can take at any time; any opportunity you have when people ask, ‘What do you do?’, is a great way to practice the pitch. Each interaction builds that resilience and adaptability. I always like to say, it’s not about perfection but about comfort. It’s about imperfection. When you pitch to someone or this interested stranger, you can then pitch to anyone. I think that’s the beauty of readiness.”

A final reminder from Tagle comes as a confidence boost when considering your audience and how much they are behind you. “Remember that no one wants to see you fail,” she said. “I always say people want to see you succeed. I don’t think there’s anyone out there sitting in the audience that wants you to fail and is waiting for you to fail.”