Sell Me This Pen

It’s not about the PEN Cheers, Carl It’s all about the PERSON you are trying to persuade

Who is your Audience? What do you know about the person(s) judging your presentation? What are they looking for? What will appeal to them?

Presentation Basics Energetic – enthusiastic enough to attract attention (first 15 seconds) Loud enough to be heard Slow enough to be understood Musical enough to keep their interest: Employ a Theme – Tell a Story Vary pitch, tempo, tone – Be a Storyteller

Be Music to their Ears Don’t be too predictable Build on what’s gone before Let the listener anticipate

Be Music to their Ears Practice makes Perfect

What is your Story? Channels Pain Point (problem to overcome) Revenue (how you plan to reach the End User) Pain Point (problem to overcome) Revenue (how you plan to Sustain and Grow) Value Proposition(what makes this better than existing alternatives) End User (who will benefit)

Slide Deck Basics Slide 1: Name of team, product, etc. Graphic/logo that indicates what it's all about. Slide 2: Problem (Pain Point or Opportunity; usually a good place to tell a story about a typical end user who has this problem) Slide 3: End Users (who would find this useful, who would want it--a description of possible users and their numbers, if available) Slide 4: Solution (Value Proposition--why someone would use this instead of what the competition or some substitute offers) Slide 5: Features (how it works, how it is used, how it solves the problem--a good place for illustrations, video, etc.) Slide 6: Questions

Presentation Rubric Up to 5 minute presentation Up to 4 minutes for questions Scoring pitches Value Proposition (problem solved, competitive advantages) Market Segment (product-market fit) Business Model (sustainability and growth) “Can you do it?” 4 points each = 4 to 16 points

Presentation Rubric Rank pitches 1 to 4 Relative strength of pitch “I’d like to mentor that pitch” Top 6-ranking pitches go to Finals Round (or the highest scores help determine finalists in case of tie)

Slide Deck Essentials Slide 1 Team or Solution Name

Slide Deck Basics Slide 2 Problem or Pain Point A story about someone who has this problem

Slide Deck Basics Slide 3 End Users Who would find this useful, who would want it. Market size.

Slide Deck Basics Slide 4 Solution Why would someone prefer this over the alternatives? Competitive Advantage

Slide Deck Basics Slide 5 Features How does it work? How is it used? Demos are good (if they work)

Slide Deck Basics Other Slides How to reach your target audience Watch the Time How to reach your target audience Key Activities Key Resources (you) Costs and Sustainability

Slide Deck Basics Format Save as PDF Judges don’t care about fancy transitions Pitch has to play on any device

Slide Deck Basics Last Slide Q & A