The over-arching purpose of a business pitch is to persuade others that your idea and your proposal for bringing it to the market place is both robust and exciting. That is, you have persuaded the potential investor, partner, customer etc., that you have a financially viable proposal that is likely to be a success. You could be "pitching" an idea for a new app, a new drug, a new chocolate bar, a new filter for an exhaust pipe or a new way to cook food. Whatever forms the core of your business idea, if you want to win over the audience, there are some general "rules".Be concise: keep the presentation to a minimum (this will vary from 60 seconds to maybe 15 minutes, depending on the situation). I think 3 slides is enough.
Show clarity: one speaker (or at least no more than 2, and the team can field questions), simple explanatory slides, key financial information (market size, market opportunity, product costs and an idea of margins)
Identify the competition:why your company and not Coca Cola?
Milestones should be transparent: £1m now, £100m in 5 years? £10 000 now, £100 000 in 1 year? £10m now, £ 10b in 10 years?
Risk assessment: what can go wrong and how to mitigate any such risks
Be passionate and avoid arrogance: everyone likes an enthusiast, few warm to arrogance
Respect your audience. Make no assumptions, other than they are always correct!
This is by no means exhaustive, but should give you some idea, most of all obey the brevity rule! You will always make friends if you finish on time or early, and questions give the listener a good opportunity to get to know you further.
Good Luck tomorrow
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