If you’re involved in business, then chances are, you have had experience with delivering a business pitch.
Brilliant business ideas are hard to come by. But to bring them from germination into actuality, you’ll need to get financial support first. This is where a good business pitch comes in.
You can polish your presentation slides to perfection, and rehearse your speech to death. But an outstanding pitch often requires something of an x-factor. This is complicated by the fact that many of us simply do not have the charismas of a natural-born salesperson.
Consider this hypothetical situation: You are trapped in an elevator with a potential investor. You’ve got a great business idea in your head, and 30 seconds – at most – to get it across.
What if you’ve got a case of cold feet? What if you stutter?
The trick to getting around this? Use videos.
Now, we’re not recommending you to replace your entire pitch with a video. Videos do not always capture the intricacies of spoken words, and they are certainly not the most appropriate medium for communicating in an elevator. But videos can complement your verbal pitch powerfully. Not to mention they’re incredibly versatile – you can send them to potential investors as a follow-up, stream them at a conference, or jazz them up to make them ad-worthy.
Videos are capable of reaching large audiences. Which may be relevant to you, since crowdfunding has been gaining traction in recent years. Crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo have consistently reported a correlation between video content and successful campaigns. For instance, 79% of the featured campaigns on Indiegogo contains a video pitch.
These campaigns are also 2.4 times more likely to reach the homepage, as opposed to video-less campaigns.
Videos Are Versatile: Michael Inman’s Video Introduction Of His Exploding
Kittens Game Also Doubles Up As An Explainer Video.
Videos can be creative, intriguing, and compelling. They can bring out your brand personality effectively and succinctly. Use them to your advantage!
Here are 6 tips when presenting a video pitch:
Pictures resonate with people instantaneously. And if a picture says a thousand words, then a short video is potentially capable of saying millions. The idea here is to include suitable visual aid in your video pitch, and not just fill it with numbers and infographics.
Videos Are A Great Way To Demonstrate How Your Product Interacts With Your
Surroundings.
No matter how spectacular your graphics are, it’s important to remember that the basic ingredients that make up a great verbal pitch also make up a great video pitch. If you only have 30 seconds, then consider employing the ‘magic formula’: I help [target audience] achieve [target goal] through [differentiator], because [reason]. This applies to videos as well: Beautiful graphics are always a plus, but make sure that they do not obscure your core business idea!
The Most Important Element Of A Pitch Is A Well Thought-Out Plan.
Your Pitch Probably Shouldn’t Sound Like This.
You may be thinking, “I know this already!”. But this presentation structure is actually rather counter-intuitive. Many pitches start with describing a product, highlighting its features, and end with attempting to convince consumers to buy it. This is a bad pitch. A good pitch reverses the order: It starts by defining a problem, telling you why this is a problem for you, and ends with how the product is the perfect solution to your problem. The takeaway here? Sell your problem before you sell your solution.
Fancy A Little Toilet Humour? You May Like This.
According to a 2010 Forbes Insights Survey, a large majority of the surveyed senior executives report watching more videos than they did a year ago. 75% of them report watching work-related videos on a weekly basis. It’s safe to assume that there is something universal in the appeal of videos – particularly to those who spend their days hunched over their computers, squinting at texts and statistics. To this end, an animated video with bright colours and happy music may work well to capture their attention. Try being humorous, entertaining, and even a little silly. Who knows, this may work to your advantage!
Everyone Has A Dream. It’s Down To You To Make Your Dream Reverberate With Your Audience.
Videos are powerful. But don’t use it as a screen to hide behind! Our attention naturally gravitates towards human faces, and people are more likely to perceive your project favourably if they have a face to connect it with. So spend some time in front of the camera, and let your audience get acquainted with you. Not to mention that recording yourself on video is also a good way to review your performance and build presentation confidence.
Which really should be intuitive, since the whole point of making a video pitch is to eliminate unnecessary ‘uhms’ and ‘ahs’. A good thumb of rule is to keep your video under 2 minutes. But consider this: it’s rumoured that the human attention span is only 8 seconds, which is shorter than that of a goldfish. Figures aside, the fact that most people lose attention fast is indisputable (especially if they are surrounded by their electronic gadgets). Aim to strike a nerve and do it quick, or your audience will start checking their phones.
Some Inspiration For Your Next Pitch?
Videos do not have to be difficult or expensive to make. Start creating your animated video right now (link to page). With our library of templates and a wealth of customizable options, you can make videos that are uniquely yours, for all your business needs and special occasions.
Sources:
[1] https://go.indiegogo.com/blog/2011/12/indiegogo-insight-pitch-videos-power-contributions.html
[2]https://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/Video_in_the_CSuite.pdf [3]http://www.iflscience.com/brain/do-you-have-lower-attention-span-goldfish/
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