Lessons on pitching from 500 Startups

500 Startups Venture Partner Robert Neivert at Taiwan Startup Stadium’s BIG Camp

BIG Camp, a collaboration between 500 Startups and Taiwan Startup Stadium, kicked off this week, bringing partners and mentors from 500 Startups to Taipei for an intensive 3-day experience for founders looking to accelerate their growth. Here’s what we learned on Day 1 from Robert Neivert, Venture Partner at 500 Startups, during his workshop on how to deliver a memorable pitch:

Watch your speed and speak clearly

When faced with a time limit, many founders think they need to compensate by speaking more quickly. This is a mistake. If you speak too quickly, people will miss important points right from the start, and you’ll lose their attention. Being understood is a top priority, so don’t sacrifice clarity for speed.

Talk about what matters first (Hint: It’s not you.)

According to Robert, founders regularly get off on the wrong foot by introducing themselves. Leading with a lengthy self-introduction is a waste of time, as you haven’t caught the audience’s attention yet. Robert explains, “You need to make them care about who you are, and what you do.”

What should you focus on instead? It largely depends on who your audience is. You want to lead with whatever is awesome about what you’re doing, so if your audience is full of industry people (investors, media), you’ll need to reel them in with traction.

If you don’t have traction yet, stick to wowing the audience with your product itself, but Robert cautions that “Unless you’re in a crowd of experts, remember to make your pitch about benefits, not features.” Instead of getting into the tech behind your product or expanding on all its unique features, tell them how the product is going to change their lives. In other words, don’t focus on a 2GHz processor when the real-life benefit is a 3-second load time. Everyone can appreciate the value of saving time, but not everyone understands clock rates.

Have a conversation with your audience

“Make it so that it’s a conversation between people, not you blindly talking to a room,” Robert says. Public speaking isn’t meant to be a broadcast, like many people believe. Instead, it should be treated like a chat with a large group of people. He explains that approaching your pitch this way not only captures the audience’s attention, but also influences your own performance. “When you think of it like a conversation, you naturally start to behave more personably.”

If you’re trying to achieve a truly conversation-like pitch, here are a few thing to note:

• Maintain good posture. “When you talk, be open and face the crowd,” says Robert. Don’t slouch or keep your hands in your pockets. Use natural hand gestures (rather than obviously rehearsed ones) to convey your energy.
• Make eye contact. Don’t stare off into a random spot in the back of the room. Look into people’s eyes as you’re talking so they’ll feel you’re speaking directly to them.
• Rather than “I” or “me,” use “you” or “your” instead. Robert says “Every time the crowd hears this [“you”], the brain reacts differently, and activates self-recognition.” Addressing your audience in this way is more engaging, the way a conversation should be.

“Remember, we are human,” Robert says. Whether you’re pitching to a small group or a large audience, every listener needs to be made to feel like they’re part of the conversation.