Pitch Tutorial
“Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
If only that statement were true!
Developing a great idea or beautiful technology is (of course!) difficult, but getting other people excited about it to the point that they are willing to invest money in it is just as challenging, just in a different way.
People will be interested in your ideas if – and only if – they recognize its ability to solve real problems for them. Pitching your ideas to them in terms of your reasons for loving it is ineffective. Instead, you need to tune your words for the ears of each target audience – think of “Perfect Pitch” in terms of music, not wasting time trying to achieve perfection.
For instance, how will your proposed idea:
- Help your department chair to attract more students, faculty and grants?
- Enable a grant manager to fulfill the specific criteria of their current RFP?
- Offer the potential for an enormous return on investment for a professional investor (venture capitalist or angel)?
People invest in people who they know, like and trust. “Perfect Pitch”, a simple but effective technique developed by pitch and business coach, Linda Plano, PhD, provides a systematic approach from translating your exciting ideas into a compelling and authentic pitch that can be adjusted for any audience. She has used this technique with thousands of high-tech innovators, who have gone on to raise over a billion dollars, create partnerships, launch pilot tests, attract team members, and accelerate commercialization.
This tutorial guides you through the process of applying “Perfect Pitch” to your idea via a series of 10 simple Questions. You don’t have to answer every question in every pitch, but you should have answers to all* of them to be ready to create compelling pitches and – more importantly – to have productive discussions afterward.
The 10 Questions help you to check that you are solving a problem that your intended audience cares about, have an effective strategy for bringing your innovation to market, and that you know what needs to be done to make the impact you envision. Not every Question needs to be answered in every case, but the more homework you do, the faster your progress and more likely your success.
Participants are encouraged to bring a draft one-minute elevator pitch to receive live coaching, with the goal of leaving ready to engage your audience and achieve your goals while maintaining your integrity and vision.
How to Sign Up
To learn more about how to participate or for more information contact Michael Pratt at mpratt@bu.edu.
Related Pitch Tutorials
We are developing new tutorials and materials for specific needs we’ve identified in the research community. Explore new tutorials as they’re posted below.