Ten tips for pitching well online

Pitching over video is now the new norm, and startup founders have had to adapt quickly to make sure they do not fall behind. But being able to communicate what you do in a compelling way over video is not without its challenges.

As human beings, we all have habits that we fall back on when we communicate. Some of them are good and enhance what we are saying, while others actually distract the audience from what we are trying to communicate.

Over the past few months I’ve worked with 100’s of founders helping them improve how they are pitching virtually. I believe that bad habits can be unlearnt, and that people can pitch in a way that makes their audience sit up and listen, ultimately moving them to do something in response. 

Here are my top ten tips for pitching well over video:

1. Identify your key message

Ask yourself: ‘If my audience only remembered one thing from my pitch, what should it be?’. The hope is that your audience will remember much more than that, but it is a good place to start. It will provide you with a ‘red thread’ that runs through your pitch.

Build the rest of your content around this, making sure you are reinforcing your message, rather than going off on unnecessary tangents. Within your pitch, don’t wait until the last minute to introduce your key message; make sure you communicate your main point to the audience within the first 30 seconds.

2. Cut the filler words

When a pitch is filled with a lot of “umm”s, “ahh”s and words like “kind of” or “basically”, your audience will lose focus. Some scientists now believe our attention span is shorter than that of a goldfish, so anything that you can do to keep your audience’s attention will only aid you.

Because you will get much less real-time feedback in a virtual call than you would in a face-to-face pitch, you will need to fight the temptation to fill any gaps in conversation with filler words. Practise breathing between your sentences instead.

3. Stand up when you are pitching

In 1967, Albert Mehrabian’s study on non-verbal communication found that 55% of what we communicate is through our body language, 38% is through the tonality in our voice, and the final 7% is through the text we are saying. With this in mind you will need to think about the delivery as well as the content of your pitch.

Standing gives you more energy, more room to breathe and can help battle nerves. I use a make-shift laptop stand when I’m pitching virtually so I can stand up with my laptop at eye-level; you can use anything from around your house to build a similar structure.

4. Use stories in your pitch

A study by Stanford University found that a story, when told well, is 22x more powerful than a fact. People need connection more than ever, so use stories to explain your customer’s pain, or what you’re doing to make a difference in the world.

Make sure you have a clear beginning, middle and end, and include pictures and emotion.

5. Use less jargon

Most founders will suffer from what Donald Miller describes as ‘the curse of knowledge’. You are an expert in your company and on the problem you are solving, and this means you will naturally speak in more technical language. Our brains don’t like burning unnecessary calories trying to figure out complex information.

This is important to bear in mind as over video calls and conferences you might be speaking to a much broader audience; some will know a lot about your industry, while others will know very little.

Keep your pitch simple and use metaphors where you can to enable anybody to understand you.

6. Create beautiful, uncluttered slides

When you share your slides on a Zoom, Teams or Skype call, they will dominate the screen and your video will appear as a small thumbnail in the corner of the window. Your audience will then be looking between your video and your slides, which will split their attention. I would advise getting rid of any unnecessary text and keep your slides simple.

When I’m coaching people I often say to them ‘You are Beyonce, and your slides are your backing dancers’. Your slides should back you up, rather than stealing the limelight or overwhelming the audience with too much information. 

7. Adjust your lighting and the angle of your camera

No one wants to see your nostrils, so whether you are using your laptop camera or a webcam, make sure it is at eye level, rather than below your chin. Try as much as you can to look directly into the camera as this will help you engage with your audience.

You might not have a light box or a fancy lighting rig at home, but it is worth making sure there is more light coming towards your face than there is behind you, otherwise you might look washed out or like you’re sitting in the shadows. Sitting in front of a window or having a lamp pointing at you can also help.

8. Project your voice when you are speaking

Because the audio quality isn’t as good over video, you cannot afford to mumble! Think about over pronouncing your words or warming up your voice and facial muscles.

A good way to warm-up your jaw is to imagine you have toffee stuck in your teeth. Use your tongue as if it is a toothbrush, and move it around in circles in one direction like you are cleaning your teeth, before bringing it back in the opposite direction. By becoming more aware of your mouth and jaw, you will find it easier to clearly articulate your words.

9. Bring the passion

If you look bored and sound uninspired when you’re talking about what you do, you will struggle to engage your audience.

We have mirror neurons in our brains, so do what you can to make sure you are leading your audience to where you need them to be emotionally. Think about smiling as you are speaking to bring warmth and energy.

10. Record yourself pitching, and then watch it back

Most people don’t enjoy doing this, but it will give you a good idea of where your pitch is landing for your audience, and what still needs some work. It is really helpful to watch the video without sound so you can just focus on your body language.

Then watch the clip again with the sound on but look away from the screen so you can make note of where the tonality and volume are adding to the pitch, and where you can amplify these elements.

Pitching virtually is hard

Pitching virtually is arguably harder than pitching face-to-face, but learning how to do it well now and practising new habits will make you stand out from the crowd. As Malcolm Gladwell says you are ‘in a race to communicate why your customers need your products in their lives’. Make sure you do everything you can to pitch well online to get ahead of the curve.