In a pitch, avoid phrases like "Trust me," "To be honest," or "Does that make sense?" that undermine credibility or sound patronizing; don't use jargon, focus on "I" instead of the customer's needs, make vague claims (like "we'll save you money"), and never ask "Are you the decision-maker?" as it shows lack of research and can offend. Also steer clear of negatives, arrogance, asking for an NDA too early, claiming viral marketing, and overly small or massive target markets.
30 Mistakes To Avoid During The Pitch
There are 5 elements of a winning sales pitch:
Avoid Using Excessive Verbal Crutches
Words such as “um,” “like,” and “so” are verbal crutches that affect how your audience perceives you, even if you don't use them consciously. Letting these words sneak into your presentation makes it seem like you're not prepared.
Most common pitch deck mistakes, according to VCs
The 7-3-2 rule is a financial strategy for wealth building, suggesting it takes 7 years to save your first significant amount (like a crore/10 million), 3 years for the second, and only 2 years for the third, due to accelerating compound interest and disciplined investing, often by increasing SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) contributions annually. It emphasizes that early stages require discipline for momentum, while later stages see returns grow faster than contributions, demonstrating the power of compounding over time.
What Common Pitch Deck Mistakes to Avoid
The 5-5-5 Rule gives presenters a simple and practical approach: look at five different audience members, hold each gaze for five seconds, and repeat this cycle every five minutes. This technique is designed to reduce nervous habits, break robotic scanning behavior, and help presenters feel more anchored on stage.
The 3-2-1 method in public speaking is a versatile framework for structuring thoughts and delivering clear, concise messages, often by organizing points into three key ideas, two supporting details/types, and one main takeaway, or by using it for practice (3 reads, 2 recordings, 1 colleague presentation). It helps speakers avoid rambling, stay on track, and deliver impactful points by forcing simplification, whether impromptu or prepared, ensuring focus and clarity.
Ten powerful words often used in marketing and communication to grab attention and drive action include Free, New, Discover, Save, Guarantee, You, Health, Proven, Safety, and Results, while words like Love, Courage, Patience, and Inspire hold deep emotional power, and others like Meraki (doing something with soul) or Ephemeral (short-lived) offer unique descriptive strength, with the best choice depending on context.
The guidelines for this rule are as follows: No more than 10 slides. No longer than 20 minutes. No larger than 30-point font.
Perfect pitch refers to a person's ability to identify any musical note by name after hearing it, without reference to other notes. Perfect pitch—also known more technically as absolute pitch—can also refer to the ability that some singers have to sing a given note on cue.
Sales Theories - The 7 P's of a Successful Sales Person
You want to evoke an emotive response
Explain how it makes your customers' lives easier, saves them time or money, or fulfils an unmet need. Founders that demonstrate the same level of commitment to their customers as they do their own business will stand out the most to investors. After all, people invest in people.
10 Common Presentation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
10-point Pitch
One point is awarded for taking the Ace, Jack, off-Jack, high Joker, low Joker, and 10 of trump. Three points are awarded for taking the 3 of trump. One point is awarded to the player who is dealt the 2 of trump. Players are initially dealt nine cards.
Traits of a great public speaker
Regardless of the context, I've found that applying three simple rules can make all the difference between a memorable and effective talk and one you wish you could do all over again. The three rules are know your audience, know your material, and know your passion.
The 3 P's of Public Speaking, namely 'Preparation', 'Practice', and 'Performance', are crucial for delivering impactful speeches.
The 5 P's of a powerful presentation at a conference are planning, preparation, practice, performance, and passion. Together, they cover why you are speaking, how you get ready, the way you rehearse, how you deliver, and the energy you bring to the stage.
7 Tips for Designing and Delivering PowerPoint Presentations
The Rule of Three plays a crucial role in making presentations work. People find information in groups of three more captivating, easier to remember, and more enjoyable. Research shows that our brain's working memory can only hold three to five meaningful pieces of information at once.
Words to never use in sales - "cheap" , "contract" , "recruit" , or "buy" Instead use - affordable, agreement, join, and own ..
A pitch can take on many forms; however, generally, the elements of a great pitch should involve enough content to help the listener understand your value proposition, the market opportunity, the customer you target, the work that must be completed, the time it will take to complete that work, the capital required, the ...
Up to this point, generally speaking, with teams of less than 12 people, the average granted equity for startup employees is 1%. This number can be as high as 2% for the first hires, and in some circumstances, the first hire(s) can be considered founders and their equity share could be even greater.