Presentation coaching that will help you win awards or raise capital!

One of the most frequently asked questions I get from entrepreneurs is, “How do you pitch to investors in under 2 minutes?”

Actually, it’s one of the most important things you may ever need to prepare for in your business, especially in a start-up. In many investment circles around the world, whether angel or venture, you very often find yourself in a position to give a 2 minute pitch to see if someone is interested in hearing more about your business. And, it’s often to a panel of investors who have heard hundreds or even thousands of pitches.

I created a new video that shows you how to pitch to investors in under 2 minutes without the aid of any slides. When you are given the opportunity to pitch your company and all you have is a microphone and a panel of investors waiting for you to pitch, you need to be well scripted and rehearsed for the performance, if you expect great results.

So, I ask you. Are you satisfied with the results you’re getting from the investor pitches you are making? If not, take a look at this:

Without a script indelibly inscribed in your brain, most people will usually run over on time, get cut off, not cover everything you wanted to talk about, or worse, completely lose your way. This cannot and should not be an extemporaneous talk where you condense your 10 minute presentation into 2 minutes. It will not work! This video will show you a proven model for how to script your 2 minute pitch.

I am confident you would agree that the real purpose of the 2 minute pitch is to convince an investor to ask you questions that will ultimately lead to one of two outcomes. Either they will like you enough to continue talking or they can become a resource for you to leverage at some time in the future.

Just last week, at the VCTaskforce in Palo Alto, 10 companies were given 2 minutes to pitch to a panel of angel investors. The panelists were who’s who in Silicon Valley. Tom Cervantez founder of the Harvard Angels and Golden Gate Angels. Raffy Chatav from Silicom Ventures. John Ryan from Band of Angels. And Paul Twombly from Keiretsu Forum. You should see and hear what these people gave as feedback to people who obviously had not really prepared for their pitch. The people who were prepared showed that they had worked hard to ensure that they covered all of the important points in less than 120 seconds. There are many organizations like this where you have 2 minutes to pitch your idea to get to the next level.

Speaking of preparing, that is exactly what this video is all about. You will learn how to have a great opening that will capture the attention of the listener. Following that, you’ll be able to clearly articulate the value of your business by answering 6 questions on the minds of your investors.

After watching this video, you will clearly understand and know how NOT to sound the S.A.M.E. as other presenters. And, you’ll be able to effectively use the Columbo Close, a powerful attention-getting tool, as the last words the investor will hear from you. And, everything you learn here can be used in your next pitch!

The information contained in this video is the result of the last 5 years of delivering workshops and coaching real people. It’s the same information I give out in the first coaching session along with a homework assignment. This is not a sales presentation to get you to hire me. This video contains only “solid nourishment” and no “empty calories” to waste your time or money.

As many of you know, I am a huge fan of 99Designs because they have made it incredibly easy for people to get graphic designs from the crowd. In case you are not aware of them, at 99Designs, you hold a contest where many designers around the world submit designs and then they keep their fingers crossed that you select them as the winner. There is usually only one winner in a design contest and all of the other designers get nothing. Is that fair??? I leave that answer to you.

However, there is a new kid on the block…Tweak. This SaaS is a fairly new self-service graphic design site where YOU can use their expertise to create amazingly professional results. They have worked with hundreds of incredibly talented graphic designers and copywriters to build designs that all you need to do is put your logo (unless you use Tweak to design your logo too) and contact information in and you are ready to print! The copy included with their designs is not “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.”

Tweak has done all of the hard design work for you! All you need to do is pick the design, tweak it to make it yours, and print! It’s that simple and their pricing will knock your socks off, especially because you can do this on your own! You don’t even need to wait the 7 days as with the other guys!

I highly recommend Tweak for everyone who needs graphic design work in the area of brochures, flyers, logos, business cards, newsletters and banners of all sizes. Speaking of banners, no matter what size you make it, the result will always be the highest resolution possible on whatever printer you go to. One of the most important aspects to what Tweak offers you is picture perfect and high resolution printing capabilities. Try it out and see for yourself.

While this post is a little off topic, I feel compelled to write about a talk I heard yesterday that absolutely blew my mind. Before hearing Dr. Jill Tarter, Director of SETI Research talk about the work they do, I thought I was comfortable with my interpretation of the phrase, “Think big.” or “Think bigger!” as some people say. The key words in the previous sentence are, “the work they do” because for the time being, they have to say, “the work we used to do.” More on that later.

The main reason for writing this is because Dr. Tarter could have baffled and confused our (little) minds by using terminology and examples that you would need an advanced degree to even begin to understand. But instead, she was masterful at her choices of similes, analogies, and metaphors to help everyone in the audience understand “almost” everything she said, no matter how complicated or thought provoking.

One of the most powerful things she said is something that could potentially be applied to how you describe part of your business or even handle an objection…and I am paraphrasing while trying to recall exactly what she said: When people ask how much of space SETI looks at for ET’s, she held her hand up and said , about that much. So whether it was actually 100 square degrees or 10,000 square degrees, we all got a crystal clear picture of how little they have explored so far, but yet how exciting it is already with what they have discovered in just that one hand!

What a great visual! No questions and everyone got it immediately. It was very powerful and she has two of them with her at all times. So when they double the space they look at and listen to, two hands will convey the message, instantly. The hope is that one day, SETI can look out in all directions for discoveries that we can only begin to imagine.

Here’s another really great example that could potentially be used when dealing with an objection in your business… When someone says to you, “Well, from what you have shown me, the results clearly indicate a no go decision!” Or, something to that affect. If it applies, you can try this:

You know, that reminds me of the story Dr. Jill Tarter from SETI shares when people say that since we have not heard any contact from space, we must be alone. Why invest anymore time or money in the “business” of searching for ET’s? Well, she said, that’s like reaching into the ocean, filling a bucket full, and if there are no fish in the bucket, concluding that there must be no fish in the ocean. Of course, the results could have included a fish in the bucket on the first try. But, assuming it was empty certainly should not automatically mean the oceans themselves have no fish. Right? Space is the same. We have only begun to discover what’s out there. We are rewriting the scientific books everyday! And, this is the bucket of space we were exploring until recently…(holding up a hand to illustrate the point.)

Relating this type of story to someone will usually get them to realize the point you are trying to make. However, it is best to not let someone infer the relation to what you are talking about and be clear. So, in the case of the above story, you should bring the other side of this story to the table where you relate what you are doing and plan to do in your business.

So, back to thinking big or bigger. The simile Dr. Tarter used with the ocean was very thought provoking to me. Bigger to me is now biggggggggggggggggggggggggger. In addition to this simile making a huge impression on me in the “think big” category, she also used a set of pictures in the presentation that were stunning and made all of us in the audience feel very very small. In fact, it’s the way the presentation started and IMHO, it got everyone in the room leaning forward, smiling, thinking, and wide eyed…all leading to a very engaging presentation. When you use relevant pictures in a presentation, you will usually find that the audience is much more receptive to your message because both sides of their brain are engaged.

Great presentation Dr. Tarter and thank you for helping me think bigger. Your presentation was magical and because it was filled with such amazing visuals, vidoes, graphical models, similes, analogies, metaphors, and examples, I was able to follow almost every word. I hope you don’t mind me using you as an excellent example of how to give a memorable presentation! Thank you.

In conclusion, I want to relay the two reasons I believe Dr. Tarter was presenting her life’s work last night. The first is that she wants everyone on earth to realize that we are all earthlings. There is nothing more to discuss. When you look at the earth from space, we are one people, a group of earthlings. She wants us to start acting like earthlings and work together to become one, especially in how we deal with the potential future event when we meet intelligent life from outside our little world. For more information on how to get more involved, go here: http://www.seti.org/TEAMSETI

And the second reason is just as her team are making massive advances and discoveries that are completely changing and augmenting what we think and know is “out there,” funding went away. They actually had to put the Allen Telescope Array into hibernation and stop exploring and listening and discovering. This is heartbreaking for everyone at SETI and especially for Dr. Tarter. While she was not showing any actual tears, it was obvious from her change in posture and voice that she is very saddened by this turn of events. After decades of learning, discovery, and advancing techonologies giving them more and more data to work with from space, they have to shut down because of money.

How much money you ask??? You won’t believe it when I tell you…especially in a day and age when most people throw around words like billions and trillions. Remember that $1 billion is 1,000 $1 million! To get the ATA back in business, they actually need less than $3 million per year. That’s right $3 million per year. As she said, maybe someone can take the rounding errors from the spending of billions or trillions and send it to them.

In the meantime, if you or anyone you know has an interest in donating or helping, please contact them directly. And remember, we are really all one people, one group of earthlings. SETI is there for all earthlings, giving us the opportunity to become one people and look outward for additional life, whether microbe, scientist, or mathematician. Maybe SETI can even use social networking to raise money, which was suggested in the audience. Here’s one option for crowdsourcing donations: Social Wish

To watch Dr. Tarter giving TEDPrize talk where they ONLY invite people to talk about wishes big enough to change the world, look here: http://www.tedprize.org/jill-tarter/

The end of DEMOSpring 2011 Day 1 is here and there have been a parade of very interesting companies on the stage and in front of the mic. If you want to see the demonstrations from today, they will be posted on the DEMO website within 24 hours. Day 2 promises to be as action packed as today. And, if you have the time, the demos are being streamed live here: http://budurl.com/DEMOSpring2011Live