One of the most important skills to have as an entrepreneur is how to present your business. To prepare you for submitting your 1-minute video pitch towards the Fursa vs Economic Recovery Challenge, this module will offer you tips on how to present your business in a concise way. 

Introduction

As entrepreneurs we often are passionate about our businesses. However, if we are not able to convince other people that your business idea is a great one, you will not be getting far. 

When pitching, what are the most important things to touch on? What should you talk about and what should you leave out? This module will help you to get prepared to share your business idea for the purpose of getting other people on board.

Webinar: Storytelling and Pitching 

This interactive webinar, courtesy of Circle Innovation, shares tips on how to engage your audience through storytelling when pitching your business.

Here are some additional videos offering guidelines to think about when doing your pitch:

  1. Storytelling is at the heart of pitching. This video, courtesy of the SAIS program, offers clear tips on how to go about the pitching process and the most important information to share. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWRtG_PDRik
  2. Here is a segment from KTN, a local television station. The conversation is focused on the do’s and don’ts of pitching. Watch and Listen from min 3:35 -12:35. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_ktU71OLEI

Practical Assignment: Submit your 1 minute pitch video

Now that you have a good idea on how to prepare a pitch for your business, we challenge you to submit one.

For purposes of the FURSA vs Economic Recovery challenge, you shall submit a one minute pitch video. After working on your Lean Canvas Business Plan in Module 1, you should be able to clearly articulate your business plan and its most important aspects, summarizing this into a one minute pitch video.

The pitch video is a video of you explaining your business. As the business owner, we want to see you speaking with passion, enthusiasm and energy about your idea.

Here are some pointers to guide you as you prepare your pitch:

  • Length of your pitch video: For purposes of this Challenge, your pitch should be 1min long. If your video is longer, you will be disqualified. To be able to get your talking points to fit within one minute, it is recommended that you write out a script of what you want to say so that you do not miss any important details.
  • Speak clearly and coherently: Because the length of the video is short, you may be tempted to rap your pitch or speak too fast such that it is difficult to make out what you are trying to say. Speak with moderate speed and clear voice to ensure that you get your message across.

The selection criteria: Videos will be selected based on how well these following aspects are articulated:

    1. The problem: Be clear about what the problem really is. How big is the problem? How many people are affected by this problem? If you can, share any statistics to indicate the magnitude of the problem.
    2. The solution: What solution are you offering to solve this problem? Ensure that your solution is related to the problem that you have identified.
    3. Your customers: Who is your target audience? Which customers are likely to buy your solution?
    4. The uniqueness of your idea: How different is your idea from other solutions that exist within the market? 
    5. Your presentation: The overall video will be considered with regards to how clear it is, whether one can clearly hear what is being said and how confidently the innovator has presented their idea.

Practice, practice, practice: As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. This applies to pitching as well. Before doing the final pitch recording, practice as many times as you can, to gain the confidence to be able to present a good pitch video. 

Tips on how to take a good video

In this age of smartphones, it has never been easier to create videos. To ensure that you have a good video, here is a fun and quick video, courtesy of the University of Cape Town, giving you 6 quick tips and tricks:

More instructions will be given on how to submit your pitch. 

We look forward to receiving your video and we wish you all the best in the Challenge!