Now you need to remember the context. The year is 2007. We are all of 5 years old. It’s been two years since the launch of our first product. We have done reasonably well. The product so far has been selling itself and we really haven’t had a need to create a pitch. This is our first effort and involves and consumes literally all of us over the five day period.

We have three problems. How to explain Basel II and all that we do for our customers in the first minute (for the record the Basel II doc is a 300 page prescription for sleep). How to address the credibility factor (can a company in Pakistan really do this sort of stuff?) and then show the growth potential (the wow factor).

What do we do? We simplify the problem to the emotional and financial pain involved in getting central bank reporting wrong for a banker. We clearly state that the regulatory reporting problem is based on a common framework across the world and if you solve it for one country, you can easily replicate it for others. And we fix the credibility issue by sharing the names of our customers and the increase in our price points with every single sale. We then show why how and what we do is different from what our competition is doing right now.

We wrap up by showing how far we have come in less than two years and I think that wraps it up. The growth shows that the model is working and is scalable. The value and back story confirms that there is money to be made in scaling it. The images and picture reinforce the scoring and judging sheet.

Game, Set and Match.

The real reason why I am so proud of this pitch is that after three years we finally got out problem statement right. And we did it by not describing the 300 page Basel II document but by connecting emotionally with our customer’s pain and clearly putting a value statement around removing that pain. If you could figure out a way to do that for your plan within the first 100 seconds of your pitch you are well on your way to the right score.

1. Connect with them emotionally
2. Answer all their questions – spoken and otherwise
3. Save and respect their time and intelligence by only making credible claims
4. Backstopping and supporting your claims by solid believable evidence

The first presentation on my slideshare deck is about the SMB Fatimah Jinnah School project undertaken by the Book Group and Zindagi Trust. I normally deliver this presentation without speaking a single word. In this case it is possible because Sami Mustafa, The Book Group and Zindagi Trust have already done so much work that the pictures by themselves and a little text is enough to create impact.

I have yet to make this presentation to a group where it hasn’t had an impact or helped us raise funding. My pitch generally is to send the presentation along with an accompanying write up and in good times these two together were enough for us to get a pledge from the person we were pitching too.

In terms of the elements I spoke about earlier in part one of the series – the opening theme and the pitch is simply a posed question “How much would it take to change a life” and then throughout the presentation that question is repeated and reinforced by supporting images that show what was and what has been done.

The close follows with a simple action item of what you can do to help and the contact details if you are interested in helping.

If you understand what was done here, you now understand impact and relevance.

Remember the story here was the school. All I did was put the right pictures together and get out of the way.

So homework assignment two for you, my dear TAN/BAP participants is to figure out

1. How do you connect emotionally with the judges and the audience

   Create impact within the first 90 – 100 seconds of your pitch

a) For a winning presentation the first prize always goes to the group that can answer the questions judges need to answer. Take a look at the scoring sheet for the competition and then ask if you have answered all the questions in a way that would allow the judges to score you properly. If you don’t have access to it, ask the organizers for the judging criteria. In general they won’t have a problem sharing it.

b) Scoring sheets are always competition specific. Depending on the goals of the competition they may focus on themes, impact or simple wow factors.

c) Once you have the content ready to cross all the questions/scoring items on the sheet and you understand the theme of the competition, you now need to weave your story.

d) A great presentation is basically a story telling exercise. Think of the best stage play you have ever attended. The ones that you still remember. What do you remember? Great stories and plays engage and connect with the audience, have a number of magical elements that bring the performance together, are well rehearsed and without fail move the group that witnesses the show.

e) Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to putting together performances. Some put it together in their head, others prefer paper. I sometimes start with pictures and then build a story around them, or build a story and then look for images to support it. There are times when I have told a story only with pictures and words and no supporting audio.

f) Regardless of how you start, you must build the following elements. A start, the plot and the pitch and the close.

g) A great start does a few things for your audience. It introduces you and your pitch in very clear terms. Ideally it should directly or indirectly answer the basic questions. Who are you, what do you do, and why should I care about it? And depending on how you do it, these three questions should be addressed within the first 90 seconds of the start.

h) Post the start you have a number of choices. You can begin the pitch or you can first introduce the path you would take to wow them.

i) Great plots unfold in layers. Each layer leaves a message and either reinforces the layer that preceded or sets the foundation for the material that is about to be introduced. Sometimes you put yourself in the judges seat and ask yourself questions that need to be answered based on your story and theme. The plot that you then define answers each of these questions in a logical progression.

j) The close is an opportunity to reinforce the message and once again connect with the judges and the scoring theme. Think of it as the start all over again accept this time you are putting together the final scenes for your exit.

k) Once you have a basic handle on your theme and the three elements (Start, Plot/Pitch, Close) then it is time to rehearse.

l) Rehearsals do a number of things for you. They allow you to test the flow, check the time, rearrange your mix and dry run delivery. Each rehearsal is an opportunity for you to improve and try presentation elements. The first few are done in private – in front of a mirror, on your desk, in the pool, while driving. Once you have some control, you can do runs in front of audiences and gauge reactions and impact.

m) Basic rule of thumb. For every twenty minutes, rehearse two hundred minutes. And if you are pitching at APICTA or the MIT BAP, double that for good measure.

That is all for now. Take a look at the following three slide share presentations. Consider that as your homework for today. In my next post we will go through these one by one.

Enjoy

Two hours later, all I can say is, Safari, where have you been all of my life? At the rate I am changing, there is a good chance that I may end up selling my decade long loyalty with the Thinkpad brand for yet again something suggested by the evul Apple clique.