Advice on pitching

We're currently getting ready for demo day at YC, which means quite a lot of pitch practice. Here are the main points of feedback we tend to give to teams. This advice works for almost any kind of presentation you might give.

Speaking

Speak slowly and enunciate
Be excited. Your pitch should not sound memorized. Intonation, cadence, and projecting help a lot
Be specific and concise
Look at the audience. You don't have to make eye contact with individuals, just with areas of the crowd. People in those areas will think you've made eye contact with them
Don't use generic phrases as transitions ("so...")
Actually explain what you do, and do it quickly
If you make a large transition, be very clear about it and explain why
Don't be "cute" with your points, be declarative
If you make a joke, telegraph it. If you're not sure the joke will land, cut it
Don't hide the big good things because you are modest, highlight them specifically early on
Use natural language and simple sentences, i.e. no sentences with three verbs
Don't use words you wouldn't use in normal conversation
If an example is a real person, make it clear that you're talking about a real person, not a user model

Charts/metrics

Charts should be easy to understand - make one point with any graphic or chart. Don't make people read charts - they'll stop listening to you.
If you put up a graph that confuses people, they will feel stupid and stop listening
Line graphs are better than bar graphs when showing growth
Label your axes and use real numbers - even if they are small. The shape of the graph matters, not the absolute numbers
Explain anomalies
If you should be generating revenue and then show a different metric, investors will be suspicious
TAM should be bottom up, not top down

Slides

Titles should describe the slide
Slides should be reentrant - each should make sense and make your case individually
Remember that minds wander, and people check phones. When they look up, they should immediately be able to pick up the thread
Don't use pretty, but thin, fonts. This isn't a time for subtlety, make sure your slides are legible from far away
Coolness and legibility are not orthogonal, they're diametrically opposed[1]
Screenshot slides are typically bad

[1] This feels like something PG might have said directly, but I can't honestly remember.

82 Responses

Garry Tan upvoted this post.

Can you elaborare on TAM being bottom up vs top down?

Pablo Osinaga

@Pablo - Sure. If you just throw a huge number on a screen: "Ecommerce is a $2 Trillion market," people will ignore you. It's big enough and detached enough to be meaningless. It's better to show how a business builds such that the endpoint is truly huge. By grounding it, you make it more interesting.

Aaron Harris

A posthaven user upvoted this post.

Alexis Ohanian upvoted this post.

Thanks for this wonderful list. Can you elaborate why you think "screenshot slides are typically bad"? Isn't this a good way to quickly show a concept of your application or service?

Michael Dorian Bach

Sure: In part, it depends on what you're trying to accomplish. If you're doing a UX review or feature demonstration, then screenshots might be ok. In most other situations, screenshots are hugely distracting. They force your audience to focus all their attention on details of your slide, rather than the things taht you're saying.

This is a good start, but it misses the most fundamental point - a pitch should first capture your attention (a question with an unexpected answer, a mind-blowing stat, a superb 10-second demo, etc), then proceed to explain the rest, then close with a specific call to action. Your suggestions seem too tactical - perhaps you assume that people already know what are the basics of an exciting presentation?

Simone Brunozzi

Hey Simone - this is meant as tactical advice for people building their pitches. There are a number of good ways to structure the pitch itself, one of which is the structure you set out. Probably fodder for another post!

Simple explanation on TAM to be bottom up: http://www.inc.com/jeff-haden/bottom-up-or-top-...

Idris

Leo Polovets upvoted this post.

Strongly disagree with the point about eye-contact.

Jeremy Jacobs

C.P. O'Neill upvoted this post.

Ari Lewis upvoted this post.

Great post! My one comment, I like screenshots. It shows the product is real and gives the investor an idea of how it is to be a user.

Ari Lewis

Voilà! http://bit.ly/YCpitch

"People check phones": During pitch meeting?! Risking to sound naive, but... Don't you think that it's a little disrespectful toward presenter?

Aleksandr Blekh

@aleksandr - It's just a fact of life.

@aaron: Sorry, I don't buy that. This "fact of life" is the one we can control.

(cont'd) And if someone *chooses* not to pay attention to other party in a conversation, he/she consciously makes decision of disrespect, which, in turn, speaks volume about their system of ethical norms. Just my 2 cents.

Simone/Aleksandr/etc - I think aaron's recommendations are tailored for YC demo day pitches - where it's a super-short presentation and the audience is hundreds of people. These investors are watching dozens of presentations and it is a fact of life (you have to agree) that they will get distracted.

@Pablo: Disrespect is disrespect, whatever the scale of event or other circumstances (beyond emergencies, of course). So, as I said, I don't buy the "fact of life" excuse. And, to not get distracted there exist schedules, calendars and smartphone/tablet notification controls, which VCs surely are aware about and know how to use. My opinion is that it's 100% a matter of personal ethics and respect to other people. In regard to high number of presentations that VCs are watching, well, they can control that (not to mention that I doubt that watching a presentation without enough attention will likely result in leaving important details, which may result in supporting a startup with issues or, vice versa, missing a great opportunity).

Pablo/Aleksandr - The fact is that you will rarely have the complete and undivided attention of a room, no matter how small. While I agree that it would be better if no one checked their phones will listening to someone else pitch, you have to deal with the dynamics that exist, not those that you'd want in an ideal situation.

@Aaron: I guess, you're right in that we have to deal with the reality, however far from perfect it is.

Ha, like the list. It's all about being simple and focused. The chart points are particularly good. If people are wondering what funded decks actually look like for pitching then there is large collection https://www.alexanderjarvis.com/2015/05/19/pitc...

Alexander Jarvis

Can i use screenshots if i want to demonstrate demo and/or prototype? - or, it`s better use external link or something else?

Apolon Pachulia

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Aaron Harris

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