Professor Elam

Prof Wayne Coleman, Barbara Hewitt, and yours truly attended the San Antonio Tech conference yesterday.

The afternoon session featured an elevator pitch contest, pitch your idea and request for capital in 90 seconds. It took three or four presenters before I realized this was for real! The audience judged the winners. A few observations.

Don't 

Read from notes, this would not be possible on an elevator

And it suggests that you are too technical as you yourself cannot remember what you are trying to say

Go over your time

Have your t shirt undershirt sticking out below your shirt

Name your foundation after yourself

use high pitched declarations for emphasis

Do

Speak slowly in a measured voice that can be easily heard

Use eye contact the whole time with your audience, it seems much more genuine

We are not all fashion models, no problem avoid tight fitting clothes that suggest that indeed, you are not a fashion model

Practice in front of a mirror, would you buy your story?

KISS Keep it simple silly, avoid technical terms, what you are really trying to do is to get an invite for a longer presentation, keep this one simple, sell the sizzle, not the steak

It is a tradition in 'steak house' restaurants to often have the chef on display cooking the steaks on an open grill, this is for good reason, the smell of burning steak fat appeals to our cave man instincts, the restaurant is selling the sizzle, do the same in your presentations.