‘Top 5 tips’ on Preparing a Pitch for Prototype Investment

nigel prototype

Ever been in a presentation or pitch for your prototype product, where your mind goes blank and you have forgotten everything! Not helpful, eh?

You put hours of preparation and practice in, only for your nerves to get the better of you. You stammer (rrr) forget what you meant to say and the room goes eerily quiet, which leaves you feeling awkward and embarrassed…

To support you with this our CEO, Nigel Clarke, has highlighted five top tips that will help you to pitch perfectly, to perfection! All you must do is remember them:

1. Grab the investors’ attention.

You need to make sure the pitch catches their interest upfront. In an article by Peter Jones, he encourages inventors to “Provide visuals, either a tangible product or visual images of your concept”. However, be warned, if you are using presentation slides, make sure you do not overcrowd them. The audience must be able to look at it in 30 seconds and understand it immediately! When using graphs or charts make sure that the data is realistic and ties into what you are talking about.

2. Do your research!

So many pitches especially about new prototypes have gone wrong due to their inventors’ lack of research on the topic they are talking about. You only have to YouTube “The Apprentice” or “Dragon’s Den” to see examples of people crumbling, especially when they are talking about their business plan or get asked a question, that they do not know the answer to. For example:

  • Who is their target customer?
  • What percentage of the market are you aiming to win?

Make sure you know your figures – even if it is not your natural strength. For example; you need to know what your turnover and profits over the next 3 to 5 years might be. This is so the investor can work out if your prototype will succeed. In addition, be profitable in making your business a potentially worthwhile investment, and thus make you an offer.

3. Practice, Practice, practice.

It might seem obvious. Therefore, what is the point in reading on, but hear me out. Sometimes the basics should be said:

  • Practise by yourself in front of the mirror so that it helps break any anxiety or tension you are feeling. Speaking out loud gently forces you outside your comfort zone, which helps to improve your self-confidence.
  • Practise in-front of family and friends, these are your strongest critics, using them will improve your experience. They will give you positive advice of what you are doing right and wrong. Ask them for constructive feedback on how to make the pitch even better.
  • Practise before the real thing, a quick rehearsal gets you focused and will help you to relax immediately before pitching or presenting to people whom you have never met.

4. Keep it brief, precise and to the point.

Perhaps keep it between 5 to 15 minutes long. Create a checklist, then flesh out each point. It needs to be long enough to cover these key points; who you are, the business problem, the prototype and what it is trying to solve, 3 to 5 years’ business model, wider opportunities and unique proposition. Then be very clear on what you are asking the investors for.

Think about how you are coming across, remember to show your passion and enthusiasm to an investor, because it makes you a more engaging person to talk to. It demonstrates your personal determination to be successful, as well as, making sure your prototype succeeds too, as “Success is a journey, not a destination”. Watch out for too much passion and enthusiasm though, as your delivery may speed up and become incoherent. Remember to breathe and relax, take a minute to compose yourself – as a short pause is good to gather your thoughts – and it keeps you from going off-topic.

5. Start and use an elevator sentence.

The idea here is that you have a very short space of time to get your point across to someone before the elevator stops, the doors open and the audience you are pitching to get out.

In one sentence, you need to sum up the whole device / service / pitch in a concise but gripping fashion. Get across who you are, what the context is to the opportunity, what the problem is and how the product will solve this problem. Explain your innovative ideas and Unique Selling Point (USP), why it has not been done before or why it will compete better against other alternatives. State what you are asking for to make your concept become a reality, and conclude with your contact information.

To Conclude.

The key to a successful pitch is to have the investors begging to invest! When you successfully deliver on what an investor wants, you will have a truly irresistible pitch. You want to leave them very engaged, wanting to know more about you and your proposition. As a simple and effective trick remember these 6 x P’s. “Preparation and planning prevents a pretty poor performance”.

In my experience of interviews, this phrase is a great friend as it has helped me to prepare and give successful pitches and presentations. It may not be Dragon’s Den but hopefully this could be your big break. Good luck!

Morgan IAT actively helps innovators take the journey from concept to prototype and on to production – we take ideas to manufacture and apply all that we have learnt from over 30 years’ experience.

References and for more handy tips follow these links:

Arthur Ashe (2017) https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/arthurashe371528.html

Innovate UK (2017) https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1b_aUzptvSaal89zzB2o3g

Peter Jones (2017) http://www.peterjones.com/business-guide/pitch-your-idea-for-finance/