8 hacks how to create a winning pitch for your nature venture
In this article, I share with you what we did so you can get your nature to venture the support & attention you deserve
Our 3-minute Wildya pitch was selected as one of the top 12 pitches (out of 170) at this year's CHANGE NOW.
Apparently, we did something right, + I observed the other top pitches.
So, in this article, I share with you what we did so you can get your nature to venture the support and attention you deserve.
💡 Why it matters:
A great pitch can help you to get the needed funding & attention
You often only have 3 minutes to shine & convince the other person
You have to pitch your idea all the time in conversations, parties, etc. time, to create a captivating story
This wouldn't have been possible without Cristian. He elevated our pitch deck to a whole new level. What genuinely amazed me is your ability to provide thoughtful and actionable 360-degree feedback. Cristian, words cannot express my gratitude. Because of you, we have now taken the next step in Wildya's journey. You can work with him here.
Disclaimer: This pitch is far from perfect. This was the second time we won a pitching contest, but we are still only starting with Wildya, so take all of this with a grain of salt. It is just important to share real tips that I experience on my journey so we can grow together.
8 hacks how to create a winning pitch for your nature venture
#1 Dedicate time to your slides
Initially, I worked out the slides in an hour and wanted to hand them in. Luckily I shared them with Cristian before, who completely took them apart.
He told me that a good pitch deck can take up to two weeks to build. I loved this because it showed how ignorant and arrogant I was without even knowing.
So we put in a week and now have a strong foundation for future pitch decks.
Just add the planned text first and deal with the design later.
My final slides - Front, Story, Problem, Solution Macro, Solution Micro, Market size, business model, team, vision, call to action.
#2 Remove text
Written Pitch Deck ≠ Oral Pitch Deck
These are 2 separate worlds.
A written pitch deck you send into applications, impact VCs, competitions, etc.
An oral pitch deck is one you design when you have the privilege to pitch in front of people.
At the event, I saw plenty of pitches that used a written pitch deck and immediately lost the crowd because they were bombarded with text.
Go through your entire deck and cut the text to the absolute minimum.
#3 Start & end with a story
To captivate your audience and get them to remember your pitch, I recommend you lean into a story. This will most likely be the one thing they remember.
You only have 3 minutes most of the time, which is not enough to explain all the details of your biodiversity project. So, focus on a story.
I focused on the story of how animals react to danger (flee, freeze, and fight), which perfectly embodied our project.
Last but not least, remember to refer back to the start when you close the pitch, reminding the listener once again about the key message.
#4 Finish on time
It broke my heart to see other pitchers running out of time, unable to finish their pitches.
While prepping, make sure you compose the pitch to be 2:30 minutes (if you only have 3 minutes to pitch); this way, you have a buffer.
Because there is a high chance you will be nervous, lose your flow, thoughts, etc.
#5 Don't forget your call to action
You usually pitch for a reason. To win a competition, get funding, etc.
Remember your call to action slide and clarify what you want your audience to do next.
It sounds like a no-brainer, yet this was the most frequent slide I saw pitchers skip.
#6 Involve the audience
Ask the audience questions, get them to move, trigger them to make gestures, etc.
It wakes them up, and now they truly pay attention to your pitch.
Zoe pitched me the idea and it worked like a charm.
I simply asked them to raise their hand, if they also freaked out by the 2 mio species that go extinct if we dont act now.
It helped me massively to explain in my message why the problem I am trying to fix with Wildya is so massive.
#7 Write the speech
Don't improvise. Unless you are an improvisation genius, take the time to write your speech before.
Again, no brainer, but for a long time, I just improvised speeches, which rarely worked in my favor.
It will help yout to eliminate as many words possible, will allow you to create a better story and will help you to prepare yourself.
#8 Practice, practice, practice
The simplest hack, yet the most important of all. Practice the hack out of your pitch.
While you are designing it and when you finished it.
Alone, with your friends, colleagues, strangers, etc.
The more often you practice, the easier it will be for you to nail it.
No, not 5 times. More like >30 times.
5 Actions to nail your next pitch
1. Ted Talk. Watch some of the best TED Talks to see how others give great talks.
2. Create 2 decks. 1 oral and 1 written deck.
3. Find a nugget. Find one of those golden nuggets of people that actually give you the harsh truth about your pitch and pitch deck. +
4. Story time. Add a story and interaction to your pitch.
5. Practiceeeeeeeee.
Cheat sheet to get your pitch to the next level
🛠️ Tools:
Base templates - For pitch decks
💚 Support:
Panache - I took one workshop with them, unfortunately most stuff is in French, but they know what they talk about
🎥 Videos:
Pitching in front of a crowd can be daunting.
But it doesn't have to be, especially if you talk about something as close to your heart as your nature venture.
If you want to get the slides that I used this week, just write me
I hope this guide gave you the confidence to rock the next time you have the privilege of pitching your idea in front of a crowd.
You got this!
See you next week, have a wild one!
Best,
Oli
P.S. If you find this newsletter useful, please consider sharing it with one ecopreneur friend. Together, we can make the world wilder.
🦧 Whenever you are ready, there are 2 ways Wild Business Mates can help you grow and double your impact:
1.1-to-1 business consulting. Detailed and personalized consulting to double the impact of your biodiversity organization in the shortest possible time. Book a free intro call.
2. Wild Business Mates in Action. Wild Business Mates help you execute in areas you are struggling with. Tech, Marketing, Sales, Communication, etc. We can realize all the steps I mentioned above.