“I don’t need to practice. I’ve done this a number of times,” was the reply I got from an entrepreneur when I tried to schedule time to hear his pitch prior to the big pitch competition. I strongly suggested he practice for me but he was adamant. Practicing for others does not help him, he assured me.
His pitch turned out to be full of “um’s” and “ah’s” and “you know’s” . He used technical jargon nobody understood and the story fell completely flat. Too bad. He had a great idea.
Communication is a two way street. You have to say what you say and the listener has to hear and understand. You can’t do this in your head. There’s only one way to make sure your thoughts communicate what you want and that’s to test it for other’s feedback.
Guy Kawasaki says you should practice your pitch 25 times. That’s how you are able to tell a good story rather than merely flip through slides.
Blogging Gazelle is published daily by Shawn Carson
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