2 minute pitch presentation

To fill the need, they developed the idea of a software solution for encoding data into inaudible tones. On a three-day, SXSW-bound, Cincinnati StartupBus, LISNR® was born, pitched, and moved to a seed round. Over the past 7 years, LISNR has raised over $35M and pioneered many advancements in ultrasonic technology, ultimately driving its usage in payments today.”

• It uses the company’s origin story as a storytelling device.
• It communicates the company’s values.
• It differentiates its product from others on the market.
• It shows how much the company has grown over time.

9. Follow-Up Pitch

So, what do you do if your prospect doesn’t respond to your first pitch? You follow-up with them. A follow-up pitch gives you the opportunity to reignite the conversation, reinforce your value proposition, and address any questions or concerns your prospect might have.

Follow-up pitches can be delivered through a number of channels, but phone calls and email are the most common. Ultimately, the goal of a follow-up is to continue nurturing your relationship with the prospect and convert them into a customer.

Here’s a great example of a follow-up after connecting with a prospect on social media:

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Learn to pitch in 2 minutes

Home > Presentation Outline > To Pitch in 2 minutes

Imagine this. You spend hours preparing for your important sales presentation. Your well polished slide deck covers every minor detail of your offering. But, the moment you open your laptop and launch your presentation, you hear your client saying,

“Thomas! I have to catch a flight. Can you tell me what you’ve got – in 2 minutes?”

How do you handle this situation?

The way you handle this question will determine whether you win or vanish in sales.Most amateur sales presenters panic in these situations and try to cover the entire 30 minute presentation in 2 minutes. Naturally, their client can’t understand a thing of what was said. The result is lost opportunity and lost business.

Expert sales presenters know the importance of a 2 minute sales presentation. They anticipate it in advance. They take the time to learn how to pitch their proposition in a short time, with impact. That is why they remain consistently successful.

Here is how you can prepare for your 2 minute presentation.

3 questions to pitch sales presentations in 2 minutes…

All you need to do is to find clear and convincing answers for 3 critical questions. They are:

1.TANGIBLE BENEFIT:

What is the single most important tangible benefit offered by your product or service? The benefit needs to be clearly measurable.

SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE:

How is your offering significantly different from other offers? The difference needs to be big enough for the customer to perceive the value.

3. CLEAR PROOF:

What is the proof for your claim? The proof should be credible enough for your customer to accept without doubts.

Your answers to these questions will help you to pitch in 2 minutes.

Every one of those 3 questions is backed by solid research. They directly influence the decision making process of your customers.

Let’s understand the process with an example.

Let’s say, you want to pitch for listing and advertising on your e-commerce website. You set your presentation objective as follows:

Who is the last person: Vice President Marketing of a Large Tours and Travels Company.

What is the action: Decide List and advertise on my e-commerce website next month by spending at-least X dollars.

Why: Expect around Y% increase in customers visiting your tours and travels website.

Your answers to the three questions are:

Tangible Benefit: My e-commerce website has over twelve thousand visitors a day. These visitors are of your target profile i.e. businessmen and executives with income greater than hundred thousand dollars a year.

Significant Difference : We sell only products related to businessmen and professionals unlike other sites in our category.

Clear proof: The proof that we are a site suitable to your requirement is:

• Your competitor listed with us and saw so-much percentage rise in traffic OR
• A company similar to yours listed and saw so-much percentage rise in income etc.
• Here is the caveat. Though the questions are simple and direct, the answers to those questions are not easy. As you can see, all the points are backed with clear and relevant data and logic.

To make a successful pitch…

You will need to take the time necessary to come up with the best answers. Speak to your existing customers, get more information from your product team or interview the high-performing sales people to refine your answers.

Creating this 2 minute pitch should be your first priority for a sales presentation.

The process will give you a lot of clarity about your product or service, which in turn will reduce the fear of speaking when you make your next sales presentation.

Related Websites Affordable Online Marketing provides Web SEO services for small businesses and offers free advice on internet marketing in general.

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2-Minute Startup Pitch Ideas With 10 Sample Pitch Deck Examples

Want to attract investors for your great business idea? Well, in that case, Elevator Pitch might be your guardian angel. An elevator pitch is a crisp gist of what your idea for selling a product or a company looks like.

What Is An Elevator Pitch?

The idea behind the elevator pitch is to make it as short as an elevator ride. It is a short and quick summary of what the thing is, the product�s need in the market, and how it is to be developed. The ultimate goal is to attract an investor by explaining your whole model most creatively and directly in approximately one minute.

It is convenient for both the creator and the investor to get on with the whole meeting without the hassle of preparation and presentations. It also makes it easier for the investors to understand the ideas in a more simplified way, and if interested, the meeting can always be taken to a proper discussion stage eventually.

Make sure you�re able to grab attention with the first two sentences, can put forward all the important factors, and most importantly, can share the role of the investor in the whole process.

Elevator pitches are also used to introduce and present yourself for job opportunities. It is a great way of building a remarkable first impression in a short amount of time.

How Do You Write an Elevator Pitch?

Now that we understand what an elevator pitch is, let�s hop on to how to make that first impactful impression for your billion-dollar idea.

The shortest way of presenting the idea you have been working on for a month seems impossible, but let�s make it possible with these few yet very important things to keep in mind:

• One-pager templates over long-running presentations, any day.
• Keep it short and sweet, but make sure you cover all of the highlights of your unique idea in the first 30 seconds. It should cover everything related to the main product, selling features, the need, and how it stands out in the market.
• Your goal is not to say everything in that short period of time, but to hold the investor’s attention tightly. This can be accomplished by keeping things as simple as possible and avoiding technical terms.
• Always start with an intriguing question to push investors out of their comfort zone and make them think! This will make them more focused and curious to find an answer by the end of your pitch.
• Build the trust of your investor by�adding an emotional angle�to the pitch. Start with a mention of your company�s prior achievements, if any, to dismiss the thought of failure, and then swoop in with an emotionally charged statement. Be enthusiastic and make the investors believe that your product is the need of the hour.
• Another very interesting thing to do while curating a pitch is to�focus on your client. Instead of working on the old traditional ways of marketing the product, add a little twist. Instead of going on and on about how the general population needs the product, tell the investor how he needs the product to resolve his issues and why this is the most convenient deal for him.
• A pitch is an open-ended conversation in itself! Important is how to end the pitch most effectively! Make sure to leave the investor almost satisfied and with a certain plan for taking the discussion further in a more conducive space.
• Apart from your content, what matters is how you sell it, right? So�keep it natural!�Make sure you�re dressed for the occasion and you look sharp. Be confident, and don�t rush through it. Ease out, take pauses, and maintain eye contact.

10 Sample Pitch Deck Examples:

Pitches are a fundraising and marketing tool for your business, and in fact, they are the most important stage of developing your idea into a proper business.

Listed down below are 10 examples of famous companies and their start-up pitch decks for your better understanding. These pitch decks were created by these tech giants when they were just small startups.

1) Facebook

Facebook is a social media platform that helps people connect with family and friends online. This networking marvel was Mark Zuckerberg’s personal dorm room project until 2004 when an outsider investor named Peter Thiel invested a hefty $500,000.

Facebook was initially limited to students, staff, faculty, and alumni at Harvard University. Later, it expanded to other schools, then to North America, and then eventually took over the whole world with more than 2.98 billion monthly users.

The original pitch deck describes Facebook as�an expanding online directory that connects students, alumni, faculty, and staff through social networks at colleges and universities. This online directory allows for user connections based on friendship, courses, and social networks (including intra- and inter-school networks) and has a built-in messaging system.

The pitch contained the company’s value proposition and key metrics, and the focus was based on a solid number of their engagement and growth history.

Youtube was co-founded by a group of friends, Chan Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim, as a solution to video sharing online. The company was first funded by Sequoia Capital with $11.5 million and Artis Capital with $8 million. � Youtube was�acquired by Google for $1.65 billion in 2006 and experienced massive growth after issuing the slogan “Broadcast Yourself.”

Youtube had a traditional pitch deck and described its primary goal as becoming the primary outlet of user-generated video content on the internet and allowing anyone to upload, share, and browse this content.

The pitch deck was created years ago and lacked visuals and designs. Regardless, YouTube has emerged as the biggest name in the tech industry, with 122 million daily users.�

Airbnb entered the picture as a cost-effective alternative to expensive hotels for tourists who were stuck with expensive hotels online. It modernised the concept of CouchSurfing, and the pitch deck is known to be one of the best ones out there.

Airbnb benefits both tourists and local communities by providing a platform that connects travellers with locals, allowing them to rent our rooms or even entire homes. Travellers can save money, locals can monetize their empty rooms, and they can share culture and connect with locals�they just take a 10% commission.

This hospitality tech startup company has raised the bar with their creative pitch deck. The pitch is crisp and communicates the goals extremely well, with reliable predictions and great strengths.

WeWork is a ground-breaking American real estate company that has transformed the traditional office and introduced the world to the concept of flexible workspaces. It was founded by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey back in 2010 after frustratingly failing to find shared office spaces.

WeWork’s pitch deck describes itself as�the creator of working and living spaces that are responsive to the productivity needs and stylistic preferences of today�s mobile, creative workforce. We are the only organized, global, well-capitalized providers of space as a service model.

WeWork’s pitch deck was a huge hit all over the world in providing flexible coworking spaces near you, with a total valuation of $47 billion.

5) Snapchat

Snapchat is an instant messaging platform curated in 2011 with the unique idea of sharing photos and videos as messages that disappear and become inaccessible after a few seconds.

The app was initially launched as “Picaboo” on iOS by Reggie Brown, Evan Spiegel, and Bobby Murphy, and later revamped as Snapchat. Today, Snapchat has 347 million daily active users.

The company�s vision was to not make Snapchat a traditional Kodak moment-capturing application. They wanted the app to represent communication with a range of human emotions.

The company has a fun pitch deck from 2014, which is not exactly their pitch deck but a presentation to introduce the Snapchat business and its features with an overall review of the app. The slides are stuffed with text, and the pitch could have benefited from pictures.

6) LinkedIn

LinkedIn is an employment services platform that uses social networking as its main means of career development. It was first founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman. The company�s Series B pitch deck focuses on the importance of networking as the company’s core value.

LinkedIn�s founders described LinkedIn in their pitch deck as � more than just a recruiting business. It is a platform for finding the people you need. The deck highlights how LinkedIn is “Networking for Businesses”.

The pitch deck focuses primarily on the company’s past success and growth, as well as how the 2.0 version will be an improved version of it. It consisted of massive facts and data research and aimed at a more realistic goal than making it artistic.

7) Buzzfeed

Buzzfeed is an American online media, news, and entertainment company that was first founded in 2006. It was co-founded by Jonah Peretti, John S. Johnson, and Kenneth Lere, who later became executive chairman of the company.

Jonah and John initially wanted to focus on tracking viral content. The site originally hosted online quizzes and had pop culture articles, but later grew into a global media outlet with coverage on a variety of topics like politics, entertainment, sports, businesses, animals, etc.

In their pitch deck, Buzzfeed focused on�the idea of advertising as content instead of separating these two entities and believed in running content generated by users, algorithms, and advertisers. Buzzfeed wished to increase traffic without hiring editors and to establish itself as a self-serving advertising platform.

This sweet and sour social media platform has been able to raise a total of $496.3 million after its pitch deck and has been valued between $1 and $10 billion in the last 14 years.

Moz is an American-based search engine optimization (SEO) company that helps people run SEO campaigns. SEO is a great digital marketing strategy that helps your business earn valuable traffic.

Moz had a fun pitch deck and presented their goals and statistics throughout, sharing their importance and need in the lives of not just the businesses out there but also the investors.�It described itself with a tagline that says, “How a tiny Mom & Son consultancy became a leader in SEO software, and our roadmap is to be Seattle’s next $1 billion company.”

This Series B deck for Moz was promising, had great ambition, and raised over $18 million.

Spotify is a premium audio streaming service provider that gives you on-demand access to millions of songs and lyric categories. This Swedish company was first cofounded by Daniel EK and Martin Lorentzon as a way of bringing music to everyone, everywhere, and was revolutionary in the music industry.

Their pitch deck was created in 2006 as a means of recruiting people and pitching talents at local universities in Sweden. Spotify�s pitch deck described itself as�a distributed system for online audio streaming�and raised $100 million.

Spotify is one of the largest streaming giants globally, with over 456 million monthly active users and 195 million paid subscribers.

 10) Uber

Uber is a San Francisco-based transportation and mobility service provider that was founded in 2009 as Ubercab by Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick. Uber evolved as a solution to reduce the cost of direct transportation and was seen as a change to the way taxi systems work.

Ubercab�s pitch deck described itself as a “next-generation efficient car service.”�This�”NetJets of car services”�had a crisp bullet-point pitch deck. It was short, contained factual statements, relied on how the idea was a game changer and didn’t need long explanations.

The Click Car Services site was a members-only service that was customer-focused and computer coordinated. The original pitch generated $1.25 million and has turned into an $84.2 billion company today.

Pitch Deck vs. Elevator Pitch

The few basic differences between a pitch deck and an elevator desk are:

1) A pitch deck is an elaborate presentation that summarises a business plan, while an elevator pitch is a quick description of the business idea. The former is the whole movie, while the latter is just a trailer.

2) A pitch deck consists of around 8�10 slides of extensive research on the prospective business, whereas the time duration for an elevator pitch is as short as an elevator ride of 30 seconds.

3) Elevator pitches are to ignite the interest of the investors, whereas pitch decks are to provide them with more knowledge of what the business is and everything around it.

4) If you�re able to grab the attention of potential funders in the first round of an elevator pitch, it will then lead to a pitch deck where people can sit down and go through the process of understanding what one is going to fund.

FAQs on 2-Minute Startup Pitch Ideas

What do you say in an elevator pitch.

An elevator pitch is a short overview of an idea or a business that you want to pitch to interested investors. It�s a quick summary of what you�re trying to sell. Elevator pitches are as short as an elevator ride, so be quick! Focus on what the product is, what it does, its need in the market, and the process of development, monetization strategy, etc.

How do you write an elevator pitch?

Make sure it�s short and hits on all the important selling points of the product. Grab attention in the first 30 seconds of the pitch. Start with a question so that the investors are curious enough to find an answer by the end of the pitch.

Instead of focusing on how useful the product is for people, focus on how useful it will be for the investor. Add a little emotional statement to charge up the pitch. Avoid getting into statistics to back your data, which will make it boring. And last but not least, finish by sharing your contact details for taking the discussion further.

What are the four parts of an elevator pitch?

Make sure it’s super short and covers everything important to impress an investor.

1) Start with the name and description of the product.

2) Then move on to what the product does and all its main features.

3) Then focus on how the product will be created and, thereafter, the product�s utility for the people.

4) End your pitch by sharing your contact information and information for further discussion about the pitch.

What are the three elements of an elevator pitch?

The main three elements one needs to focus on in an elevator pitch are:

1) Make it super short and cover what is important to attract investors. Avoid sharing too much information that will tick the client off.

2) Write a simple pitch that’s easy to understand. The usage of technical words and intimidating language should be avoided. This will confuse the clients and make them lose interest.

3) It should be short but creative. You must use creativity and make the pitch interesting. This will keep the investors intrigued, and you will be able to hold onto their attention for a longer period.

How do you pitch in 30 seconds?

An “elevator pitch” is the shortest and quickest description of you or your unique idea in your authentic voice. Because you don’t have much time, make sure to grab attention in the first 30 seconds by discussing your main idea and the selling points. Start with a question to make the investors more curious to find an answer to it by the end of your pitch. And remember, be confident!

• 11 Effective Lead Generation Ideas That Every Startup Should Try
• Top 20 Unique Startup Business Ideas in India

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Home Blog Business Elevator Pitch Guide: The Essentials to Elevator Pitch Presentations

Elevator Pitch Guide: The Essentials to Elevator Pitch Presentations

In her book Resonate , communication and Persuasion Expert Nancy Duarte, a highly praised master of turning story patterns into effective business communications, recommends “Showing your humanness when you present” as a “great way to stand out.” Yet, how do we manage to do that over a conversation that can only last as long as an elevator ride, at best? We’re focusing on elevator pitches over this note, aiming at strengthening your skills in delivering a successful elevator pitch for business in a way that brings your company, efforts, and ideas the best success moving forward. 

Table of Content

What is an elevator pitch?

How long should an elevator pitch be, elevator pitch real-life applications, the basic structure for an elevator pitch, recommendations on delivering your elevator pitch.

• Four Effective Elevator Pitch Examples (with Real-Life Experiences)

According to elevator company Kencor, Inc. , vertical lifts “have variable ride times”. An elevator ride in a small town in Kentucky is certainly not the same as one in New York City. The reason “there may be considerable differences in terms of speed”, as CMA Lifts states , is “because one thing is having to serve maybe a four-story building and much more is having to do with a building that in turn goes to touch a dozen.” Times will vary depending on the type of elevator, too, amount of a building’s stories, and stops made on the way.

In Taipei 101, which CMA presents as “the third highest skyscraper in the world,” a lift can travel 60.6 km to reach the 89th floor “at an altitude of 382 meters, in a time frame of about 40 seconds.” Why does this matter? We can use these times as a starting reference. 

The concept of an “elevator pitch” is most clear when we think of the length of an elevator ride as that timeframe in which you can make a perfect introduction to a potential investor or stakeholder. 

The content of a perfect elevator pitch should be succinct, direct, and plentiful . It’s also certainly one you polish every time you deliver it.

A highly esteemed 30 seconds is the common industry rule for a winning first impression. A half-minute capsule is the average notion of an elevator pitch length. This is one common reference point for elevator pitches. 

The second common standard for elevator pitches is based on a higher ride average stemming from New York City. Harvard Business Review (HBR) actually goes for this higher elevator ride average of 118 seconds. Of course, the higher amount of skyscrapers in that multicultural place makes up for the considerable difference. 

Whether you’re settling for the standard 30 seconds or allowing yourself an extension of up to 118 seconds, the truth is that elevator pitch rides are quick, efficient, and to the point. The goal is to sell your idea or product as fast as the attention you’re likely to get during a single elevator ride.  

The above is very much tied to the standard sitcom, TV, and movie scene of someone selling an episode, a project, or any idea while catching up to the jam-packed, unattainable executive everyone wants a hold of as they walk into the office. 

If we stick to this produced idea of an elevator ride that we see on screen, the most common real-life application is a key potential investor or customer, a person we wish to attract to whom we, in our minds, say: “If only I could pitch my idea to this person for a single minute, I’d sell it!” 

A conference, a demo-day presentation, product launches , and many other networking events are the real-life equivalent of what we see on TV (as in a Shark Tank episode). 

In general, elevator pitches are used to pitch a startup, engage in sales, introduce oneself, present a new venture to a venture capitalist, and even seek a job, even. 

As we said when we presented our Creative Elevator Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template , “The Elevator Pitch for Interview enables users to demonstrate their career portfolio in an engaging manner.” Someone who walks into an office or casually discusses their career over a taxi ride in a way that succinctly showcases their expertise and abilities is much more likely to catch attention for an open position than someone without clarity or ability to express their thoughts, goals, and desires. 

A well-thought-out elevator pitch for a role or as a presentation to a startup, even as a project description in a nutshell, is similar to a very powerful wild card that you pull up your sleeve when that person you know meets you by chance as much as gives you a quick 15-minute introduction to prove your point. Whether an investor can call you back during a 10-minute break or you run into a key business partner in a hallway, on the way somewhere, or at a quick reception at any event, an elevator pitch is destined to convey your ideas across very succinctly so you can pick up longer conversations (or pitches) at a more convenient or later stage. 

As we also said in the article to the template above, “business owners and managers use elevator pitch PowerPoints to discuss ideas briefly.” Templates and business presentations in this category of elevator pitch decks serve the useful purpose of putting ideas up on screen in a nutshell for focused discussion. And that’s usually highly appreciated. 

Further below, we’ll get to a real-life example of a pitch that worked great for Carmine Gallo in working with an esteemed language interpretation company in Monterrey, California. 

For now, if you’re looking to know more about “interview presentations”, including an Elevator Pitch Example for Job Seekers, our article How to Give A Compelling Interview Presentation: Tips, Examples, and Topic Ideas is here to help. We’ll get to more elevator speech examples for entrepreneurs in the section below, as well. 

For now, how do we ideally present our elevator pitches? 

Create visually appealing presentations as much as possible. The goal is for your visuals to give power and create engagement that adds to your message or speech. This can be done either by carefully pairing your presentation templates so the aesthetic remains cohesive, or opt for a software solution like the SlideModel’s AI presentation maker to speed up slide design process. Then, also work very conscientiously on your messaging.

As Nancy Duarte says, “Truly great communicators make it look easy as they lure audiences to adopt their ideas and take action.” To learn how to deliver a presentation pitch, and if we can expand on what the author says, this “isn’t something that just happens automatically; it comes at the price of long and thoughtful hours spent constructing messages that resonate deeply and elicit empathy.” Make sure you put in your focused, attentive hours constructing that ideal message that will resonate with your audience to make them take action. Results will be noticeable if you do, and your confidence in delivering these speeches will naturally and greatly improve as you move forward. This long-term exercise is about being in control of what you’re gearing and how you’re doing so. 

As the already-referenced HBR article states, “The first 8 seconds are the ‘hook’—the time you have to get the ‘lean in’ factor, to snag your prospect, to catch their interest.” For them, “Those first 8 seconds are the key”, as HBR puts it. And that’s essentially so because this first span is where we most commonly capture an audience’s full attention before we naturally lose it.  

Thereafter, you’re looking to answer a few key questions for your audience. In Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs – How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience , for example, Carmine Gallo breaks down the ultimate elevator pitch by recommending a presenter: “Simply create a one-sentence answer for the following four questions: (1) What do you do?  (2) What problem do you solve?  (3) How are you different?  (4) Why should I care?”

As promised, here’s what a winning elevator pitch looked like for Gallo in working with an interpretation company (which we labeled here as XYZ) in Monterrey, California: 

XYZ company…

“is the world’s largest provider of phone interpretation services for companies who want to connect with their non-English-speaking customers [what it does] . 

Every twenty-three seconds, someone who doesn’t speak English enters this country [the problem] .

When he or she calls a hospital, a bank, an insurance company, or 911, it’s likely that an […] interpreter is on the other end [how it’s different] . 

We help you talk to your customers, patients, or sales prospects in 150 languages [why you should care] .”

Quite succinctly and like we also said in our Creative Elevator Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template , whenever you’re figuring out how to write an elevator pitch, think of ways “to deliver the concept to an audience in a short description that listeners can easily understand.” The pieces of advice we give above should all assist in knowing how to present an elevator pitch successfully. But we’ve for further recommendations to this end. 

The first of our recommendations has to do with pacing. Just because an elevator pitch is expected to be of short duration, that doesn’t mean you need to race through it. Keep it intelligible. Take your time to breathe. Go slowly at it so your ideas can come through to your audience. Don’t rush through an elevator speech just so you can make up for the short time allowed. Practice, instead. Make sure you choose the right words and learn them by heart. Then, move slowly through them. 

The above leads us to our second piece of advice. If you’re building a perfect elevator pitch, revise, edit, and check again! Go through each word many times until you find the right-suiting one for the precise idea or concept you wish to convey. Get them right! 

Also, if you’re looking for an elevator pitch presentation template specially designed for presenting to VCs, angel investors, or stakeholders, for example, seek out specialized material. Our Formal Elevator Pitch Template for PowerPoint might work better in that case. The material is a framework of various slides designed for users to customize and perfect their sales pitches. You’re starting off with a base. 

On the other hand, seek to put yourself out there to family and friends. Especially seek business partners, colleagues, and people in and out of your field who can tell you how you’re doing with your elevator pitch for business. Rather than fight, be offended, take observations or corrections personally, and let alone justify your pitch’s content as you present to people outside the industry, seek to truly listen to feedback, take note, and make sure you incorporate it later. 

The reason behind this observation is that a perfect business pitch contemplates the human aspect of everyone listening. As Duarte puts it in her book, “Even with mountains of facts, you can still fail to resonate. That’s because resonance doesn’t come from the information itself, but rather from the emotional impact of that information.” So, seek to connect emotionally. 

Acknowledging emotion is frequently left out of everything business-related; yet, note how specialist Duarte recommends presenters “Use plenty of facts, but accompany them with emotional appeal.” Listen to your audience and polish your content and delivery until you can sync both the importance of data with the emotional calling that gets audiences to forget what and how you said it, but they walk away changed, with a new vision, and, more importantly, ready to support you and your endeavors. 

Let’s check how people have achieved this before you. 

Four Effective Elevator Pitch Examples (with Real-Life Experiences )

Our first examples of elevator pitches come from a German impact food startup. Though a bit on the longer side with a final 3-minute length, the video introduces the problem and solution flowingly with a captivating start. It includes benefits, creates an overall experience in itself for viewers as it appeals to the senses, and also incorporates a concise call to action that describes exactly where their efforts will be focused. This is a good example to get started in perfecting your upcoming elevator pitch. 

From the college side, Utah State University’s Cooperative Extension Services has an elevator pitch winner who made a compelling business case in less than 2 minutes. This is a perfect example of a 118 elevator pitch that needs a bit of pacing down to be perfect. Instead of rushing, this coffee cup business idea can easily be conceived to go much further on a slower scale. The pitch merits it. Yet, the data and sentiment, the surprise, and all the background work are there, making this a great academic example that can easily guide any executive into winning business presentations.

On the last note, The National Science Foundation came up with a video series on elevator pitches titled “Real People. Real elevators.” Check out episode 2 here for tips with a real-life dramatization and setting if you’d like to picture the situation of a real-life example a bit further. 

Now that we’re moving to the more cinematic side, one of Vince Vaughn’s characters has also made a point on product elevator pitches that we can rescue in a light spirit. The reason is that Vince’s character’s pitch works thanks to how he conveys a clear business idea with a captivating (though risky!) introduction to selling a powerful concept to a group of executives. The scene appears fueled by a writing team that apparently knows the back works of pitching an idea fairly well. Here’s what’s been labeled as “The best elevator pitch of the world” in a YouTube clip of 2011’s movie Dilemma . 

Here, we provide a range of elevator pitch examples to cater to different scenarios:

Business Elevator Pitch Examples:

Imagine you are the founder of a sustainable fashion startup, and you’re pitching your idea to a potential investor:

“I’m the founder of GreenStyle Apparel. We’re disrupting the fashion industry by producing high-quality, eco-friendly clothing made from recycled materials. With a growing consumer demand for sustainable fashion and our innovative supply chain, we’re well-positioned to capture a significant market share. Our recent partnership with [Notable Retailer] has already proven the appeal of our products. I invite you to join us in creating a more sustainable future while enjoying impressive returns on your investment.”

Imagine you’re the founder of a health tech startup and you’re pitching to a potential investor:

“I’m the founder of HealthTech Innovations, a startup dedicated to transforming healthcare through innovative technology. Our flagship product, HealthLink, is a telemedicine platform that connects patients with healthcare providers in real time, improving access to care, and reducing healthcare costs. With the recent surge in telehealth demand, we’ve already secured partnerships with major hospital networks and insurance providers.

Elevator Pitch Examples for Students:

As a college student majoring in communications, you’re networking at a career fair:

“I’m currently pursuing a degree in communications with a focus on digital marketing. During my internship at [Prominent Agency], I had the opportunity to work on campaigns for major clients like [Well-known Brand]. I excel at creating engaging social media content and analyzing performance metrics to drive results. I’m eager to bring my creative skills and data-driven approach to a dynamic marketing team like yours.”

Imagine you’re a marketing major and you’re introducing yourself at a networking event:

“I’m a marketing enthusiast with a passion for creating meaningful brand experiences. Throughout my coursework, I’ve honed my skills in market research, digital marketing, and campaign management. During my internship at [Marketing Agency], I had the opportunity to work on a social media campaign that resulted in a 25% increase in brand engagement.

I’m particularly intrigued by the intersection of technology and marketing, and I’m excited to leverage emerging trends to drive brand success. As a student, I’ve been an active member of the American Marketing Association, where I’ve collaborated with peers on real-world marketing projects. I’m eager to connect with professionals in the field and explore opportunities to apply my knowledge and creativity to your marketing initiatives.”

Elevator Pitch for Interview Example:

You’re interviewing for a project management role at a tech company:

“I’m excited about the opportunity to join your organization as a project manager. With a solid background in project management and a PMP certification, I’ve successfully led cross-functional teams to deliver complex projects on time and within budget. In my previous role at [Former Company], I was recognized for improving project efficiency by 20% through streamlined processes. I’m confident that my skills and experience align with your company’s goals and can contribute to its continued success.”

Elevator Pitch Examples for Interview (Technical Role):

You’re interviewing for a software engineering position at a software startup:

“I’m a software engineer with a passion for creating innovative solutions. In my previous position with [Tech Company], I was the lead developer on a project that resulted in a 40% increase in app user engagement. I specialize in backend development and have experience with a wide range of programming languages, including Python, Java, and Ruby. I’m excited about the opportunity to bring my technical expertise to your team and help drive your mission of revolutionizing the industry.”

You’re interviewing for a data scientist position at a software startup:

“As a data scientist with a strong background in statistical analysis and machine learning, I’ve been at the forefront of turning data into actionable insights. During my tenure at [Analytics Firm], I developed a predictive model that reduced customer churn by 15% for a major telecommunications client. I have experience working with large datasets and utilizing tools such as Python, R, and TensorFlow. My passion for data-driven decision-making and my commitment to staying at the cutting edge of data science techniques make me the ideal candidate to contribute to your data-driven culture and help your organization make informed strategic decisions.”

These real-life elevator pitch examples demonstrate how individuals can effectively present their qualifications, accomplishments, and enthusiasm in various professional contexts, such as entrepreneurship, networking, and job interviews. The key is to tailor your pitch to the specific situation and audience to make a memorable and impactful impression.

A few key aspects of perfecting a product elevator speech (or an elevator pitch, for that matter) is to keep it short. Be brief. From 30 to 118, we’re speaking of a few seconds put together for you to be persuasive, share your goals, problem, solution, and skills, and make a difference in attracting your intended audience. 

Practice, practice, and then practice some more. Mastering a pitch of this kind truly takes a lot of practice to go over the right words at the right pace, and powerfully impact a person or group. 

Also, keep a business card handy. If your pitch works, a quick and efficient way of giving your contact details to your stakeholders will do wonders to move your business forward. 

What’s next? Our recommendations

Before you go, here are a few real-life examples of how to end a presentation , in case they help in general. And, if you’re looking to Create a Great Investor Pitch Deck and Close the Deal , this other article might be useful. We’re giving you The 11 Key Slides For Creating A Winning Investor Pitch Deck there, too. 

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How to Create a Winning Business Pitch

A business pitch bridges innovative ideas and reality. Learn how to create a winning pitch that investors and customers can’t resist.

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How to pitch your business – all the basics you should learn

Table of contents, introduction.

As an entrepreneur, you should be ready to pitch your business idea and your vision to potential investors, funders, judges of competitions and/or acceleration programs, etc. A powerful and effective pitch can bring you new business opportunities, funding, and partnerships! Read this guide to prepare the different types of pitches and use the templates you can easily tweak and customise.

Three types of pitches

Typically, based on the circumstances and presentation time available, you should be ready to pitch your business in three types:

• Elevator Pitch
• One minute pitch
• Presentation with a pitch deck for investors or fundraising opportunities

Let us walk you through step by step to describe what they are, what content should be covered, and what format and templates you can use.

1. Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is a super concise 1 sentence pitch that you can use as an introduction to people you meet at events, conferences, or by email. Your goal is to pick someone’s curiosity and attention.

• Content: what you’re doing, who you’re serving, and why your work matters.
• Format: “My company, [NAME OF THE COMPANY], is developing (or creating) [YOUR DEFINED OFFERING] to help [YOUR DEFINED AUDIENCE/ CUSTOMER] to [SOLVE A PROBLEM] with [YOUR SECRET SAUCE].”

💡 Example: My company, Weava, is developing an all-in-one online research tool to help students and researchers save time with Weava highlighter available as a browser extension and mobile application.

2. One-minute Pitch

The one-minute pitch can be used when you have a better time buffer than an elevator pitch, for example during a conference call or a competition.

• Content: Everything you discussed in your elevator pitch, plus your business’s market and the market’s value, your competitor analysis, the status of your business, and finally the ask (objective of the pitch).

We compete in the growing [YOUR DEFINED MARKET] market, which last year was a [DEFINED VALUE] value market. We are similar to [YOUR COMPETITORS], but we [YOUR DIFFERENTIATOR/ COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE]. Currently, we have [CURRENT STATE OF PRODUCT, TEAM OR COMPANY]. We are looking for [THE ASK] to help us [WHAT YOU WOULD DO WITH THE ASK].

💡 Example: My company, Weava, is developing an all-in-one online research tool to help students and researchers save time with Weava highlighter available as a browser extension and mobile application. We compete in the global education software market, which was valued at 3.2 billion USD in 2019 with CAGR of 11% globally. We look to Endnote, Mendeley or Diigo, but Weava offers the most comprehensive features for research from the information collection stage to processing and organizing, to sharing, citing, and exporting. Currently, we have more than 750,000 active installations of Weava at Google Chrome and about 2 million highlights generated every week by our global users. We are now running on B2C freemium model. We are looking for an equity investment of [X USD] to help us actively market into the United States and establish B2B strategy.

3. Presentation with a Deck

A good pitch deck is required for presentations seeking investments or funding.

• Content: Your pitch deck should include your company’s purpose, the problem you’re trying to solve, your solution (product), and why now? (for investments), competitor analysis, market analysis and valuation, your business model, team, traction, financials, and your ask.
• Format : prepare a deck with no more than 20 slides that concisely present your business
• Examples: refer to pitch decks from big startups such as Airbnb, Uber, and Coinbase here for your reference.

Guide to building a pitch deck – Dropbox

Templates to start building your pitch deck right away.

• Pre-seed stage : when you may be considered pre-product (or maybe the minimally viable product, a prototype) but you have identified a clear market opportunity. You may be hiring soon and incurring expenses.
• Seed stage : when you have a clear product that is fit for your targeted market. You may have some revenue to show, and a team who’s on board with you.

Additional Readings:

• Founder Institute – How to Pitch Your Startup
• Pitch deck references (publicly available) – https://www.docsend.com/blog/pitch-deck-examples/

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How to Give a Great Elevator Pitch (With Examples)

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How to Give a Great Elevator Pitch (With Examples) was originally published on Forage .

Though people are complex and so much more than just their jobs, in a new social situation you’re often asked, “So, what do you do?” or “What are you majoring in?” While you probably have a stock answer ready to go (I’m in sales; I’m majoring in English), the person asking may be able to help you achieve your career goals — but they won’t know unless you’ve got an elevator pitch ready to go.

An elevator pitch is an enticing and interesting three or four-sentence summary of you. But you do more than talk about yourself. Your elevator pitch gets the listener interested in what you’re capable of.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

What Is an Elevator Pitch?

How to write an elevator pitch, elevator pitch examples, elevator pitch bonus tips.

Mike Gardon of CareerCloud sums up elevator pitches like this: “When meeting someone for the first time, we all get asked what we do, right? Well, an elevator pitch is how you answer that question.”

At its core, an elevator pitch is a brief synopsis of who you are and what you do (or are trying to do). It’s named so because of the idea that you’re in an elevator with the one person who can make your career dreams come true. You’ve got the length of that elevator ride (approximately 30 seconds) to convince that person to keep listening to you.

Why You Need an Elevator Pitch (and When You’ll Use It)

In many respects, an elevator pitch is all about you. And though it may seem strange — uncomfortable even — to talk about yourself, a well-designed elevator pitch starts with you and ends with the listener.

Gardon explains, “The elevator pitch is designed to engage the person with whom you are communicating, and get them to take some next action. Think about it like this: if you were writing an email, the elevator pitch would be the subject line plus the next couple of lines that are shown in an inbox. The purpose is to get the recipient to open the email.”

In the case of your elevator pitch, you’re attempting to spark a longer conversation (or later meeting) with someone who could potentially help you professionally.

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Your elevator pitch comes in handy when you’re looking for a job. But you’ll also use various versions of your elevator pitch in situations like:

• Networking events
• Prospecting for new sales and clients
• When you’re interviewing and asked, “Tell me about yourself.”
• As the “about me” on LinkedIn, Twitter, or other social media page
• In the summary of qualifications on your resume

How Long Should an Elevator Pitch Be?

While elevator ride times vary, the general rule of thumb is that an elevator pitch is no longer than 30 seconds, which means your pitch needs to be concise.

So, you can’t include every accomplishment from your last three jobs, just the top most recent ones. As you’re honing your pitch, write it down and limit yourself to four sentences. This will help you focus on your top highlights.

In general, an elevator pitch includes four essential elements: who you are, what you do, what’s unique about you, and what your “ask” is. Though the “meat” of your pitch likely doesn’t change often, you should prepare multiple elevator pitches that you can tailor to your situation.

For example, if you’re a student, the pitch you use at a career fair may not be the same one you use at a networking event. Likewise, if you’re changing careers, you may need to switch up what your “ask” is depending on who you talk to.

Gardon offers an example. “I wear so many different hats and am involved in different businesses. So, if I want someone to be a guest on my podcast, I might tell them how we’ve done over 400 episodes, instead of telling them that I’m a former derivatives trader.”

Also, while the below elements are crucial, they can go in almost any order. While a good elevator pitch usually begins with your name, you may find that listing your skills before your accomplishments is better for your pitch.

Part 1: Who Are You?

Your elevator pitch starts with your name, of course, but also consider throwing in a “hook” that gives the person you’re speaking with an opening to ask you questions. Here are some examples:

“I’m [your name], a recent graduate of [university] with a degree in [your degree].”

“My name is [your name] and I’m a junior at [university] majoring in [your major].”

“I’m [your name] and while I’m currently in product development, I’ve decided I want to change gears and go into graphic design.”

Part 2: What Do You Do?

The second part of your elevator pitch explains what you do. However, you shouldn’t limit yourself to a job title. This is the place to mention one outstanding accomplishment from your job, internship, or even a class that will wow your listener.

Like all parts of your elevator speech, this needs to be brief, but it should also be detailed and help the listener get an idea of what you’re capable of:

“During my marketing internship at [name of company], I grew social media engagement by 43%, which resulted in an uptick in newsletter sign-ups year over year.”

“Our business is small, but that lets us have more personal interaction, which has helped us keep a small but loyal and profitable client base for 15 years.”

“After learning about the stock market, I wanted to test what I learned as well as my skills, so I created a mock portfolio that’s realized a 24% gain over the last year.”

Part 3: What’s Unique About You?

The next section of your elevator pitch includes something unique about you. While this can include specific skills, you can also trace your career path or accomplishments to illustrate how you use your skills.

Because you only have 30 seconds, you might be tempted to list your skills or accomplishments like a grocery list. But try to link them to an outcome or something you can do.

“I enjoy analyzing data and using the results to plan my content calendar, including social media posts.”

“I worked on my college newspaper, starting on the sports beat, eventually moving my way up to chief editor.”

The first example mentions one skill (data analysis ) and two outcomes (planning the content calendar and social media posts). The second example doesn’t mention any skills but illustrates the speaker’s career path (sports beat to chief editor), demonstrating an increase in skills and responsibilities.

>>>>>> Ready to level-up your data analysis skills? Try the Data & Analytics Virtual Work Experience

Part 4: Call to Action (or What’s Your Ask?)

The final part of your elevator pitch includes a call to action. Or, more specifically, what are you asking for?

Much like networking, you may not want to blurt out “a job!” even if that’s your desired outcome. This section is what you hope will happen, which could be a job, internship, or just a new networking connection.

“I would love to speak to you about being a potential mentor, if you have time.”

“I’d like to follow up with you about how I can get involved in and conduct summer research.”

“Can you tell me how you decided on [this] career?”

Each of these invites the listener to continue engaging with you either right now or in the future. 

Optional Part 5: Something Memorable

Finally, depending on the situation, you might want to include something memorable in your pitch. This is situation-dependent and only something you should do if you’re comfortable.

For example, the pitch on Gardon’s LinkedIn profile says, “Earned the Title ‘World Champion Funniest Person In The World (to my kids)’ 10 years running.”

Of course, not everyone can be the “Funniest Person in the World,” but your memorable moment could be your love of science fiction, who your favorite author is, or the fact that you just adopted a cat.

Here’s what all the elements look like when you put them together:

“I’m David, a rising senior at XYZ University and an education major. I spent last year student teaching at my old high school, and it was quite the experience being on the other side. I’m graduating in the spring and am looking to teach high school biology.”

“I’m Ella, and I’m currently an individual contributor at XYZ company running the social media accounts. I use Google Analytics to analyze and improve content performance, and my personal TikTok has XXX followers. I’m looking to move to a leadership role at a mid to large-size company where I can mentor others.”

“I’m Mike and I’m a sophomore at XYZ university. When I was a kid, I really wanted to communicate with animals, which is partly why I’m majoring in zoology. I’m not sure what career is best suited for me. Can you tell me how you ended up in yours?”

Once you’ve written (and rewritten) your elevator pitch, you’re almost ready to try it out. Before you do, though, ensure your delivery is memorable — for the right reasons!

• Practice. Practice makes perfect, of course. And while you don’t want to sound too rehearsed, you also don’t want to trip over your pitch or start rambling. Practice in front of a mirror, with friends or family, or record yourself to make sure you’re getting it right.
• Time yourself. Thirty seconds can feel like forever or fly right by. Time yourself to make sure your pitch isn’t too long or too short, and adjust as necessary.
• Use your “excited” voice. While you’ll want to use your “inside voice,” vary your tone. When you give a rehearsed speech, it should be polished but not robotic. Try to bring some excitement to your voice as you speak.
• Speak slowly. You may want to cram as much as possible into your 30 seconds, but that could result in you speaking too quickly to try to get it all in, making it tough for the listener to understand you. As hard as it might be, stick to one or two main points.
• Maintain eye contact. While you don’t want to stare at the listener the whole time, you don’t want to stare at the floor either. Maintain the level of eye contact that feels normal and natural to you, and break eye contact when appropriate.

Make Your Pitch

An elevator pitch is useful in all sorts of professional (and even personal!) situations. By taking stock of what you do and what you want to do, you’ll find the perfect elements to include in yours and impress the next person you pitch it to.

Want more insights into creating the perfect pitch? Check out Ashurst’s Building Your Personal Brand Virtual Experience Program .

Image credit: Canva

The post How to Give a Great Elevator Pitch (With Examples) appeared first on Forage .

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• Post author: Trevor Lee
• Post published: 22 October 2018
• Post category: Podcasts

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10 Business Pitch Examples for Your Next Client Meeting

By Letícia Fonseca , Oct 30, 2023

We tell presenters that it’s okay to feel scared during your upcoming sales pitch because investors will always be a pressing and intimidating bunch.

Great elevator pitches are similar to memorable stories. They intertwine visuals and narrative to keep the audience engaged. And it needs to be completed in the duration of an elevator ride.

In this guide, we share 10 business pitch examples you’ll want to use in your next investor or client meeting.

You don’t need design experience to create a business or sales pitch. Create an engaging presentation in just minutes with Venngage’s professionally designed pitch deck templates !

What is a business pitch?

A business pitch is a concise and compelling presentation that is delivered to potential investors, clients or partners to communicate the value proposition of a business idea , product or service.

The main goal of a business pitch is to persuade the audience to take a particular action, such as investing in the business, partnering with the company or purchasing the product or service.

When creating a business pitch, always remember that a well-crafted business pitch should be clear, concise and tailored to the specific needs and interests of the target audience. It should effectively communicate the value proposition and potential of the business idea, leaving a lasting impression on the audience.

To help smoothen the process for you, I’ve curated 10 business pitch deck examples you can use for your next client meeting. Keep scrolling to find out!

10 business pitch examples you can use:

Choose a simple and short elevator pitch template, guy kawasaki elevator pitch examples for business, modern pitch deck example, effective startup elevator pitch examples.

• Business idea pitch deck

Dark marketing pitch deck

Classic airbnb pitch deck.

• Statement yellow elevator pitch example
• Short franchise elevator pitch example

Nonprofit pitch deck

Your elevator pitch needs to address the biggest business concern: the sales funnel .

This simple pitch deck example gets to the heart of the business problem within just 12 slides. It’s short, sharp and to the point, enough to keep prospective clients interested.

This is a great sales pitch deck template to accompany a brief presentation. You can easily share your business model with investors or clients.

Customize this template by adding your branding and business information. Include data about your target audience and team members. This is information that potential investors need to know.

With a Venngage business account, you can access the My Brand Kit feature, including the Autobrand tool.

Add your website when prompted and the editor will import your logos, fonts and brand colors . You’ll be able to add your branding to all your designs with a single click.

Related:  How to Create an Effective Pitch Deck Design [+Examples]

The Guy Kawasaki method for elevator pitch templates has been successful for numerous businesses. The minimal text keeps investors focused during the entire pitch.

Presenters can fully concentrate on sharing the key metrics and pain points of their target market. The pitch deck includes overviews that guide investors’ thoughts.

Venngage has two versions of the conventional Guy Kawasaki elevator pitch format. This gradient version is a bit more modern. It certainly draws the eye without overwhelming the design.

The template’s simple and minimalist-inspired design makes it easy to customize for any brand completely. You can swap out the gradient panels and add brand-relevant product images instead.

You can also use this non-gradient pitch deck template. This is an ideal way to highlight your brand colors.

Make the easily customizable pitch deck examples shared above your own by adding your text, data and graphs.

Creating a pitch deck  just got easier. Venngage’s real-time collaboration  allows multiple members to work on a design at once. Share instant feedback and design a winning sales pitch.

This unconventional pitch deck uses icons to tell a compelling narrative. Visuals can spice up presentation decks and give make them aesthetically pleasing.

This template works well for startups and small businesses demonstrating to investors their brand’s potential.

If the deck is too dark, you can switch out the panel colors and icons. Add your own research to make your sales pitch convincing.

Related:  Everything You Need to Know About Picking and Using Brand Colors

Elevator pitch decks focus on quick, one-minute proposals to convince potential investors that you have something valuable.

This investor pitch deck example is excellent for a startup elevator pitch. With just five slides, this deck makes it easy to breeze through your business model.

The added charts make the proposal and presentation much more convincing. You can share the necessary details that investors will want to know about.

Import your data from Google sheets into the Venngage editor and easily create charts for your presentation.

Related:  Everything You Need to Know About Pie Charts

Business idea pitch deck

How do you highlight your business model to a potential customer? You start with your value proposition.

The below pitch deck example opens with the business’ value proposition in the first slide. It also includes many elegant ways to showcase the brand. Plus, it provides essential business data to investors simultaneously.

You can use the business idea pitch deck template above as a guideline for a good sales pitch of your own or modify and adjust it to your branding needs.

The marketing pitch deck example below has a dark but unique personality. It works well in a product launch setting or as an elevator pitch deck for marketers.

The color combination is unusual but striking. Not to mention, on-trend. Bold colors are one of the resurgent graphic design trends  of the past few years.

You can use the above marketing pitch deck example as inspiration for numerous business presentations.

Art and multimedia businesses can also use it as a template for client presentations.

Related:  20+ Business Pitch Deck Templates to Win New Clients and Investors

We all know what Airbnb is and how much the business has grown over the past few years.

One of the best pitch deck examples you’ll see is Venngage’s version of the Airbnb pitch deck.

It uses sample data, addresses the core customer problem and outlines the business plan to capture the audience’s attention.

The pitch deck example above is one of the standard elevator pitch decks but manages to be sophisticated. There’s a finesse to this pitch deck design . That’s why it was so successful.

Statement yellow elevator pitch example

The yellow motif of this artistic pitch deck will immediately hold the audience’s attention.

The color is bright and bold but isn’t overpowering. Instead, only two slides use the background color across the whole slide.

The majority of the slides only include hints of yellow or use it as a highlight.

This template works for companies that use one prominent color across their branding. It’s also a professional pitch deck for small businesses, startups, or software companies.

Short franchise elevator pitch example

Pitch decks don’t depend on length to make a point. Instead, it uses fewer headers as overviews and depends on presenters to share pitch details with investors.

This is one of the best pitch deck examples for a short and classy presentation. It uses a small number of icons and bullet points to draw the eye and keep the presentation flowing.

As an elevator pitch, this is an effective method for maintaining the audience’s focus.

Related:  A Complete Guide to Line Charts

This elevator pitch example for nonprofits uses minimalism and icons to keep potential investors engaged throughout the presentation.

The subtle use of color and icons asserts the brand’s personality. This template can work for businesses in the graphic design sector.

Alternatively, the nonprofit pitch deck example above can also work for digital marketing agencies that want a cutting-edge appeal to make themselves attractive to clients.

Famous sales pitch decks to inspire your pitch

Minimalist airbnb pitch deck.

This minimalist design of the Airbnb elevator pitch example shared above is perfect for startups.

You can easily add product or location photos and adjust the colors to suit your branding, alongside your logo and fonts.

Buffer pitch deck

The real Buffer pitch deck was confusing for investors. You can read more about it in our round-up of the best pitch decks .

Venngage designed a cleaner version using icons and charts. This makes the information easier to understand. You aren’t bombarding your audience with too many details.

Facebook pitch deck

The winning Facebook pitch deck was text-heavy. But what made it stand out was how many popular schools had already signed up with it.

Plus, the deck was nothing short of ambitious, with a clear expansion plan. It is no surprise that Facebook is the behemoth it is today.

How to write a business pitch deck

Creating a compelling business pitch deck is essential for effectively conveying your business idea to potential investors or partners. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you write a business pitch deck:

• Cover slide: Include the name of your company and a visually appealing image that represents your business.
• Problem statement: Clearly define the problem your product or service solves. Use statistics or real-life examples to emphasize the significance of the problem.
• Solution: Describe your product or service and how it addresses the identified problem. Use visuals, such as product images or diagrams, to help illustrate your solution.
• Market opportunity: Present market research data to showcase the size, growth potential and trends of the target market. Use graphs, charts, or infographics to make the information more engaging.
• Business model: Explain how your business will generate revenue. Describe your pricing strategy, sales and distribution channels and any key partnerships or collaborations that will contribute to your business model’s success.
• Traction and milestones: Highlight any significant achievements, milestones, or partnerships that demonstrate the progress and potential of your business. This can include user metrics, revenue growth, or notable endorsements.
• Competitive analysis: Analyze your competitors and illustrate how your product or service stands out in the market. Highlight your unique selling points and any barriers to entry that provide your business with a competitive advantage.
• Go-to-market strategy: Outline your marketing and sales plan. Describe how you will reach and acquire customers, including your marketing channels, customer acquisition strategy and sales approach.
• Financial projections: Present your financial forecasts, including revenue projections, cost structures and expected profitability. Use charts or graphs to display key financial data and assumptions.
• Team: Introduce your team members and highlight their relevant expertise and experience. Emphasize how the team’s skills and strengths contribute to the success of the business.
• Use of funds: Explain how you plan to use the funds you are seeking. Provide a breakdown of how the investment will be allocated across different aspects of the business.
• Conclusion and call-to-action: Summarize the key points of your pitch and clearly state what action you want the investors to take. Encourage questions and provide your contact information for further discussions.

Remember to keep your pitch deck concise, visually appealing and easy to understand. Use high-quality visuals and compelling storytelling to make your business pitch deck engaging and memorable for your audience.

Four tips for creating a great elevator pitch

Here are four easy ways to recreate the pitch deck examples above or build your own pitch from a template.

Create a visual style for your sales pitches

A visual style or theme creates flow and sophistication in any presentation. These involve using recurring elements in a subtle and obvious manner.

For example, this Venngage template uses our color gradient along with elegant and bright icons.

Choose visual elements whose characteristics become the pitch deck’s focal point. Great pitch decks use the brand’s colors and visual motifs to keep the brand top of mind.

Give an overview of your business model

Pitch decks act as content anchors that guide your client toward your topic’s main points.

All the other information in your pitch deck or the explanations in your presentation will be aimed at supplementing that data.

Like this Uber elevator pitch template that emphasizes customer pain points and how the business will solve them.

Examples of added data include situational examples, charts and graphs and case studies .

Focus on your unique proposition

Your pitch deck has a central idea that is its unique selling proposition. Pitch deck creators build their pitch ideas around this aspect.

As a result, they’ll have a solid, communicative and persuading pitch deck that convinces investors.

Simplify hard concepts in your sales pitch

Scientific knowledge is enriching to those who understand its meaning.

Hard concepts, long-running and poorly constructed sentences and jargon make reading challenging for investors who have a very short time to spare.

This deck ensures that information isn’t overwhelming, either in the overview or the traction slide.

Make sure to simplify hard concepts and use simple words. That’s what the best pitch decks do.

Use templates to create successful pitch decks and win over investors

Delivering a good elevator pitch can be overwhelming. The pressure to get the tone right and impress investors is huge.

We’ve shared 10 elevator pitch examples that you can use as inspiration.

And with Venngage’s pitch deck templates, you get a competitive advantage. With no design experience, you can create elevator pitches that win over investors.

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• Business strategy |
• 15 creative elevator pitch examples for ...

15 creative elevator pitch examples for every scenario

A good elevator pitch can be the difference between landing your next big opportunity or falling short of the competition. But the reality is, people want to have meaningful conversations without the forced sales pitch. So how do you pitch yourself during a job interview or client meeting with authenticity? 

First things first: What is an elevator pitch?

An elevator pitch, also known as an elevator speech, is an opportunity to share a quick summary of yourself and your product offerings. But a pitch can also be your chance at making a real connection that you can use later down the road. It’s not always an immediate benefit, but you should be prepared for any scenario in which you could be giving an elevator pitch. 

In reality, most people have given an elevator pitch whether they realize it or not. That’s because there are many different types of pitches—from interviews to new business opportunities. That makes preparing for your next pitch an important step in marketing both yourself and your company. 

When it comes to figuring out who to deliver your pitch to, you should aim for the best point of contact, not just the highest point of contact. Choosing connections that are related to or interested in what you’re offering will give you a better chance at making your sale. 

How long should an elevator pitch be?

One of the biggest unknowns about creating sample elevator pitches is how long they should be. In most cases, it will depend on what it’s about and who you’re pitching. A good rule of business etiquette is to make it as short as possible by carefully selecting the most important points. 

A study conducted by Microsoft found that the average person has an attention span of around eight seconds, meaning you’ll have to fight for that undivided attention. That’s no small task. So when it comes to a great elevator pitch, aim to keep it around 30 seconds—though the exact length can vary depending on your industry and what you’re pitching. 

When looking at pitch length based on industry, each one differs to some degree. Let’s take marketing for example. Your pitch opportunities will likely be to customers that come across your brand. And in that case, you have very little time to get your message across—whether it’s text, video, or imagery. But when it comes to sales, you may get the opportunity to expand your elevator pitch past 30 seconds. You will likely have plenty of networking opportunities where people are more than willing to listen to what you have to say. It really just depends on your medium and the audience’s eagerness to listen. 

But what if you can’t cut your elevator pitch down to 30 seconds? It may seem like your brand is too complicated to distill down to such a short timeframe, but if you’re pitching to the right audience you shouldn’t have that problem. Make sure you pitch to people related to your industry or a tangential audience that will be able to interpret your offerings. 

How to write an elevator pitch 

When it comes to writing an elevator pitch, it can be hard to decipher important facts from unimportant ones—this is why knowing how to effectively communicate in the workplace is important in the first place. For example, while it’s good to personalize your communication tactics wherever possible, it’s not necessary to give prospects an entire history lesson on your business. Only the most recent and relevant details should be included. To get started creating your own pitch, you first need to understand the basic components that make up any good elevator pitch.

Introduce yourself

All good pitches start with a short introduction. It could be as simple as stating your name and who you work for if those details apply. But the more personal you can make it, the more natural your elevator pitch will seem. Body language is also an important part of a solid introduction, as is eye contact. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when introducing yourself to a new prospect. 

Greet your audience in a way that’s appropriate for the occasion. Go formal for a business pitch or more casual for a fun event. With business meetings and networking events being held virtually, you’ll need to get creative with your introductions over video chat. You could even start with a lighthearted joke to break the ice. But whatever you do, make sure it’s relevant to your audience. 

Present the problem

All solutions start with a problem. Whatever you or your business is trying to solve, it’s important to get the point across early on in your elevator pitch to set the theme for the rest of your speech. An example problem: coordinating work between teams is chaotic.  

If possible, relate the problem back to your audience by using real-world examples. This will help make the problem more relevant and, hopefully, grab your audience’s attention. If your problem isn’t easy to explain, try using more than one example or a visual to really paint a picture for your audience. 

Offer the solution

If the problem is what draws the audience in, then the solution is what hooks them. This is your time to show them why they need your help. Here’s an example solution: Asana gives teams a system to organize and manage work so they know what to do, why it matters, and how to get it done.

The solution is arguably the most important part of an elevator pitch, so spend time perfecting it. If you’re pitching for a business, it’s likely the quick solution pitch has already been created. But again, it’s always better to personalize your pitch. So don’t be afraid to tweak it to fit your audience. If pitching for yourself, talk about the unique skills you’ve developed and why they would be beneficial to your prospect. 

Explain your value proposition

Now that you’ve piqued your audience’s attention, it’s time to seal the deal by explaining why your solution is better than anyone else's. An example value proposition is: Asana is the only platform that connects goals with the work needed to achieve them. 

The value proposition differs from the solution by focusing on why your audience should use your solution over a competitor’s. If you don’t have that answer just yet, perform a competitive analysis to compare your offerings or look to your executive summary. 

If your market is extremely niche and you don’t have a clear differentiator or significant competition, look to communication and interface capabilities. Consider why your idea or solution is original enough that someone would want to use it.   

Engage the audience

While most of the hard work is done, it’s important to engage your audience with a compliment or question before you part ways. Always err on the side of being genuine rather than delivering a scripted goodbye. 

There is no right or wrong way to engage your audience. While ending with a question can create a dialogue between you and your audience, a genuine compliment can go a long way. Think about what made you want to pitch them in the first place and use that to end the conversation. Lastly, don’t forget to swap contact information, such as a business card, if you don’t already have it. 

A foolproof elevator pitch template

Now that you know the basic components of a pitch, the next step is creating your very own elevator pitch. This template can work for just about any situation, from a job interview to pitching a small business or startup. That’s because we analyzed some of the most famous templates from industry experts—from Harvard research to Guy Kawasaki’s art of pitching—to create a foolproof template that will work in any situation. 

Plug your information into our elevator pitch template to draft a quick speech. While you won’t necessarily recite it word for word, it’s a great model to keep in mind in case you find yourself in a position where you’re not prepared with a personalized pitch.

Whether you’re looking for a pitch template for a job interview or for pitching your business, this template is a foolproof example for any situation you might find yourself in. 

General elevator pitch template

Use our elevator pitch template to start constructing your speech by adding statistics and personalized greetings where needed. This template incorporates the four parts explained above to hit all of the important details of a good elevator pitch. 

Introduction : “Hi I’m [name], a [position title] at [company name]. It’s great to meet you!”

Problem : “Since you work with [company name or industry] I figured you’d be interested to know that [problem + interesting statistic].”

Solution : “The great part about working at [your company’s name] is that we’ve been able to fix just that problem by [solution].”

Value proposition : “In fact, we’re the only company that offers [value proposition].”

CTA : “I think our solution could really help you. Are you available this week to speak further on this?”

Don’t be afraid to change up your pitch template based on your personality and professional expertise. We’ve also included personalized 30-second elevator pitch examples below to inspire personal facts you can add to create a more engaging speech .

30-second elevator pitch examples

Let’s dive into the best 30-second elevator pitch examples to help you create a pitch that’s both engaging and informative. Our examples take inspiration from the four elements included in the template above, to demonstrate how you'd pitch project management software to  increase productivity . Try a few or try them all to find one that best fits your personality and value proposition. 

Example 1: Short and sweet

This example is one of the most common you’ll come across. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best, but it’s a great example of a quick and easy pitch that fits almost any situation. When working on this type of elevator pitch, be sure to keep it as short and to the point as possible. Try to stick closely to the 30 seconds or less rule since the point is to be brief and transparent.

The problem is that work is chaotic no matter what industry you’re in or how good you are at your job. But a good project management software can help improve productivity and communication. I haven’t missed a deadline in years. If you’re interested in how it can help your team, give me a call and I can take you through some numbers. 

Example 2: Relatable over reliable

Sometimes the best way to grab your audience’s attention is to reel them in with a personal anecdote they’ll relate to. While it’s still important to drive home your solution, this approach puts more weight on making a personal connection rather than an immediate sale. 

It’s so great to finally meet you. How is business going? I heard you’ve been struggling with communication issues. My team and I struggled with that too. It wasn’t until we added project management software into our routine that we really saw an improvement in teamwork and overall communication. I hope you find a solution that works for your team. 

Example 3: Savvy with stats

Start your pitch off with a hook by dropping an attention-grabbing statistic. It’s important to have hard data to back up your statistics to ensure their accuracy before pitching. When it comes to a statistics pitch, it’s a good idea to come full circle at the end and connect how your solution can help solve that statistic.  

Did you know that despite having more ways to connect remotely, 60% of workers’ time is spent on work coordination with just 26% spent on skilled work and 14% on strategy? No wonder teams need help with project management. Implementing project management tools can decrease time spent on work coordination and help increase skilled work.

Example 4: Question everything

This example uses questions to make your pitch easily comprehensible. It also forces the audience to join in on the conversation rather than just presenting them with a speech. Try starting and ending with a question that makes the audience think about your pitch long after you leave the room.

Do you ever feel like you spend too much time on work about work? I’ve talked to so many people who share the same frustrations. I used to work long hours every day just trying to catch up. But do you know what? Ever since we started using project management software, I've been able to get so much more work done. Have you tried anything similar in the past?

Example 5: Comedic twist

If your pitch isn’t about a serious topic, you can add comedic twists to engage the audience. This is especially useful if giving a presentation. Add a GIF or quick funny clip in between slides to lighten the mood. If using this example, be sure it fits the occasion and tone of your company. 

Did you know that the average person can only pay attention for eight seconds? That’s not even long enough to place my coffee order in the morning. Maybe that’s why my barista always gets it wrong. But seriously, I think that’s why so many companies struggle to hit deadlines. 

Example 6: Tell a story

Use customer testimonials or your own personal story to paint a picture for the audience. This can be especially helpful if your topic is hard to explain in 30 seconds or less. Telling a story is a great way to add a relatable twist. 

We have a customer that transitioned to a fully remote workforce this year and needed help making sure deadlines were met. With our help, they were able to get up to 10% of their time back in their day and focus on more important things like strategic planning.  

Example 7: Emotionally driven

While this type of pitch may be more difficult to create, you have a better chance of winning over your audience if you can make your pitch emotionally driven. It’s also more likely they’ll be willing to share the experience with someone else down the road. It’s important to keep the emotions on the lighter side to prevent the conversation from steering too dark. Here is an example to inspire your own speech. 

It may seem like any other tool, but when you look closely it really is helping teams connect. And not just that, but it’s helping cultivate teams that actually enjoy working together on new projects. That’s something that’s hard to come by, but something everyone is looking for.  

Example 8: Write it first

While most speeches start by writing a general outline, you can opt to write the entire pitch from start to finish. This tends to create a thought-provoking and poetic flow once you do present your pitch. You’ll have to memorize this pitch, so practicing is a key element to this strategy. 

Hi, my name is Kelly! It’s great to meet you. You work for Apollo Enterprises, right? I’ve heard a lot about them. I actually heard that you’re looking for project management help. In my experience, any organization—whether sales or suppliers—needs help coordinating work and team communication. Work can be rather chaotic, especially now, without it. That’s why we’ve created a software tool that helps both individuals and teams organize their projects and communications all in one place. Have you ever thought about using something similar?

Example 9: End with a one-liner

Making a grand exit doesn’t come easily, but if you can pull it off your audience is sure to be impressed. Stay away from cliche one-liners and make your closing authentic to you. The point here is to leave them with a thought that they’ll remember after the meeting is over. Consider sharing a surprising statistic or question relevant to their business.

Over one-quarter (26%) of all deadlines are missed each week because of a lack of clarity. But with the right project management tools, that number could be much lower. So the question is, can your business afford not to use project management software? 

Elevator pitch examples by scenario

Now that we’ve covered the types of pitch examples, let’s dive into example elevator pitches for different scenarios. Whether you’re pitching for your business or yourself, you can use an elevator pitch to organize your thoughts and prepare for the real deal. Let’s look at key tips for any situation you may find yourself in. 

Example 10: Networking event

A networking event is probably the most common scenario you’ll run into. And with the new virtual-first culture, it may be even more challenging to make meaningful connections over video chat. That’s why it’s so important to prepare an elevator pitch that’s compelling no matter where you’re pitching it from. While most salespeople pitch casually in this environment, you may get the opportunity to meet an important executive. In which case, you’ll want to be prepared with a versatile pitch template. 

Great to meet you, I’m Kelly with Apollo Enterprises. We’ve been able to improve productivity and collaboration for teams all over the world. If you ever need help with project management, just reach out. I think we could make a huge impact on your company. I’ll make sure to keep your contact information handy as well. 

Example 11: Job interview

Looking for a new job or have career fairs coming up? Most interviews—whether with human resources, a recruiter, or a hiring manager—start with some form of the phrase, “Tell me about yourself.” This is an opportunity for job seekers to briefly explain themselves and their professional experience using industry buzzwords and key skills. Having an elevator pitch ready can ensure that you’re prepared when the opportunity presents itself. 

I’m Kelly, a specialist at Apollo Enterprises. I chose a career in project management because I had a passion for it, and now I can proudly say that I’ve been able to make a real difference in people’s lives. That’s why I’m looking to continue my career with an employer who shares those same values. I know my unique skills can make a big impact at your company because I’ve proven my results with a few key projects. 

Example 12: Formal meeting

You’ve landed the meeting, congratulations! Now is the time to create a formal elevator pitch to really get them interested. When presenting a formal pitch, a presentation can be a great addition to traditional elevator speech examples. But whether or not you choose to create a presentation, this meeting is about selling your product in the most professional way possible. So dress the part and don’t forget your unique selling proposition. 

I took a look at your current productivity figures and noticed an opportunity for improvement. With our project management software, you could get back up to 10% more of your workday. Not only would that mean more work getting done, but it would also have a positive impact on the overall success of your business. Not to mention, our tool is the only one in the industry that has goal capabilities to ensure teams stay on track. 

Example 13: Sales pitch 

Professionals often pitch traditional sales jargon, but the real key is creating a human connection while lightly sprinkling in what you’re selling. Start with a personal story or light-hearted introduction instead of the typical sales presentation. You can also prepare by creating sales team goal templates to ensure your team is on the same page. 

Our team really struggled to transition to a remote workforce. Communication wasn’t organized and people struggled to find the correct information to complete projects. But, thankfully, we found a solution to our problem. Implementing project management tools not only improved productivity but also improved overall teamwork. Every company prefers different tools, but I can say without a doubt that our software was the best at connecting goals with the work needed to achieve them. 

Example 14: Social introduction

Now, more than ever, professionals are choosing to meet virtually rather than face-to-face. Whether you’re chatting over LinkedIn or have a virtual meeting set up, it’s important to make your pitch personal and use clear visuals to help sell your point. Here’s a great example of a social media pitch. 

Thanks for connecting! I noticed that your competitors are outperforming you when it comes to year-over-year growth. I took the liberty of doing a competitive analysis and didn’t find any outlying problems. I’m wondering if it could be an issue with productivity. How has the transition to remote work been? If you’re interested, I could run you through some productivity figures if you were to add project management tools to your current processes. 

Example 15: Entrepreneurs and business owners

Pitching to a business owner is much different than pitching to an executive. They can be harder to sell because they are often hesitant about new investments. The most important tip is to use examples as they pertain to the business when explaining a problem and solution.  

I love your products at Apollo Enterprises. I’m a huge proponent of your mission. I did realize that there may be some opportunities to improve productivity and collaboration internally. Have you ever considered project management software? I think it could have a big impact on business growth now or even down the road. 

4 tips to perfect your elevator pitch

In addition to creating the perfect elevator pitch, you should also work on sprucing up your delivery. There’s nothing worse than sitting through a boring speech, so make sure yours is anything but. From posture to tone, there’s a lot you can practice to make sure you look professional and knowledgeable. Consider these four tips when trying to nail a successful elevator pitch. 

1. Stick to your outline

To prevent getting off-topic, it’s important to stick to your outline at least to some extent. While you don’t need to recite it word for word, it’s best to memorize the majority of your pitch. That way you won’t need to worry about checking your notes. 

2. Speak slowly and clearly

Many professionals tend to talk quickly when they’re nervous—hey, we’re only human. But it’s important to enunciate and speak slowly so the audience can understand you. This is especially important when presenting over video chat. But try not to slow yourself down too much or you’ll go over your allotted time. 

3. Record your pitch

Record yourself reciting the pitch to work on any areas that need improvement. Practice your pitch a handful of times by playing the recording back and working out any pain points. A couple of key areas to focus on are speed and tone. It’s better to sound overly energized rather than monotone. 

4. Practice, practice, practice!

There’s nothing more effective than practicing your pitch until you’re able to recite it in your sleep. If possible, practice in front of friends and family to get constructive feedback on how you can make your pitch even better. Even if you have years of experience, you can never go wrong with being overly prepared. 

Elevate your first impression with an elevator pitch

An elevator pitch is a chance to show off your strengths and pitch your solutions. While it may sound nerve-wracking, using the 15 elevator pitch examples above will help you develop your own method using personal tidbits that tie into your innovative solutions.

While your pitch is an important part of leveling up your business, there are many avenues you can take to achieve growth. One of those ways is by determining whether project management vs. work management tools are right for your team. Not only will they help connect your team members, but the right tools and software can also help your organization set strategic goals. That means more time spent on bigger projects to help your business reach next-level growth. 

Related resources

9 steps to craft a successful go-to-market (GTM) strategy

Unmanaged business goals don’t work. Here’s what does.

How Asana uses work management to effectively manage goals

Beat thrash for good: 4 organizational planning challenges and solutions

• Apr 11, 2023

How to design an impactful 3MT slide (with examples!)

What can you do in three minutes? Brush your teeth, make a coffee?

How about explain your entire PhD thesis? 😅

Believe it or not, that’s what thousands of people do each year in the Three Minute Thesis (3MT ® ); a global public speaking competition where PhD students explain the scope and impact of their research in, you guessed it, just three minutes . ⏰

And if you’re reading this, perhaps you’re an aspiring 3MT-er yourself, on the hunt for some inspiration to design an impactful 3MT slide to accompany your talk.

Sound like you? Then you’ve come to the right place.

Previously, we gave you some tips and tricks on how to write a winning 3MT script , but in this instalment of our 3MT series, we’re switching gears to cover another very important aspect:

We’ve trawled the internet to discover what actually makes a good three minute thesis slide, and in this blog, we’ll cover some do’s and don’ts to help you design one that’s memorable and impactful. To help bring these concepts home, we’ll also include some examples that we love from past 3MT winners and finalists.

But before we do that, let’s recap some important rules related to the 3MT slide:

So, in short, the 3MT slide obviously needs to be fairly simple. But that doesn’t mean it has to be boring.

Hold up… if the 3MT is a public speaking competition, why is the slide even important? Surely only what you speak about matters, right? WRONG! 🙅‍♀️

The 3MT competition is about so much more than just what you say. It’s also about what you do and what you show And what you show during your 3MT is where your nifty little slide comes in.

Not only is the PowerPoint slide a key component of the 3MT judging criteria , it also helps create a lasting mental image for the judges. After all, you can’t win the 3MT if the audience and judges can’t even remember what your research is about!

So, hopefully we’ve been able to convince you about just how important having a good slide is. But how do you design an impactful 3MT slide, you ask?

Well, here are 5 of our top tips:

Tip #1 : Avoid data dumping 📊

You might be familiar with those boring old PowerPoint presentations that seem to appear at every conference. You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones cluttered with complex graphs, huge tables, and enough numbers to put even the most experienced professors to sleep.

May I present to you… Exhibit A:

Look familiar? Good. Now lock the memory away in a distant room of your mind palace, because that’s exactly what you DON’T want in a 3MT slide (or really, in any slide for that matter…)

Unlike a conference presentation, your 3MT slide should simply act to enhance and complement your script, rather than be used to display complex data and graphs. In fact, I would suggest avoiding the use of any complex graphs and data tables at all, because they just end up detracting attention from what you’re saying.

If you choose to present some important data or statistics in your 3MT slide, consider swapping out graphs with simple infographics , like pie charts or diagrams:

As you can see, simple infographics and eye-catching figures are a much more visually stimulating way to present information, especially compared to data-heavy graphs and tables. And they’re surprisingly easy to make using tools like Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Express .

So, if in doubt, leave complex data out. 🚫

In fact, you’ll find that most successful 3MT-ers show little to no data at all in their slides and intentionally keep them very conceptual, which brings me to tip #2 .

Tip #2 : Keep it conceptual 💡

Perhaps you’re sensing a general theme here… that typically less is more when it comes to a 3MT slide. This allows the focus of the presentation to be on the speaker, the slide simply acting as a visual aid to complement the story . And when it’s a public speaking competition, I’d say that’s pretty important.

In our humble opinion, some of the most effective and memorable 3MT slides are those that present an image or diagram that conveys a single underpinning concept or idea .

You might recall from our ‘ How to Write a Winning 3MT Script ’ blog post, that many successful 3MT scripts incorporate things like humour, analogies , or fictional characters. In these situations, it can be helpful for the contents of the slide to reflect this.

One of my favourite examples of this comes from 2016 Asia-Pacific 3MT Winner, Joshua Chu-Tan , who spoke about his research on gene therapy treatments for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) to target the root of vision loss. In his winning presentation, he says:

Rather than using complex diagrams to show the theory, he opted for this simple, yet extremely powerful image that highlights the impact of vision loss from age-related macular degeneration. And, seeing as this image has stuck in my memory for years, I’d say it was a pretty good choice.

As another example, back when I won the 3MT , I used an analogy to draw parallels between A) cars carrying passengers on a highway, and B) nanoparticles carrying drugs along a blood vessel. So, my 3MT slide portrayed a busy highway with signage to show which hypothetical organs the cars were headed towards:

Basically, the overarching message is to keep it simple.

And that’s all well and good… But where do you even start?

Your first step is to write your 3MT script . Then, once you have your script prepared, use it as a tool to help you brainstorm ideas for your slide. Note whether you’ve used any analogies, introduced any characters, or covered certain concepts, and then based on this information, find or create a visual to match! 🖼 This might be a little different to your usual scientific presentations, where you would normally prepare your slides first, then come up with what you are going to say after, but trust me – it works!

Tip #3 : Choose an eye-catching visual… or make one 👀

In the same way that ‘ the hook’ in your 3MT script helps to pique the audience’s attention, the slide is another important tool to capture their attention and keep them engaged. But to do this, it needs to be eye-catching and interesting .

We’ve noticed that most winning 3MTs have slides that generally fall under one of two categories: images or diagrams .

These are usually photographs or illustrations that complement the script in some way — containing a reference to the concept, analogy or character(s) that were introduced in the script.

For example, let’s say you introduced a fictional character in your 3MT script. By visually showing this character in your slide, it helps the audience form a connection with them and taps into their sense of empathy. Let’s look at an example:

As you can see, using this photograph makes for a really effective and impactful slide because it elicits a strong emotional response. Come on… how can you not love that adorable little face, right? 🥺

However, the images don’t have to be of people to be effective – they can also be more conceptual.

For instance, one 3MT finalist spoke about their research on detecting diseases, like cancer, based on characteristic molecules present in the breath. In their slide, they showed an illustration of breath molecules exiting the lungs and mouth to be caught in a net:

Not only is this image a great reference to the net analogy used, but we (as the audience) are able to get a basic idea about the research concept based on the slide alone, which really helps it stick in our memory!

Of course, while we’ve highlighted some great examples, you should choose whatever image speaks to you and your research. Some useful resources to find images for your 3MT slide include iStock Photo and Adobe Stock Photos (making sure to provide attribution where required), or you can even be extra creative and take your own photo, or create your own image ! 📸

Aside from images, schematic diagrams can be another great way to conceptualise and visualise your research. However, to be effective as 3MT slides, the diagrams need to be simple and easy to understand.

Ideally, they should be short, and the outcomes immediately recognisable . Avoid using complex diagrams that you’ve directly copy-pasted from a paper, as these generally take a lot more time and concentration to understand.

A good example of a diagram for a 3MT slide was used by the 2020 Asia-Pacific 3MT winner , whose research focused on the development of a liquid glue to help measure electrical signals from plants as a way to measure their health:

In this example, it’s easy to understand what the research is about, what’s being measured, and what the desired outcomes are, thanks to the clear illustrations and emotive flower drawings.

So, if done well, diagrams can be a really powerful tool to conceptualise your research. If you want to try and create one yourself, there are lots of useful tools you can use, like Adobe Illustrator , Canva , or BioRender , to name a few.

Get creative!

Tip #4 : Minimise text 💬

When it comes to presentations, there’s nothing worse than being in the audience, staring at a PowerPoint slide, only to find a wall of text staring back at you. Not only is it super distracting, but aesthetically, it also leaves much to be desired.

And let’s be honest, if the audience is reading your slide, then they’re not listening to you… and vice versa. Which, for the 3MT, is a very big problem.

To prevent this, try to avoid including large bodies of text on your 3MT slide . See if you can verbally communicate the information instead, or alternatively, replace the text with an image that conveys the same message. After all, they say a picture speaks a thousand words.

If you really need to include some text, as in the case of simple diagrams, try to keep it to a minimum and limit yourself to 15 words maximum.

Any text you do include should use a font size that can be easily seen from the back of the room (i.e., 24 pt. minimum). And, while they sometimes have their time and place, try to avoid using any cursive, funky, or hard-to-read fonts . Comic sans, I’m looking at you. 😒

Tip #5 : Negative space is your friend 🔲

You might be tempted to fill every visible inch of your PowerPoint slide with images, diagrams, or just something to compensate for the very little time you have to present your 3MT.

Though, you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you did, because a little negative space can go a long way towards designing a great 3MT slide.

But what is negative space? Put simply, it’s the empty space around and between objects.

Leaving some negative space in your slide gives the audience some breathing room and helps them focus on what’s important .

For photographs, this might mean choosing an image that has one focal point. This doesn’t necessarily mean the background needs to be plain, but it may simply be out of focus to allow the objects in the forefront to stand out.

For diagrams, this means leaving some empty space between sections so that there’s a clearer distinction between them, or reducing the number of sections entirely.

Here are some great examples of 3MT slides that use negative space to draw our attention to a particular person or object:

By leaving some negative space, our eyes are immediately drawn to one particular focal point, letting us focus on what’s important: You.

The take-home message 📝

And that brings us to the end of the second blog for our 3MT series!

The 3MT slide can truly make or break a 3MT presentation, but the right one can take it to the next level. And, by following these simple tips, you’re well on your way to designing a slide that captures your research in an effective and impactful way:

Avoid complex graphs and data

Keep it conceptual

Choose an eye-catching image or diagram, or make one

Keep text to a minimum, and

Don’t be afraid of negative space

So get creative! And remember, if you want to learn more about how to create amazing graphics, or how to up your public speaking skills, we’d love to show you how in our in-person science communication workshop s or online courses!

Contact us here to find out more. 🤩

Cintya Dharmayanti

Dr Tullio Rossi

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Create a standout UGC pitch deck in PowerPoint

march 22, 2024

by Kate Shewaga

If you're a content creator looking to take your user-generated content (UGC) game to the next level, you're in the right place. In this post, I'll share my secrets for creating a customized Microsoft PowerPoint pitch deck that will help you connect with brands and businesses like a pro.

Why customization matters

In the booming world of UGC, it's essential to stand out from the crowd. One fantastic way to do this is by creating a tailored pitch deck that showcases your unique skills and style. Customization is key, and I'll walk you through the process using a template from Microsoft Create .

Choose your template

Start with a template so you can hit the ground running with a clean, polished design. Visit Microsoft Create and explore their PowerPoint templates and pitch deck templates . When you find a design you like, download it.

For this tutorial, I used the Light sales pitch presentation template. This sleek and professional template is the perfect starting point for your UGC pitch deck.

Personalize the cover page

First impressions matter, so make sure your cover page is on point. I always include the name of the brand I'm pitching to show that I've created this presentation specifically for them. It's a small detail that goes a long way in demonstrating your dedication and professionalism.

Customize colors and images

Next, it's time to make the template your own. I customize the colors to match my personal brand and incorporate professional photos I've taken myself. This helps the pitch deck feel authentic and shows off my unique style.

Showcase your work

To give brands a taste of what you can do, include a few concept ideas and sample videos you've created in their niche. I like to add multiple pages with videos of my recent work to highlight my skills and experience. Just remember to watermark any videos featuring products that brands haven't purchased yet!

Include testimonials and analytics

Social proof is powerful, so don't be afraid to include testimonials or analytics from your previous high-performing content. This demonstrates your track record of success and helps build trust with potential brand partners.

Wrapping up

Creating a short, informative PowerPoint pitch deck can be the secret sauce that makes your UGC pitch unforgettable. By customizing a professional template with your own colors, images, and work samples, you'll be well on your way to landing those coveted brand deals.

Head to Microsoft Create and start crafting your standout UGC pitch deck today!

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The 5 Slides You Must Have In Your Pitch Deck You don't need a lot of slides, but the ones you do have must concise and compelling.

By Tony Conrad • Sep 16, 2015

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

This article is included in Entrepreneur Voices on Elevator Pitches , a new book containing insights from both sides of the board room to help you craft the perfect pitch. Buy it online from Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Apple Books | IndieBound

Q: When preparing to pitch investors, what are the slides you should include in your deck?

A: In that first meeting, most investors need just 20 minutes to decide if your idea is something they're excited to pursue. So creating a compelling deck that covers your vision, team and idea in five slides is where you need to put your attention. Before we dig into what those slides should cover, I want to share two small -- but very effective -- things I highly recommend to engage an investor during your pitch:

Build trust and establish a rapport quickly: Typically, your first meeting with an investor will be a one-on-one pitch. It's easier than ever to know background details of the person you're pitching and find something you have in common (school, entrepreneurs, etc), and it's a proven ice breaker. Another trick I learned from about.me co-founder Tim Young is to avoid projecting your pitch and use your laptop screen to walk through the slides which creates a more comfortable and relaxed environment.

Establish a time frame for your pitch: Investors have a notoriously short attention span so state up front your deck is 5-6 slides, and need just 20 minutes to cover the introductory material. Your deck should be crisp and avoid unnecessary slides, and reinforce this point by numbering each of your slides, one of six, two of six, etc.

Related: The 5 Best Pitch Tactics I Heard as an Angel Investor

Most initial meetings last between 30 to 45 minutes. If your deck takes just 20 minutes that leaves enough time at the end of your pitch to dig into the investor's input as well as better understand what's important to them when making an investment. You should be able to convey the big vision and current traction with these five recommended slides:

Cover slide: Must include company logo, meeting date and name of the investor you're pitching. Use a beautiful full screen picture that captures your idea. Since you'll likely be in the room early, have this slide displayed when the investor walks in - it's your first impression.

Slide 1: Team and company snapshot

Slide 2: numbers and tracion to date.

Share early performance data if your product/service is live. If you're pre-launch, then include development milestones, user test data, anything that might demonstrate momentum. Also, include your social-media following (Twitter, Instagram, etc.)

Related: 3 Steps to the Perfect 3-Minute Pitch

Slide 3: Vision and market opportunity

This is the other most important slide in your deck, as it's your opportunity to tell investors about the future of your space and how it will evolve. Investors love patterns, and if you can create a narrative that shows how your vision has happened in other categories, you'll have a better shot at moving the investor from skeptical to believer.

Slide 4: Product demo

This is your opportunity to demonstrate how your product/service is addressing the market opportunity. If you don't have a working product, you still need to show visuals of what you're building. Hand drawn images are totally fine if you don't have visuals developed. You should rehearse your demo 25+ times until it flows naturally.

Slide 5: Go-to-market strategy

You want to clearly demonstrate the fact that you have thought about how to roll out your product and how to capture market share.

Other slides: If you feel like you need additional backup, and you likely will, include those slides in the appendix.

The last thing that you'll want to think about is the tone that you want to convey. Be engaging and try to avoid a dry, mind-numbing presentation. At the end of the day, great content makes a great deck. But if you can sprinkle in some creativity and personality on top of great content, then you have a winning combination.

Related: 6 Reasons Why Your Elevator Pitch Isn't Working

Tony Conrad is co-founder and CEO of about.me , a platform for representing personal identity online based in San Francisco. He also founded the blog search engine Sphere, acquired by Aol and is a venture partner at the True Ventures, leading investments in WordPress.com, Blue Bottle Coffee, MakerBot, Typekit, High Fidelity and more. He blogs at tonyconrad.wordpress.com and at TrueVenture.com .

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Physical fitness device AbGlo, Auburn Engineering team wins 10th Tiger Cage

Published: Apr 1, 2024 2:00 PM

By Joe McAdory

AbGlo is a physical fitness device that provides sensory feedback to correct lumbar posture during low back rehabilitation exercises. It’s also now among the list of Auburn University’s premier student business pitch competition winners.

Resembling an exercise mat, AbGlo contains a flexible sensor that activates lights, vibration and audio feedback and is designed to track the posterior tilt of users, ensuring proper position before strengthening weak muscles around the spine, weak core muscles – effectively treating symptoms of low back pain.

The device impressed industry professional judges enough to win the 10 th Tiger Cage Student Business Pitch Competition on Friday, March 29, which provided six finalists each 20 minutes each to pitch ideas before answering questions industry professional judges.

“AbGlo provides users and health care professionals with instant feedback so everybody can see and feel they are doing the exercises correctly,” said AbGlo co-founder Holli Michaels, an engineering management online graduate student from Santa Barbara, California. “It’s a back rehab tool, first and foremost.”

Born from an idea by health club owner Marianne Madsen in southern California, AbGlo was co-founded by Michaels and Madsen, who added Auburn computer science and software engineering alumnus Courtney Montague to the team to support with software development.

Presented by the New Venture Accelerator and Harbert College of Business , Tiger Cage awarded $80,000 in early-stage startup capital to finalists, including $30,000 to AbGlo for first place. Auburn Engineering students have been part of nine Tiger Cage-winning teams since the first competition in 2015 .

Second place and $15,000 went to College of Agricult ure graduate student Chera Howard for her business idea, Mammoth Super Sod, which introduces a natural grass that can stand up to drought conditions and contains an efficient energy irrigation system that can reduce up to 70% in water usage.

Third place and $10,000 went to industrial and systems engineering sophomore Thomas Lester and recent College of Liberal Arts graduate and Auburn football linebacker Eugene Asante for their product, Earlybird, a single-use canned beverage (coffee or tea) that features a user-friendly, side-mounted push point which activates interior heating. Interior temperatures can reach 170 degrees Fahrenheit, while insulation protects users from burning. The Thomas Walter Center also awarded the team $5,000 for “Special Category.”

Fourth place and $5,000 went to five industrial and systems engineering seniors, Alex Washburn, Jordan Snyder, Emily Glaze, Maddy McCutchin and Maddie Robison for their startup Roller to Optimize Material Efficiency (ROME) and its device, the CowPaw. As ROME’s flagship product, CowPaw is an ergonomic tool designed to streamline laying paper in poultry farms.

Other awards — including $10,000 for social impact, and $5,000 for exemplary undergraduate student — were given to Abby Stansell, a senior in business administration , and Luke Dixon, a senior in industrial design .

“Tiger Cage continues to evolve each year, producing a greater diversity of innovative ideas that not only have the potential to fare well in the marketplace, but also improve our quality of life,” said Lou Bifano, director at the New Venture Accelerator.

“The product presentations were not only a hit, but the business plans behind them were thorough. This is a testament to both the student teams, who really poured their hearts into their ideas, but also the New Venture Accelerator’s team of entrepreneurs-in-residence, whose student mentorship cannot be understated. I call on all student innovators to consider putting their ideas to practice and participate in next year’s Tiger Cage.”

Michaels, a senior design transfer engineer at medical device company Arthrex, said she not only used her Auburn Engineering education to develop AbGlo, but also to develop as a professional.

“I decided to go back to school (in 2021) when COVID hit,” said Michaels, who earned bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at Gannon University and currently oversees a design transfer team at Arthrex that focuses on internal and external manufacturing, including surgical orthopedic camera imaging devices. “Before I went back to pursue my master’s degree, there were increasing opportunities to become a supervisor, and I wanted to bridge the gap between my technical knowledge and business acumen, so I signed up for engineering management with a focus on product innovation online at Auburn.

“Since then, I have transitioned from an engineer to an entrepreneur through the incredible exposure I’ve had in my classes with Dr. (Richard) Sesek, Dr. (John) Evans and Dan O’Leary. I was so motivated by the content of their classes, that I set up a workshop in my apartment and started to make things again in the evening hours after work. With a new mental framework, I began to see opportunities all around me to help people. The day I heard Marianne wishing for a tool to help her with her back rehabilitation clients, I knew this was the opportunity of a lifetime, and the one that was waiting for me all along.”

AbGlo co-founder and engineering management online graduate student Holli Michaels, right, accepts the first place check from Tiger Cage emcee Mark Forchette, who earned a degree in marketing from Auburn in 1981.

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