How to Pitch Like Paris Hilton

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The thing about Paris Hilton is that she grabs attention…even if she doesn’t deserve it. Who would have thought that washing a car would sell Spicy BBQ Burgers for Carl’s JR…unless you had an ad that was Paris’ trademark punch line, “that’s hot”. Let’s face it, if you’ve got a great idea that you want to pitch you probably deserve more attention than Paris. If you’ve got any original idea you deserve more attention than Paris. So how do you steal the light? First, get your audience’s attention. You’ve got to have the wow factor during your pitch. Before you can grab your customers attention you’ve got to ask yourself what’s it going to take to grab investors attention. If you don’t have that, you might not even have customers to worry about. If you are at the stage of pitching your idea to investors, perhaps even family and friends, you need to “borrow money” from, you’ve got to wow them. They need to feel your passion come through in the pitch.

Now if I could distract you from Paris’ YouTube videos and your social media for just a minute… are you ready to pitch your idea? As you begin to draft your pitch keep your goals in mind:

• Describe your product or service briefly
• Describe your competence in the market
• Describe exactly who and where the market is
• Describe your competitors
• Describe your competitive advantage

How? First, know exactly how long you have and practice to be within those time constraints. Nothing is more annoying for investors, the audience, or competition judges than to have to cut you off. It means you cannot plan. If you cannot plan an effective one minute pitch, or however long you have, how can you possibly plan and run a business effectively?

Second, grab the spotlight! If you haven’t grabbed the audience’s solid attention in the first 10-15 seconds the rest of the time is wasted. You are probably one of many pitches that are being listened to in a short period of time. Do NOT save the wow moment until the end of your pitch…because nobody will be listening anymore.

Third, don’t pitch the idea, pitch yourself. Your business idea will evolve over time. Circumstances and the market will change. YOU are constant. Family, friends, and investors are investing in you. You must gain the confidence of investors.

Fourth, don’t overwhelm the audience with technical jargon or statistics. You simply won’t have time. Focus your energy on describing the concept and the customer need that it satisfies.

Finally, let them know exactly what you want. What do you want from them? Perhaps your goal is to simply get to the next level such as another meeting where you will have more time to describe the market, the concept, and the competition.

Remember that a pitch is just a step in the process. The pitch has got to be interesting, dynamic, energetic, and it has to stand out from all the others. If you succeed, you’ll get to do it all over again.

To see some examples of what to do and what not to do simply Google some examples. Spending some time watching others pitch can be just as entertaining as watching Paris pitch Spicy BBQ Burgers.