Shakespeare In A Suit: How to Make Your Marketing Pitch Story-Based

Here’s the bottom line, no one wants to sit through an annoying business pitch that outlines the mundane tangibles of your day to day business operation—not even the investors you are pitching to. People are hardwired to pay attention to a story. Hence the reason why movies take us through the age-old but ever engaging beginning, tension, and resolution arch of the hero’s journey.

To create a more vibrant and engaging business pitch, you need to conceptualize your business as the main character; market your business as the hero. So, to help you in this creative pursuit, below are some tips to help your prospective investors stay awake through your pitch.

1. Honing your Business Motto Is Essential

Mastering the one line business pitch is a tactic that can prove to be incredibly helpful in developing a successful pitch. If you cannot widdle your business down into a catchy one-liner, then you probably don’t have a firm enough grasp on your business. Developing your business pitch into a one-liner is a great way to get your business’ mission statement across to an audience.

Also, people remember a catchy one-liner much better than a long strategy of numbers and projections. While the latter is indeed something you need to forecast, a mission statement helps serve as the calling card that peaks the interest of those you want to engage in your business.

    2. Tell the Story of the Problem Your Business Will Fix

A successful business is usually a response to a problem. For instance, Facebook was designed to help better connect people (for more or less), and PayPal was invented to help people receive online payments in a fast, safe, and secure manner. If your business is going to add value to the consumer’s life, it's because it helps remedy a problem in their lives.

This also helps engage investors in your business plan, too. Remember, an investor has good reason to be skeptical of laying a large sum of their money on the line. You want to show them that your business doesn’t exist simply to make you feel like an accomplished entrepreneur, but that it’s akin to a living, breathing organism that will address consumer wants and needs, all the while possessing the ability to adjust to ever-changing markets.

    3. Showing that Your Business Works Is More Important Than Explaining What It Will Fix

In the end, investors are more interested in the payoff of their potential investment than they are precisely what your business is. Hopefully, focusing your business on something you are passionate about, but that may not be the case for your investors. But don’t spend too much time going over the facts of your business in an attempt to light the spark of enthusiasm in the hearts of your potential investors. They are more interested in whether or not your business will work, not about what your business specifically is.