Practice your pitch

This article first appeared on June 7, 2011.

Entrepreneurs are always pitching for something – whether it’s a new client, an avalanche of new investment or even to attract a star worker to your company.

Regardless of the audience, the core of this pitch is usually the same – you will explain your business’s value proposition, tell a little of the “how I started” story and share your vision for the future.

Indeed, this “core” part of the pitch needs to be ready at a moment’s notice – entrepreneurs never know when they might run into a potential director, investor, customer or new hire.

But how many actually put decent time in to ensuring that their pitch is updated and perfected? If you had to roll out your pitch in that hypothetical elevator or at that networking event, could you do it?

So practice your pitch with a colleague, mentor or friend, focusing on the following:

• Is my pitch succinct enough to get my company’s message across quickly? Can I really tell the story of my brand in one or two sentences?
• Am I lively and interesting? Will the listener remember me?
• Do I am my company come across like experts in our field?
• Am I convincing enough?

Practice makes perfect, so get cracking.

Get it done – today!