Pitch Rehearsal

What it is

Plan the slides, then beat the clock. Your mentee times each slide, rehearses out loud and keeps every run to compare.

When to send it

Send it well before the pitch. Two or more runs need a few days, not the night before.

• Before a demo dayleave time for a second run
• Before an investor meetingrehearse the real version
• After a rough pitchfind the slide that ran long

Filling it in

Twenty minutes, in three steps. Plan your slides, rehearse with the timer, then rate the run.

1. List your slidesGive each one main point and a number of seconds.
2. Rehearse out loudPress next as you move on; every run is kept.
3. Rate it, note a questionScore five points from 1 to 5, then write the hardest question.

Reading the answers

Read the times, then the team. Early investors respond most to the team (Bernstein and others, 2017), so check that score.

• Slides that ran longmarked when well past the plan
• Weakest pointtheir lowest self-rating
• The hardest questionand the answer they wrote

Questions to ask

Ask, then ask once more. People who ask follow-up questions are liked more (Huang and others, 2017).

• What should someone remember after one minute?then: is it on a slide?
• Which slide could go?then: what would you lose?
• What question do you fear most?then: answer it now, out loud

Why it works

In a field experiment, founders trained to pitch put more information into their pitch, and investors were more likely to follow up. Another experiment found early investors respond most to the team.

Sources

• Clingingsmith & Shane (2018). Training aspiring entrepreneurs to pitch experienced investors: Evidence from a field experiment in the United States. Management Science 64(11):5164–5179.
• Bernstein, Korteweg & Laws (2017). Attracting early-stage investors: Evidence from a randomized field experiment. Journal of Finance 72(2):509–538.

How a tool works on Mentornity

1. 1The mentor picks a tool from the library and sends it with a short message.
2. 2The mentee fills it in step by step; the answers are saved as they go.
3. 3Both see the answers, comment on any part and agree the next steps.
4. 4Only the two of them see the answers, not the program admins.

Guides for both sides

• Pitch Rehearsal for MentorsFor mentors and coaches: when to send Pitch Rehearsal, how to read the timed runs, which questions to ask and how to plan the next run.
• Pitch Rehearsal for MenteesFor mentees and founders: what Pitch Rehearsal is, how to fill it in, where to find it and what your mentor does with it.

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