I have presented at scores of conferences. My goal is to make an impression that will be remembered and get a follow-up meeting. If you are trying, in 8 minutes plus 2 of Q&A, to get through an investor’s screening process, you will most likely end up in the “NO” bin. Too many of those presentations are dryer than California in its' drought, with presenters reading their bullet points to audiences in a monotone. God forbid if you are presenting after lunch and have to contend with post prandial somnolence. You could easily put them over the edge into an embarrassing head-jerking slumber! The goal is not to get a decision then and there or induce a coma; it is to get a chance to tell more of the story in a more focused setting – like the investor’s office next week.
Making an impression means caring passionately about your topic and communicating that passion in ways that connect with your audience, preferably as people first, not just “investors”. I work and advise medical startups, and here it is easy; what difference will you make to healthcare providers? What difference will you make in patients’ lives? Whose lives will be saved? Of course it has to make sense as a business and you need to tell enough of that to get another meeting.
But making an impression really means telling stories; stories that people can remember and retell. Stories about individuals affected by the problem you will solve; who might be alive today if you were there earlier. If you can tell real stories about real people, then it becomes memorable or “sticky”. In fact, stories are the last item in the Made to Stick* SUCCES recipe for making an idea “sticky”:
- Simple — find the core of any idea
- Unexpected — grab people's attention by surprising them
- Concrete — make sure an idea can be grasped and remembered later
- Credible — give an idea believability
- Emotional — help people see the importance of an idea
- Stories — empower people to use an idea through narrative
* Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die is a book by brothers Chip and Dan Heath published by Random House, January 2, 2007.
__________________
The author was named “Best Presenter" out of 81 companies participating in the 13th annual New York Venture Summit in 2013. He also won best Biotech company and First Runner-up overall at an international business plan competition. Several examples of presentations are available on YouTube or his web site: www.witcreek.com.