16 Module 9- Creating and Refining a Pitch

You have spent a number of days now immersed in your theme area.  You have brainstormed, refined and strengthened your solution.  Now it is time to share it.  So, how do you do this?

The answer is that you create a pitch.  You may have heard this term before and most of you have practiced it, possibly even unknowingly, on your parents as you have tried to convince them of a specific course of action.  The pitch can come in a number of forms but the overall purpose of it is to garner support and gather resources.  Your success depends upon your content and your delivery.

MacChangers was formed around Grand Challenges and these grand challenges are rooted in sustainability.  For your pitch to succeed you need to demonstrate to your audience that you have a well-balanced solution that is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.  Environmental sustainability is about minimizing or removing impacts to the environment, and not trading off impacts (for instance a solution for reducing air pollution that ends up increasing water pollution is not environmentally sustainable).  Social sustainability is rooted in equity, accessibility, adaptability and usability.  If nobody is willing to use your solution it does not matter how environmentally sound it is or economically stable it will fail.  You must develop a solution that appeals to your stakeholders and is designed for the users.  Finally, it must be affordable not just in its initial implementation, but over its entire life. In fact, the life-cycle of your solution is important.  A great solution is one that is adaptable, that will work under current pandemic circumstances, but can then be adjusted for whatever changes may come in the future.

Once the core sustainability of your solution has been identified it is time to deliver it. Your pitch must be concise and your videos should be between 3-5 minutes in length.  This may not seem long enough, but first impressions are important and your pitch is the proverbial foot in the door.  In that time, you need to show the benefit of your solution.  In most cases community projects are competing for a relatively small pool of money and there may be a number of ideas pitched for a particular problem.  Yours needs to stand out.  Imagine that every time you mention an aspect of your solution someone is sitting there with their arms crossed saying “so what”.  Every aspect of your solution should have a benefit. Next, make sure that you get your numbers right.  Nothing sinks a pitch quicker than someone catching you with a mistake. In terms of the delivery, be confident and bold in presenting your idea.  Nobody can be more excited about your idea than you are.  Don’t be arrogant in overpromising with your solution.  Arrogance is often manifested in stretching the truth about your idea too far.

With all of the elements in place it is time to practice, however in this case memorization is not the key.  Memorization is flawed because it can lead to mistakes which can cause a moment of stress while trying to get back to the right words. It is a much better strategy to know key points in your pitch and build your story around those. The sound of your voice is important for your pitch. Try to speak dynamically and in an engaging tone of voice and avoid using a monotone when speaking. Finally, don’t rush through your pitch.  It is better to cut your material down to the basics and speak at a confident pace, rather than sprinting through the material in order to cram in more points.

So now you must craft a pitch.  In your own group session you will make your first draft.  What we want you to focus on the core elements of the pitch. At the end of this session you should have worked out the environmental, social, and economic sustainability elements of your solution as well as its overall benefits. Once you have these core elements down, prepare your final showcase presentation.