This document provides guidance on how to effectively pitch an idea or request to an audience. It recommends crafting a narrative that audiences can relate to in order to make them feel good about helping. The anatomy of a pitch should include a narrative hook to frame the idea, presenting the problem being solved, declaring the proposed solution, providing additional context, and making a clear ask. Pitches come in different lengths for different situations, and the audience should be considered to tailor the pitch appropriately. More resources on pitching are recommended.

1. On Pitching
A presentation made with ❤️ on my 📱

2. Your Mission:
Extract something of
value from your audience.

3. Money
Introductions
Promotion
Feedback

4. Your other mission...

5. Make your audience feel
good about helping you.

6. How?
• Craft a narrative that your audience can empathize
with.
• Your pain points are theirs too.
• Present your idea as the best plausible solution to
the problem.
• This all primes your audience to fulfill your request.

7. The anatomy of a pitch
• Narrative hook
• Present the problem
• Declare your solution
• Provide ancillary information as needed
• Make your "Ask"

8. Narrative Hook
• Never ever begin a pitch with "wouldn't it be great
if..."
• Start with a story that frames your idea in relatable
terms.
• Appeal to shared (ideally universal) experiences.

9. Present the problem
• This can be done explicitly or implicitly in your pitch.
• Explicitly: "I want to solve the problem of XYZ" or "I
discovered that people have the following problem..."
• Implicitly: find a way to introduce the problem without
saying the word "problem". This is a riskier approach
but can be effective.
• Be extremely clear about the nature of the problem,
and the scope of its effects.

10. Declare your solution
• Be Human Centered in your framing.
• Simplicity and straightforwardness will be rewarded
here as well. (I know I sound like a broken record.)
• Resist the urge to use buzzwords and jargon. Also,
avoid lengthy technical descriptions.

11. Provide ancillary info
• This is context specific. (e.g. The information that is
relevant to a venture capitalist may not be relevant
to a blogger.)
• You may not need to include this info in the body of
your pitch, but have it ready for Q&A.

12. Make your ask
• Be clear
• Remain mindful of the level of familiarity between
you and the person you're pitching. You can be
bolder with people who know you better.
• Say thank you when you're done.
• And, if you pitched a potentially valuable
connection who took time out of their day to meet
with you, write a thank you note. By hand.

13. Also, pitches come in
many shapes and sizes.

14. Consider preparing...
• 1-sentence explanation
• 30 second elevator pitch
• 5 minute pitch (covers most events)
• 20 minute pitch (for investor meetings and
keynotes, etc)

15. Considering your audience
• How familiar are they with the problem space?
• Do you know them already?
• What / how much will you be asking of them?
• All of these questions are important.

16. More resources
• Episode 1 of the "Startup" podcast from Gimlet
Media. Titled "How not to pitch a billionaire"
• Anything from Guy Kawasaki on pitching or building
pitch decks. Again, seriously valuable material.
• David Rose's TED talk, "How to pitch a VC"
• "Value Proposition Design" by Alexander
Osterwalder. It'll help you frame the problem and
solution portions of your pitch. Also a good read.