As vivid and useful as charts and spreadsheets can be they will not connect or inspire people to buy into your idea. Storytelling can.
Storytelling can engage with the investors and those looking to pay for your businesses services. It can help develop a strong relationship and build trust between you and your audience.
Here at All Good Tales we can help you lift your pitching and sales ability through improving your storytelling techniques.
Don’t do The Robot
When it comes to sales, people hate pitches. They love stories.
Find out how we can help your team tell better stories, request a consultation here.
People tend to transform into full cyborg mode when delivering a pitch, reciting every piece of information they learnt the night before. Avoid this. Pitches should be natural and flow from one idea to another.
They should connect with the audience on a personal level. People try to cram as much information into this little time slot as possible giving a forced or agitated vibe to the pitch.
Storytelling engrosses’ investors in your pitch by developing an emotional link. Backers will donate to your idea once they are inspired and understand your failures, motivations and successes. Explaining where your motivation stemmed from and how you overcame crucial obstacles can inspire investors and promote funding.
Don’t forget to listen
Instead of doing all the talking why not ask questions. You don’t have to dominate the conversation.
People love to talk and get their own points across. Being open to questions and engagement throughout your story builds rapport.
Although pitches should be formal, note they must not be forced. You can capture the attention of your audience by directly or rhetorically asking them questions, or inquiring whether the audience themselves have any questions for you.
Honesty is the best policy
You’re standing in a room filled with possible backers and you want to create the most charismatic, appealing version of yourself and the company as possible, what do you do? Exaggerate figures and lie about your achievements? No, you must be completely honest with your possible investors.
Sharing honestly will promote trust and credibility within the business relationship and further strengthen the ties you are creating.
Do not be afraid of speaking about your failures. They explain how lessons were learned and how experience was gained. Just like your failures don’t forget to speak about your successes too. Make sure you are showing your audience the full you.
Remember, there is no specific structure to follow when delivering a pitch, everyone is different. But one thing is sure, a pitch will be much more powerful if it is transformed into a story.
