Mastering the art of the live pitch: Storytelling techniques for success

Live pitches allow entrepreneurs to not only share their business ideas with the right people, but to create connections with them through storytelling. Alongside data and financials, these connections are what can elevate one business pitch above another, forging an emotional connection with an audience.

Taking inspiration from The Pitch 2024, it’s time to explore how storytelling can be used as a powerful tool to engage judges and leave a lasting impression.

Understand your audience

First things first: it is essential to know your audience. I write this as an editor and communications advisor who sees beautifully crafted stories fall flat time after time because the teller concentrated on themselves and what they wanted to say as opposed to knowing their audience and what they needed to hear.

The foundation of a great business story starts with knowing the audience. That’s because, when it comes to storytelling within the remit of our profession, we are not telling a story just for the sake of telling a story. We are telling a story in order to achieve a certain goal; to communicate a certain message; to make our audience feel a certain way.

For a competition like The Pitch (or any other business competition), knowing the panel of judges is akin to understanding the audience. If you are lucky enough that their names have been shared, as they have for this competition, research their experiences and interests to tailor your narrative accordingly. Consider the judges not only as evaluators of your business but as an audience who will resonate with the human side of your story.

Use storytelling

The human brain is hard-wired to connect with stories – stories are how we make sense of the world and make sense of our place in it. For our ancestors, exchanging stories was the most effective way to transfer lifesaving information from one person to another, verbally (think of fireside storytelling) and visually (look to ancient rock art for the evidence). These stories transferred knowledge and skills from one generation to the next, ensuring the survival of the species.

Today, neuroscience shows us that when we are engaged in a story, dopamine, cortisol, and oxytocin are released. But why is this important? Well, dopamine, which helps to regulate our emotional responses, causes our concentration and interest to heighten, keeping us engaged. While cortisol is most often associated with stress, it has positive elements too; it assists us with formulating memories which helps ideas stick. Oxytocin, then, assists in creating deeper connections with others.

In today’s business world, storytelling is less about one’s physical survival but it can be the difference between survival or failure of the business. A clear story about your business can cut through the noise and distractions of the sector in which you operate, elevating your narrative to be the one that resonates with people, connects with them and leaves a lasting impression.

Storytelling techniques

First, it is important to understand the difference between telling a story and storytelling. Telling a story is something we’ve done for most of our lives. It focuses on conveying facts, which typically involve the key elements of an effective ‘news story’ that I was trained to write as a national newspaper journalist. It includes the 5Ws – the who, what, when, where and why.

 Storytelling is about making an emotionally compelling and relevant narrative that ties those facts together in an interesting, engaging and memorable way. A definition of storytelling is ‘the interactive art of using communication to reveal a story in a way that encourages the imagination’. It is the vivid description of ideas and beliefs through stories that evoke emotion and stimulate the brain. Storytelling is meant to give meaning to the audience. It might reveal to them a new perspective and or give them the drive to think or act in a new way or make a new choice.  

Alongside the many storytelling structures you can use to frame your business narrative, such as the Hero’s Journey, there are simple techniques that anyone pitching a business can use to enhance their storytelling to engage an audience of judges, investors or potential clients.

Create an emotional response: We connect through our emotions. Statistics show that emotional storytelling significantly boosts memory retention – up to 23 times more likely than plain statistics. We also know that we make decisions with our emotions; we buy from people we like, most often using the decision-making pattern of thinking – emotion – decision.

However, emotion does not have to mean personal. Steve Jobs was a master storyteller in his product launches – he didn’t just unveil products; he told stories about how they would change people’s lives creating an emotional connection between them and the product. He made technology personal and relatable, fostering an emotional connection with Apple’s products. In 1998, at the launch of the iMac, to be the flagship of the brand’s comeback, he did not rattle off a list of technical specs. Instead, he wove a narrative. He spoke of how the iMac was crafted to be distinct from any other computer on the market. With its vibrant colours, curves and user-friendly design, it was designed to feel like a friendly face.

When it comes to pitching your business, weave emotional elements into your narrative to make it relatable to the audience (reminder: know who they are!) and highlight how your solution impacts real lives. Another way to do this is to reflect genuine passion about your story. Your enthusiasm can be contagious, engaging emotional responses from your audience. Well-known entrepreneur and mentor for the future winner of The Pitch 2024, Bobby Kerr advises all finalists to show their enthusiasm.

Be visual and experiential: Being visual is not about using visual aids to distract from your story – it is about well-placed visual aids that support your story. These might include before-and-after images or short video testimonials from clients that bring your story to life in a way that you cannot.

Another way to make your story experiential is to use sensory language – use language that appeals to people’s five senses of taste, touch, sight, sound and smell. The main purpose of sensory language is to use the senses to help create a vivid image of a setting or scene, to transport them there to get your point across.

Introduce movement: We’ve already mentioned that the world is a noisy busy place, full of distractions. Add in that the average attention span of an adult is 8.25 seconds and we can all appreciate how essential it is to grab your audience’s attention quickly. Painting a picture in someone’s mind by telling a story is a great way to do this and a quick entry point to this is to use active language. Eg: Stepping into the boardroom she felt calm, assured and, for the first time in a long time, confident. As she walked towards the group assembled in front of her, she smiled knowing that she had the power to convince these stakeholders she had an idea they would all scramble to be part of.

Stage presence: Speaking of movement, use your body language as part of the narrative. Gestures can emphasise key points, but be careful not to allow them to distract. If in doubt, stand in a neutral position (no perching on props!) and own your space on stage. I coach clients in the Satir poses which are worth researching to enhance stage presence but need to be used consciously and sparingly. A simple technique to bring someone on a journey is to use the sides of the stage to demonstrate your ‘before’ and ‘after’ or ‘start’ and ‘finish’.

Pace yourself: At The Pitch, finalists have 6-7 minutes of presenting time before judges’ questions. This might tempt finalists into speaking at speed to get everything in but it’s important to remember that the judges have 12 of these super-powered sessions to engage in. Therefore it is worth considering your pace to engage the judges, as opposed to confuse them, and the messages you really need to get across. Not everything about your business will be relevant to this specific pitch.

Take a moment before you go on stage to ground yourself. I advise a simple breathing technique to lower the cortisol from ‘overload’ to ‘helpful’ which will lower a distracting pounding heart to a more useful level as well as enable you to consciously alter the initial pacing of your language if needed.

As a journalist, we use pauses to great effect when interviewing someone. Do not be afraid to use them, to use a moment of silence to impact the judges and your audience and remember to match your pacing with your story – for example, increase the pace to demonstrate an emotion such as enthusiasm or excitement.

Leverage statistics: Do not forget to include the stats and aim to integrate them naturally into your narrative. For example, when discussing market demand, relate the statistics back to real-world implications for the characters (eg clients or customers) in your story. A number is more powerful when it directly relates to a person or situation. When you have access to compelling statistics, use them to serve as a pivotal moment in your narrative that catalyses change.

Call to action

So many business stories end by leaving the audience without what to do next. During your time on stage, you have the opportunity to direct your audience – in this case the judges and the live audience. What do you want them to do? What is your call to action?

Get clear about the objective of your pitch and stick to that message throughout. Most importantly return to it at the end of your pitch with your call to action.

Handling questions

When the Q&A session arises, treat it as part of the story’s resolution. Anticipate potential queries by thinking of them as plot twists in your story. Prepare narratives that respond to these questions in the style you have used in your pitch. As you acknowledge a judge’s question, take a beat to prepare your answer before diving into your reply. Weave in anecdotes or data that relate back to your business story, reinforcing your narrative and showing how you adapt and evolve.

Pitching your business is an evolving art. It is a space of continued learning and experimentation to see what works with different audiences. Best of luck in your next big pitch!

The Pitch 2024 is an IMAGE Media and Samsung partnership.

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