Here is an unorthodox, yet very effective way to see if your pitch is actually describing your show.
Next time you are over at a friend’s house (it’s preferable if they don’t know the gist of your show) and there are kids around, pick a kid who is 8 years old-ish, take them into another room so no one else can hear what you are saying and pitch the kid your show.
Then, take the kid back in the room where everyone is and get the kid to tell your friends what your show is about – and don’t interrupt if the kid misses something.
Then, get your friends to pitch the show back to you.
If they missed some important points, don’t blame them and don’t blame the kid. It’s your pitch – and it isn’t clear.
Your pitch needs to be simple, clear and concise. It needs to hit all the marks. This test will tell you if your pitch is requiring any leaps of faith. For those of you who don’t already know this, leaps of faith in a pitch room are baaaaad. Say it out loud with me. “Baaaad.”
These Executives you will be pitching to are not only meeting with you today, they may be taking pitch meetings all day, and of course, taking pitch meetings is not the only thing they do.
They have a myriad of responsibilities and there is a good chance they may be distracted by other pressing matters while you are in the room. The only way you can fight that is by having a killer pitch that is concise, clear, focused, and easy to follow.
So, practice your pitch on your friends’ kid. If they cannot repeat it, or they miss some of the important bits, you need to re-work it, and that’s alright. You’ll be tweaking it right up until you walk into meetings.
If you don’t have a lot of friends with kids, start making them. You’re going to need them to make sure you’re on track.