When I was at school I used to love taking parts in Debates. I was a good speaker and I seemed to enjoy standing up in front of lots of people and just talking - perhaps this explains why I enjoy writing a blog!

One of the ‘rules’ of debating is that you are not allowed to introduce new material into your closing remarks at the end of a debate. It is a great discipline to get into as it forces you to make your strong case at the right time.

I have noticed that many people who pitch business plans could benefit from using the same discipline. There is this idea that you reveal your ‘killer fact’ at the end. Or you close with a ‘bang’. I hate this style I must warn you. Speaking to a few angels - they don’t care for it much either.

This style makes me feel stupid. I end up spending a lot of my time during the presentation focused on the wrong area! If you have a trump card - play it at the right time, which if you are pitching to an investor is towards the middle.

The structure I like is

1. Who you are (very briefly)
2. What is your business (explain it in terms of what you do for your customers)
3. How you make money (if this takes more than two sentences - forget it)
4. What makes you qualified to do this (In terms of who are the management team - spend some time on this)
5. The journey (how you got to this point)
6. The vision (repeat a bit from point 2)
7. The proposal

This should take no more than 15 minutes

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