Idealog magazine published an article today about a great little initiative by MYOB – getting people to pitch their startup ideas for a cup of coffee on their way to work.  Nice one, Sarah Putt – I’m all for anything that encourages people to find their inner entrepreneur and find the courage to share.

Sarah had asked me earlier in the week if I could share five tips for people pitching their ideas on the fly – and here’s what I said:

1. Always start with your name and the name of your business, enunciated very clearly.  Really basic, eh – you’d be surprised how many people don’t get this right, and left me thinking – who was that?  what was their business called?

2. Establish rapport with your audience – look them in the eye, and send out your love.  You’re doing what you’re doing because you believe in it and you want to help them, right?  If not, you should probably be doing something else or talking to someone else.

3. What’s your vision/strapline?  Whatever you’re doing, it’s to solve a real world problem.  Examples: The Warehouse – where everyone gets a bargain;  MYOB – Love your work;  BMW – The ultimate driving experience.  Focus on the why or the end state, not the how or the process.  Make sure your passion shines through!

4. What is it about your team or product that makes it unavoidably attractive?  Kiwis are prone to underselling themselves, now is not the time to be modest.  Don’t lie or overextend the truth, but everyone and everything has some kernel of underlying awesome – leave your audience in no doubt as to what that is.

5. End with a positive call to action – no ask, no get.  Frame it with urgency (not desperation) in the sense that they’ll be missing out if they don’t act.  Do what you can to make it easy to say yes and hard to say no.  If your audience doesn’t know what you’d like them to do, how could you ever expect them to do that?

6.  Practice, practice, practice.  Use live subjects wherever possible – listen uncritically, and integrate the feedback into the next iteration of your pitch.

Okay that was six tips, so here’s an extra added bonus:

7.  Always stretch the rules – but don’t overstay your welcome.