indicatorStart Up Business

Pitch perfect: 4 simple methods to improve your business pitch

By ATB Financial 19 November 2018 1 min read

Every pitch in some way has to include the 5 W’s:

  1. What’s your business and how will it make my life better?
  2. Who are you and why should I listen to you?
  3. Why are you doing this business?
  4. When can I expect you to follow through on your proposition?
  5. Where’s all of this taking place?

But you can’t just include the basics—you need to stand out.

The human brain is wired for STORY.

Use any of these four storytelling methods to connect with your audience and improve your business pitch.

Before–After–Bridge

Before: “Here’s your world, it has a problem”

After: “This is what your world will be like when your problem is solved”

Bridge: “Here’s how we can solve your problem”

 

Problem–Agitate–Solve

Present a problem, agitate the problem, then solve the problem with your product or service.

It’s very similar to the Before–After–Bridge, but instead of showing the contrast between before and after, the second acts to emotionally charge the problem so that finding a solution is more urgent.

 

Three Act Structure

  • Act I - Set up: our customer, the world she lives in, and the problem she may face are introduced.
  • Act II - Confrontation: our customer confronts her conflict and tension builds.
  • Act III - Resolution: we deliver the climax of the story be resolving the problem for our customer with our product or service.

 

Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle Formula

Simon Sinek, author of the book Start With Why, says, “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.”

Watch a clip from Simon Sinek’s TedTalk “How great leaders inspire action” to go more in-depth into his Golden Circle formula and how it can improve your business storytelling.

Video: Business Story Video


Now that you’re going to nail your pitch (we believe in you), we’d love to help you and your business however we can. Reach out to an ATB Entrepreneur Strategist today to start the conversation about your business.

Do you have questions around starting a business?

We’ll take you step-by-step through everything you need to know when starting a business in Alberta.

Need help?

Our Business Support team will be happy to assist.

Chat now
ATB Virtual Assistant
The ATB Virtual Assistant doesn't support landscape mode. Please tilt your device vertically to portrait mode.