nadi, yes, there are very important things to know with presentations.
for example: a lot of entrepreneurs make presentations with the purpose of closing the deal, when the purpose of the presentation is do get to do a second presentation, or they make the presentaion to the wrong person, and fail to control the meeting
understanding principles like this is relevant to the contents of your presentation (where the whole point of which is to entice interest from, rather than overwhelm the person you're pitching) and the answers you give to questions when they are asked.
to understand
pitching as a human process, rather than a piece of paper or a point a in time, you need to master Allen Morgan's rules of pitching.
They are summarised at:
http://www.mayfield.com/newsarticles/morgan072105.htm but what you gotta do is head over to
Allen's blog and start with the
first one.
The reason for the direct tone in my voice is because Allen's stuff is undoubtedly the best, most practical advice on pitching that I've ever come across.
the point? an investor presentation doesn't last 20 minutes. it lasts up to 6 months or a year, or even more. it starts with a 20 minute seduction, but the ability of the entrepreneur to keep the investor interested for the next 6 months is really what determines if this couple's gonna get together (close A), get married (close B) and have a baby (IPO/sale)
most important: pitching for capital is the same as a romantic conquest: you want the investment partner to fall physically, emotionally and intellectually for your company....now....when you want to get a date with the prom queen, you don't just dump everything that there is to know about you and wait for the phone call (amateur pitch).
what you do is peak her interest by being desirable, and then make sure that she sees you in all the right places with all the right people, until her curiosity and vanity forces her to ASK YOU OUT.
that's pitching. it's a continuous process of seduction. it's not easy.
and yes, this stuff works
