What’s the key to a great pitch? In our humble opinion, it’s storytelling.

You’ve likely heard of the transformative power of storytelling in a speaker-audience setting. From Forbes to Harvard Business Review, storytelling has been making headlines in business as a way to boost engagement, retention and impact. And while it may be trending, it’s anything but a fad. In fact, we’re up to 22 times more likely to remember information if it’s part of a story.

At Future Present, we’re big proponents of using narrative storytelling to build smashing presentations. We’ve used it on some of our biggest projects, including some knockout pitch decks.

But storytelling in itself isn’t the key to a truly fantastic pitch. Adding some tension and a narrative structure might make your pitch more engaging, but they won’t deliver your buyer to you on a platter. Not unless you’ve got the secret ingredient…

Casting Your Story

Think of your pitch as a story with you, your product and your buyer as the characters. If you choose to make your product (or your brand) the Hero of the story, you’ll likely end up with the deck that spends too much time on the features of your product, the inner workings of the company and the values of the brand.

But with your buyer as the Hero of your presentation, the need to list every single feature of your product and every executive on your payroll melts away. Yes, you’re still selling your product, but it isn’t the focus of your presentation. Instead, you’re focused on your Hero’s needs, wants and challenges.

What’s your role? You’re the Guide. You’re the wise mentor, the Dumbledore to your buyer’s Harry Potter, the Yoda to their Luke Skywalker. It’s your job to answer their questions, soothe their concerns and guide them toward the perfect solution to their problem: your product.

Making Your Buyer The Hero

Making your buyer the Hero of your sales pitch is about tailoring your presentation to fit their needs. We’ve gathered a few points to help you customise your pitch:

1. Know your buyer. Before building your pitch, spend time researching your buyer. With a deep understanding of your buyer’s challenges and goals, you’ll be able to adapt your pitch to resonate with them. All retail buyers want to increase footfall, grow the category and meet KPIs, but delivering on the challenges unique to your buyer will put your presentation over the top. If, for example, your buyer is struggling with penetration in a specific demographic, you’ll know to highlight the feature that appeals to that demographic instead of spending time on your product’s full suite of features.
2. Use data wisely. You’re probably drowning in market research, consumer insights and demand forecasts, but how do you decide what to include in your pitch? Buyers are data-driven decision-makers, but irrelevant or unnecessary information can cloud your message and waste their time (and yours). When you structure your pitch as a story with your buyer as the Hero, you’ll be able to narrow your data to include only the points your buyer needs to hear.
3. Make it easy. Buyers are busy and decision fatigue is rife, so making your buyer the Hero of your pitch is making about it as easy as possible for them to choose your product. Providing ample clear, useful proof of your unique value proposition, your understanding of the key dynamics of the category and how your product will enhance the buyer’s existing offering will reduce the amount of analysis they have to do and help them to make that decision.

As you craft your next presentation, give our advice a try. Think of yourself as your buyer’s all-knowing guide, leading them toward the solution to their problems. If you come prepared with a deck that positions your buyer as the Hero, your pitch will knock their socks off.

Fancy a fully branded, bespoke and beautiful presentation just in time for your next pitch? Give us a call!