Tell Your Story

During your startup pitch, the very first thing you want to do is building credibility. Do it by telling a story.

Credibility by details?

Most of us think that when we give that 5-minute presentation about our company, we need to thoroughly introduce every single information about our history.

“We started our manufacturing firm in 1996 with a production of 20 small cupholders a month having 3 employees. Then we expanded beyond the city limits so in 1998 we were at 92 cups a month and 9 employees.” The problem is that you put people to sleep with this kind of communication.

Don’t tell them every single fact. Sure, these details sound essential to see the whole picture. However, your customers or investors don’t care about the whole picture. All they are interested in is what relates to their goals.

An investor doesn’t care about every single number of your ledger in your pitch. They have lawyers who will take care of the due diligence. You can bet that by the time they decide to give you their money, they will definitely have “every info” regardless of your pitch.

Show your character through a story

They want the character. The character that will score that goal for them. The character that is ambitious. That leads a team. That has results. That has a vision. That takes action. That gets the money needed for the goal. If not from them, then from somebody else.

They want the character that they can trust their money with.

The best way for you to show that character is through a story.

A story from your life that shows who you really are.

You want to know why this site is called “LeadByCharacter”? Because I saw way too many people with empty speeches. Who wanted to show their own self to the world, but even they didn’t think the world would be interested.

Make. Yourself. Interesting.

Instead of talking sole numbers in a speech, show them your character: tell a story. A story that defines who you are and why you do what you do. A story that supports your vision. It might as well be a story from your childhood.

“One summer afternoon, when I was 6 years old, I was eager to get on that bicycle, that my cousin was riding. Then at one moment, when she was passing by me, I reached out for the handle and grabbed it. The next moment, she was flying through the air and falling face first into the dirt. Overwhelmed with guilt and regret I ran away and hid in our fortress under the stairs for a whole hour, praying I had never done what I had done. Then I finally came out to see if she was okay at all. Turned out she was fine and wasn’t angry at all.

However, that one hour of hiding deeply planted a desire in my heart. A desire that made me going up until this day. A desire to create a bicycle that protects its rider from any collision injury. Dear ladies and gentleman, today I’m proud to introduce the Protect-A-Rider bicycle.”

Your story has to be engaging and has to show true dedication to your business or vision.

Even if you don’t think of yourself as a person who is ready…, what is your story?

If interested in what I consider “character”, you may find posts related to this topic here.