The Jack LaLanne Guide to Talking About Your Startup

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The Jack LaLanne Guide to Talking About Your Startup

By Lovegin John | May 21, 2008

Jack LaLanne, the 92-year-old fitness guru, on public speaking: “If you believe in something, you can talk about it. To get in front of a crowd drives me nuts, but I have a message to deliver.”

As you may or may not know we do quite a bit of preparation with our Under the Radar presenting companies. We go over pitches and decks and talk about technology, business models, market shares and CEO pedigrees. It’s almost always a great conversation for everyone on the calls - even the most experienced talkers get some insight into what they want to say up on stage.

I’ve come across a few great articles about giving presentations and pitches on Forbes.com that I wanted to get up on our site - my favorite excerpts are here and links to the entire articles below.

DONT’S:

“All business ideas have inherent risks. Don’t ignore them and don’t pretend they aren’t there… Instead, identify the risks and explain how you plan to deal with them, and perhaps even turn them to your advantage some day.”
“Make sure your story tracks the market and the numbers you present; investors don’t want to work with a management team that doesn’t have a firm grip on reality.”
“Don’t spend your entire presentation explaining every esoteric detail of your software. Each feature you share should serve to demonstrate–clearly and quickly–the company’s money-making potential.”

DO’S:

Focus hard on your company’s core value proposition. Your presentation needs a clear, consistent theme. If you don’t know it, the audience won’t either
Focus on the overall market and your company’s prospects within it.
Always, always prepare. Never wing it. (Trust me on this one).

Here’s another useful concept for you serial entrepreneurs who are too uncomfortable bragging about your accomplishments (or do it way too much):
“I’ve found that when speakers talk about what they know, it’s arrogant. When they talk about what they’ve learned, it’s humble and a format of great storytelling.”
This is actually relevant for everyone - what taught you what you know and how does what you’ve learned guarantee your success now? This reminder to stay humble comes from an ad guy - Roy Spence, founder and president of GSD&M advertising, part of Omnicom Group.

Ten Ways to F* Up Your Pitch (I’m paraphrasing the title, of course) - Forbes.com
Top Tips For Nailing That Speech - Forbes.com