Do you have the perfect pitch?

Following on from my recent post about networking for beginners I have attended a couple of workshops on how to pitch. It's all very well going to networking events but have you got that pitch fine-tuned?

First of all, there is no one-fits-all size pitch, you need to adapt your pitch to the following items (amongst others):

- your audience

- your time constraints

- your aim

In terms of audience - you need to take into consideration what the person/persons you are speaking to already knows about your profession. If it turns out after 10 minutes that they don't know the difference between interpreting and translation then you could have adapted your strategy from the very beginning. If however your client has already used interpreters for an event then they will be a lot more clued-up about what you have to offer.

Your time constraints are very important to think about as well, your pitch should be completely different if you have 2 minutes or 5! You won't be able to get the same information across so you need to consider what is most important, and what will make the person interested enough to continue the discussion with you afterwards by email or at the end of the event.

The third item in the list - your aim is also very important. Are you trying to provide the person with a service they are looking for immediately or are they a potential lead for the future that you can follow-up with after this discussion.

What about physical constraints? Are you sitting down, do you have a glass in your hand? And what about body language, how close should you stand to the other person, should you shake their hand at the end. At what moment is it appropriate to swap business cards? What about the other person, have you factored in them asking you questions and having time to discuss what they do/are looking for in a potential interpreter/translator?

In one of the workshops I attended we also discussed having an opening line - it can be hard to approach another person and you don't want to burst out with your pitch as that would be rather an unnatural way to start a conversation. Do you mention the weather, the buffet, the speaker who just presented? How do you get the conversation going so that you can lead-in to your pitch without waiting for someone to ask "so what do you do?"

All of these considerations can have a big impact on the way your pitch is received. I highly recommend attending a pitch workshop and going to some networking events to practice your pitch styles in order to develop a few different pitches that you can quickly pull out of your sleeve. It can also be helpful to practice with a trusted colleague to give each other honest feedback about body language and the impression you make.

What are your top tips for pitching?