3Ds Applied in your Business Pitch |

Whether you are pitching your business to potential partners or prospective investors, it is important to know the key messages you want to communicate to drive your business forward.

Ronald M. Shapiro, author of Perfecting Your Pitch: How to Succeed in Business and Life by Finding Words that Work, believes there is a process that leads to a higher level of success rate when entrepreneurs have these challenging interactions with stakeholders. He refers to the scripting process as the 3Ds- Drafting, Devil's Advocacy, and Delivering.

Drafting:

Drafting is getting your raw ideas out in the open either by writing it down or typing it up. Sketch out what you feel are important to express in your pitch. At this stage, you are not worried about grammar or the flow of the pitch. It is the process where you are jotting down all your strongest possible thoughts and arguments whether you use them or not.

Devil's Advocacy:

The Devil's Advocate stage improves how we do things. In this situation, others review and provide constructive input on the business pitch. We often forget this stage. "This is a variation on the old saying that two heads are better than one." (Shapiro, 2013) Seek out people that can provide feedback and help you adjust your message. Shapiro states that when you don't have access to a devil's advocate, read the script out loud and act as your own devil's advocate. This process can be an on-going process, more than one redraft might be developed before you end up with a final script.

Delivering:

Practice makes perfect! You may have heard this saying a million times, but when you are delivering that pitch, you must be comfortable with your script. Rehearse out loud, prepare for questions, and establish confidence with what you want to say. "Being comfortable and speaking with confidence makes your position less vulnerable to the other side pushing back." (Shapiro, 2013)

Remember it's not only what you say but also how confident you say it that grabs those stakeholders' attention.

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