What are some tips for overcoming nervousness when networking or pitching your ideas?

I have a good coaching friend who sets his watch timer and says, "OK. Go! Shoot me your elevator invitation." When we force the function we get to practice. When we set a timer for one minute, that is good. See if we can get our ideas across succinctly. Get reps in. And be gentle with yourself, while at the same time knowing you're getting better with each rep.

Engage in small talk to break the ice before diving into your ideas or pitch. This can help you feel more comfortable and establish a rapport with the person you're talking to. Also, instead of thinking about networking as a self-promotion task, approach it as an opportunity to learn and build relationships. This can help alleviate nervousness and make the experience more enjoyable! Remember, overcoming nervousness takes time and practice. The more you put yourself out there and engage in networking or pitching, the more comfortable you will become.

The big thing I try to do when I'm networking is be the most friendly, engaging, and extroverted version of myself that I can be. It's not a thing that always comes naturally to me, but I have a fun time when I go into "Convention Mode" and just start engaging people in conversation. It also pays to show curiosity & interest in the other person BEFORE you launch into any spiel you might have. It's off-putting when someone is trying to sell you something right off the bat. (And honestly, try not to make it a hard pitch when you get to it. Make it feel like organic conversation. "Oh hey, I'm working on this cool thing you might like to hear about...")

The more you pitch, the better you will be at pitching and the better your pitch will be too. Repetition really works for pitching and the improvement between your first and second attempt let alone between your first and thirtieth will be huge. My secret weapon to pitches are finding ways interest complete strangers while waiting in public spaces.

In our profession everything is going to enter through the eyes, don't be pretentious, everything doesn't have to have Pixar quality but show the best first, sometimes the interviewer doesn't have time to see your entire portfolio, so have ready examples of different style skills, it is possible that they are looking for something specific and you have the right example.

This is a great piece of advice, indeed. If you're too worried about what others might think of you, you've made yourself too dependent on third parties. Both in business and personally, you'll want to avoid that as much as possible. Being helpful, kind, honest and constructive are more useful to other people, than trying to be someone you think they want you to be. That's exhausting. I know, because I've lived my life like that for years - it isn't sustainable. It's a cliché, but be yourself is really what matters. Figuring that out may require some time, practice, and professional help, though.

It's helpful to thoroughly research the person you'll be talking to. You'll find things you have in common, relatable little stories, even flaws. All of these things ease your mind, "humanize" even the powerful executives and are a good start for a pleasant small talk to break the ice.

I find the best way to understand the value you are offering is to do research into who you are pitching to and what their specific needs are. Start the meeting with questions that confirm your instincts or research about the potential buyers needs. If you realize at this point that your pitch is off, it is OK to say that and tell them that you will take this new direction under consideration but as your project is not what they are looking for you would rather not waste time pitching and make the most of the meeting to get to know more about what their ideal project looks like. That way you can come back stronger and you haven't pitched your project to the wrong buyer. This can knock your confidence if you don't see it coming.

I’ve done many pitches in person, through zoom and even stand up comedy across the USA for almost a decade. I STILL get nervous every single time but there is a moment it fades…the first laugh. If you can get one laugh at the top of the pitch it breaks the ice and you’ll find your nervousness taking a back seat. Place a fun joke about yourself in your introduction. Make your intro fun and you’ll hook them right out of the gate.

Focusing on nervousness may be solving the wrong problem. Nerves can be useful and most of us experience them prior to any meeting with significant stakes. Focus instead on confidence and belief in your knowledge and proposition. Let the nerves sharpen you to a sparkle so the audience can see you and what you believe in. That is what converts.

Have plenty of visual aids to hand which help convey your ideas. If you have animation tests show them. If you have script excerpts then ask your most gregarious actor friends to voice them - use the recordings to bring things to life.

Breathing does help but I find the main mental aid is to make it OK to be yourself. Don't come in trying to be a seasoned PRO if it is your first time. Acknowledge that it is your first time, Or that you are nervous or whatever you have to say upfront to help relax. "Hi, my name is Heath and I am nervous about pitching to such an amazing company. Please excuse me if the nerves get the better of me at times." Or something like that. Then take a breath and see above, put some A.I.R in your pitch.

Cartoon viewership is excellent stress relief, especially before one pitches a cartoon concept to a potential stakeholder! We know this, because 'toons are our bread and butter (and jam).

Je pense qu'il est très important de prendre le temps d'écouter nos client et nos collaborateurs. C'est la meilleure fa?ons de comprendre leur besoin et leur attentes et donc de pouvoir orienter notre travail en fonction. Soyez ouvert et curieux des autres!

Pescar "palavras-chave" durante a conversa pode lhe dar um ótimo direcionamento de como continuar a abordagem. Certa vez, um cliente em potencial achou caro um or?amento meu, mas entendi que as vendas dele dependiam de um ótimo impacto visual de um logotipo/identidade visual na papelaria de suas propostas... Argumentei ent?o que pagar barato por um dos ativos mais importantes da empresa (a marca) poderia tirar ele do jogo no momento de suas concorrências. Foi a cartada para fechar o negócio. Entender a real necessidade do cliente e propor a solu??o ideal é fundamental.

There's only so much a group can handle at once so try to keep your own participation to a single good idea at first. Group meetings can often swirl with detail but often not get at the heart of an issue ; I believe that to make progress in such a situation it's good to remember the focus . Get the big ideas figured out first......the minutia falls into place later .

Yes, asking questions is great but really listen and understand that we can demonstrate our value by the quality of the questions we ask. A great tool for preparing this is using a What I know/ What I wonder/ What I learned template. If you are doing a virtual call it's a game changer. You simply prep the first two columns before that call or meeting and then add the answers to your questions as you go then your closing statement and for-actions will always prove two things; You can listen well and you are committed to adding value!

During a pitch of Season 2 of Final Space I wanted to hype up the president of TBS at the time Kevin Reilly and my brilliant idea was to play the Mortal Kombat theme song, jump up from my chair and double high five every exec in the room. I practiced this for two weeks, even timed it! The day finally comes and I realized the speaker has a delay and I timed it with no delay, I see Kevin Reilly about to walk in the boardroom and I panic and ditch the speaker. The time came to play Mortal Kombat and it’s so quiet and so lame! I panic again and only double high five Billy Wee the exec on my show and sit back down. I’ve asked everyone of those execs if they remember that moment & no one does haha Your mess ups will always feel bigger to you.

I think the best thing to do if you are nervous, is to think that some artist, in another part of the world, sold a banana taped to a wall for 120.000 dollars. If you remember that, you will relax and realize that there are no good or bad ideas: just people who have enough confidence in theirs.

Stay out of the results. You are there to tell your story, pitch your show, your idea or your specific take on your shot. Do your best, be yourself and they will take it or leave it. Define your own success! Don't let others dictate what success looks like for you. If you did your best and you know it was the best version you could muster at the time then let that be your success. Whatever happens next is just another chance to do your best work. Everyone has an opinion but not many people have the courage to stand up and pitch something personal and precious to them.

When you are there, always remember you are important enough. You have enough impact that people came to hear you. You can't mess this up. Cause you are you and you are the one they came to hear.

A single meeting CAN put a project or even a career on a new path but there is no finish line. There will always be more meetings , more projects and more hills to climb and battle on top of.

Here's something that helps me. Try your best to not care about converting. Ideally wouldn't you like to solve a real problem for your prospective clients? Try your best to focus on that. The first step of course is to understand the problem they are trying to solve. Is that even a problem you can/should solve? While you engage in this you will realize that the conversation slowly starts to flow organically and it allows them to open up. All of my best meetings have followed this format. If they trust you to ask meaningful questions, they will trust you with their work.