How to Pitch to a Shark

Heather Day appeared on Shark Tank in 2017 with her product Hey Day Butter. She approached me after attending my Perfecting your Pitch seminar as part of the Australian eChallenge program run by the 澳大利亚阿德莱德大学 .

Here are 5 tips I coached Heather on to win her pitch

Grab them at the start

Going on shark tank is like stepping on stage at a concert. You want to make a great impression and win over the audience a soon as you can. My advice to Heather was to come out smiling and looking confident. The goal was to get Janine to light up, and you can see on the video she achieved this.

On shark tank their opening statement is scripted and set to a formula. In a real-life pitch I recommend you start with the customer’s problem. Amplify this and explain how your business idea solves their dilemma.

Tailor to your audience

In 2017 the sharks were Janine Allis founder of Boost Juice, Andrew Banks co-founder of Morgan and Banks, Naomi Simson founder of Red Balloon Glen Richards, veterinarian, and founder of GreenCross and tech entrepreneur Steve Baxter.

We researched and profiled each of the sharks, hypothesising which sharks would be interested and developing aspects of the pitch that would appeal to them.

I expected that Janine, with her interest in food would invest. In the end it was Naomi Simson and surprisingly, Steve Baxter who made offers.

Show them

Actions will always beat words. Don’t tell them, show them. I suggested that Heather approached the producers and do a cooking demonstration with tasting. As MasterChef was also on the channel 10 Network, I was confident that the answer would be yes.

You can see on the video what a tremendous impact tasting the product had. Whatever it is that you’re pitching get people involved as much as you can. I call this selling on all senses. Encourage them to touch, taste, smell, hold, as well see your product.

Create stories and sound bites

When it comes to sales, fact tell stories sell. One of the stories Heather amplified was something we all face when we get home from a busy day at work. We open the fridge and think what can I cook for dinner? Heather then explained how Hey Day butter solves this problem.

“You have some broccoli and salmon in the fridge, add some Hey Day miso gourmet butter for a beautiful umami boost.”

?There were several memorable soundbites woven into her pitch

• ‘Artisan gourmet butter’
• ‘Give it the Masterchef touch without the time and effort’
• ‘Use the cinnamon butter and you have instant fruit toast’

Manage the curly questions

Expect to be challenged and plan for curly questions. If you get questions, you know you’ve done a good job. Questions are buying signals - people ask them because they’re engaged in want to know more. Heather and I brainstormed the type of questions each shark would ask, and I coached Heather on how to brace herself for the ‘Baxter Attacks’ as Steve was notorious for being confrontational.

When you feel you are in the spotlight it is also important to demonstrate your humility and curiosity. I remember watching an American Shark Tank episode where one of the sharks said: “You have an amazing business model, great products and there is clearly a need for them on the market. But you are arrogant, refuse to take advice, and I can’t work with you so it is a no from me .”

Every pitch is unique

Shark Tank is reality TV. Real life pitching has some similarities but is a very different beast. With every pitch will have a different objective and audience and will need to be individually tailored.

I have helped people pitch successfully for $50k for a startup, through to winning grants in the tens of millions. Give me a bell if you need help, I’d love to help you shine!

Shark Tank Australia?premieres?on Tuesday, 29 August at 7.30pm On 10. You can watch Heather's Hey Day Butter pitch here.

Play.