Knowing how to deliver great pitches and presentations is an essential skill for entrepreneurs. Few people are naturals, but pitching – communicating what is important and compelling about your business – is an art and science that can be learned, practiced and refined. Your mission is to engage your audience so they feel like participants and ensure that you evocatively share the value your business brings to the world.

Here are 5 tips that might help the next time you’re in the spotlight

Interact: Whether presenting to a client or pitching to an investor, consider starting with a question. Your listeners can often benefit from a prompt to jumpstart and activate the brain as if telling it, “Hey, pay attention because what you are about to hear might be pretty darn amazing.”

Say it with your body. Studies show that up to 93% of our communication is non-verbal. Yes, that means that there is just 7% attributed to the actual words you choose. So in the first instance, select your words wisely. When it is time to step up to the stage, remember to use hand gestures, maintain eye contact, smile a lot and be conscious of your body language. The sum of how you act will have more of an impact over what you say.

Tell a story. Make it purposeful, and make it personal. People love a good story. Narrating your message through a story will bring your facts to life and help your audience empathise with you. Telling stories has been one of our most fundamental methods of communicating as it literally activates our brains. Consider structuring your pitch so that there is an authoritative outcome and takeaway. Curious people love to learn, and you will have taught your listeners something new.

Use a clicker. This may seem trivial but it’s important. Unless you have an assistant that you’ve practiced with to change the slides for you, using a clicker is going to set you free. Namely, you want to stay focused on your audience and not on your computer. The clicker becomes your best friend as it functions as the enabler between your visual aids (the technology) and the main attraction (you).

Foreshadow. Start off by giving your audience an overview of what you’re going to say. Then say it, and at the end – sum it up. People like to know where they are going and by practicing this you put your listeners at ease

This is an excerpt from an original post @ The Guardian – you can read all the tips here

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