What's up! It's me, shaan.
Ever since starting the rolling fund, I’ve heard about 150 startup pitches in 2 months.
One thing stood out - most people suck at explaining what they do.
These are smart people. Hard working. Building interesting projects, night and day.
Yet they can’t explain their business in 30 seconds in a way that is:
- Clear
- Interesting.
I call this painting a picture while tickling the brain.
Most people struggle to explain what their company does in simple terms.
We hosted a sunday workshop yesterday and in one hour, you could make your pitch twice as good.
So that you feel confident your message lands, everytime.
^ that little format there, that’s the type of thing I taught at this weekend’s workshop. It was a blast. We had about 100 people show up on a sunday afternoon to sharpen up their skills.
We covered two types of stories:
- An informational story (a simple framework to pitch your business)
- A personal story (how to be a charming mother effer and tell great stories)
Here's a link to watch the 75-min workshop and a TLDW summary below:
Informational Stories:
Informational stories are all about getting your point across in the simplest way, while tickling the brain with some emotions and feelings.
We used the Storybrand method for explaining your business in simple terms:
- Most people have this problem
- We offer a simple solution
- So that you get a this happy ending
Participants could jump in, pitch their business, and then we would workshop it live together.
For example: Menajem, an all access pass member was first up.
BEFORE:
We re-locate manufacturing operations from china to mexico. So many benefits - Mexico can do it better and cheaper than china.
^ not bad, the audience rated it a 5.5 out of 10. This is about average.
AFTER:
Most brands are having manufacturing problems in China right now due to the Coronavirus.
We, at GetAyuda, find you a factory in Mexico who can match the quality and cost of China.
So you can stay focused on selling, while we’re working 24/7 to find you a backup supplier in Mexico.
Another brave volunteer, Anuj:
BEFORE:
Sophya provides virtual spaces to become the future of work. Because we’re all losing our sense of community and connectedness. So anyone, wherever you work, can get together and re-discover the way we used to work.
^ lots of jargon. Virtual spaces? Future of work? Rediscover the way we used to work? Huh? Not clear.
AFTER:
Most remote workers miss bumping into their coworkers every day in the snack room or hallways.
We create a virtual office, where you can walk around and bump into your coworkers casually, almost like a video game.
So that people can have fun talking to their coworkers again, not just scheduled zoom meetings.
^Not perfect, but much better than jargonpalooza he had 5 minutes earlier.
If you wanna get better, I recommend trying out the storybrand 1-liner exercise.
We also covered how to take that one liner, and expand it, so you’re ready to go into as much depth as the listener is ready for. I call it having the tweet version, blog version, book version, podcast version etc.. of your story, ready at your fingertips.
A few things for you to do now:
If you wanna continue leveling up, here are some of my favorite resources and things from earlier in the AAP:
- Watch this Storybrand video
- Read Storyworthy
- Read Pixar’s 22 rules of storytelling
- Watch the workshop
until next week,
shaan
