Record Your Pitch to Perfect It

I was working with a founder on his pitch.  He had a big vision and was passionate, but he needed to fine-tune his delivery. Over the course of our conversations, I realized something. There was a disconnect. How he perceived himself and what others saw was different. He thought his presentation sounded one way, but it actually sounded quite different. Seeing is believing, so I suggested he record his next pitch and send me the recording.

By the next time we spoke, he’d had a realization. He said he’d had no idea how he sounded. With the recording, he could self-critique and correct the part of his delivery he didn’t like.  The recording was the pitch version of looking at himself in the mirror. He saw exactly what everyone else saw.

We decided to take it a step further. Instead of booking time with peers to get their feedback, he sent them links to his recorded pitch. This worked well for a few reasons. First, it forced him to put his best self forward. Who doesn’t watch a video of themselves before sending it to other people? No one. He watched the pitch, redid it, and got it to sound exactly how he wanted before clicking “send.” Second, the recipients could watch it and send their feedback whenever it was convenient for them. And third, he was able to share his pitch with more people and get more feedback than if he’d scheduled one-on-one time with each person.

Recording yourself isn’t novel. It’s a time-tested tool that’s still highly effective. If you want to perfect your pitch, consider tapping “record”!