Learning to Pitch Business Ideas

pitching competition at NSCC

It started with The Dragon's Den, or at least it did for me. Now students are learning it in school. How awesome is that?

That's me in the middle at the judges' table on stage in the photo above. I was delighted to be asked to participate in this Pitch 101 competition by NSCC Entrepreneurship on November 5, 2015.

Being able to pitch a business idea has many benefits for young people, among them:
  • These are sales skills. Young people will need to be able to sell themselves when job hunting, sell their ideas in the business world, and perhaps even sell products and services.
  • Doing a timed pitch in front of an audience requires confidence. It might mean failure the first time, but practice leads to self-confidence.
  • It's like networking on steroids. Pitchers have the chance to make connections with organizers, teachers, judges, students and other pitchers.
  • A chance to test ideas before making an investment of time and money. Judges offer advice about the business idea in addition to advice to improve the pitch.
As a judge, I also required a bit of confidence. I, too, got to network with new contacts and visit with old friends. And having a little to do with who took the prize money and advanced in the competition... well, who wouldn't like that? I'm really glad it wasn't me that was pitching, though!


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