How to Perfect Your Elevator Pitch

Summary

Earn Your Leisure Podcast: "How to Perfect Your Elevator Pitch"

Hosts: Rashad Bilal & Troy Millings
Date: March 25, 2026
Guest (Pitch Coach): Name not stated
Episode Theme:
This episode dives deep into the art of crafting a compelling elevator pitch. The discussion is especially relevant for entrepreneurs preparing to present their ideas to investors at events like Invest Fest and beyond. The guest pitch coach walks listeners through essential steps and practical strategies, blending psychological preparation with tactical business advice.

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Main Theme Overview

The episode is a hands-on guide for anyone preparing to present an elevator pitch—whether in competitions, to investors, or in networking settings. The guest explains the critical components of a successful pitch, common pitfalls to avoid, and concrete tips for practicing and managing stage anxiety.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Seven Steps to a Successful Elevator Pitch

(Starts at 03:24)

Step Breakdown:

• 1. Clear and Concise Message
  • "Who are you? What do you do? Who do you serve? What do you want the judges or investors to know?" (Pitch Coach, 03:38)
• 2. Articulate the Problem
  • "Make sure that you know the problem that you're trying to solve. Lots of times I've seen people come and pitch... and they really don't know." (Pitch Coach, 03:52)
• 3. Present the Solution
  • "What are you trying to solve? ... What's the solution? What are the vehicles to solve that problem?" (Pitch Coach, 04:13)
• 4. Know Your Market Stats
  • "A lot of people don't do their research on the industry stats..." (Pitch Coach, 04:28)
• 5. Identify Your Competitors
  • "I've seen people do pitches and we don't even know who your competitor is." (Pitch Coach, 04:34)
• 6. Effective Use of Visual Aids
  • "If there are going to be visual aids, make sure that your visual aids are not all over the place. Keep it clean, keep it fresh..." (Pitch Coach, 04:53)
• 7. Clear Call to Action and Knowing Your Numbers
  • "Be clear and concise and make sure that whatever the call to action is, that it is clear, it is realistic. I'm looking for $2 million. To do what with? What's the budget? What's the forecast? What's the numbers?" (Pitch Coach, 05:23)
  • "Most investors don't want to be married long term to something. We want to make sure that we understand... what's the return on investment? Do we get equity?" (Pitch Coach, 05:50)

2. Preparation Before the Pitch

(Starts at 07:01)

Key Preparation Methods:

• Practice, Practice, Practice
  • "Practice in the mirror, see yourself... See if the nerves are taking over, right? ...Practice in front of family and friends and peers, a mentor, a coach." (Pitch Coach, 07:24)
  • "Record yourself on video and watch yourself back with no judgment." (Pitch Coach, 07:32)
• Mindfulness & Visualization
  • "Walk through the pitch without you having to say something... How am I going to enter the stage? How am I going to intro myself? ...How am I going to leave?" (Pitch Coach, 07:41)
• Breathing Techniques
  • "One is the four, seven, eight: you breathe in for four counts, you hold for seven, you breathe out for eight... it triggers what we call the parasympathetic nervous system." (Pitch Coach, 08:10)
• Arrive Early and Familiarize Yourself
  • "Go to the venue, see what it looks like... visualize what it's going to look like. The audience that's going to be there..." (Pitch Coach, 08:45)
• Always Have a Backup
  • "One of the persons forgot their visuals and so they did a whole entire pitch... with no visuals whatsoever. Messed up their entire elevator pitch." (Pitch Coach, 09:10)
  • "Make sure you have something on a USB drive, Google Drive... so that your anxiety can actually decrease." (Pitch Coach, 09:27)

3. Handling Nerves vs. Anxiety

(Starts at 10:20)

• Healthy Nerves
  • "It's absolutely healthy to be nervous. I was nervous coming here because I've never met you guys in person..." (Pitch Coach, 10:37)
  • "There's something called good nerves. You just can't allow those nerves to take over and become your master." (Pitch Coach, 10:42)
• Difference between Nerves & Anxiety
  • "Anxiety... says, 'what if something happens and what do I need to do to prepare just in case.' There's something between wisdom and then allowing anxiety to take over." (Pitch Coach, 10:49)
  • "Wisdom says, 'let me have a backup.' That's not anxiety, that's just wisdom. But anxiety is like all of the intrusive thoughts going through your head... creating stories that literally don't even exist." (Pitch Coach, 11:00)
  • "Nerves is good, right? But you don't have to let it master you." (Pitch Coach, 11:26)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Clarity:

  • "Have a clear and concise message. Who are you? What do you do? Who do you serve?" (Pitch Coach, 03:38)

• On Visual Aids:

  • "If there are going to be visual aids, make sure your visual aids are not all over the place... Keep it clean, keep it fresh." (Pitch Coach, 04:53)

• On Preparation:

  • "Practice in the mirror... see if the nerves are taking over." (Pitch Coach, 07:24)
  • "Record yourself on video and watch yourself back with no judgment." (Pitch Coach, 07:32)
  • "Walk yourself through [the process] as you do mindfulness, but be in the environment as well." (Pitch Coach, 08:45)

• On Anxiety:

  • "Two things I've learned in life, guys. No one owes me anything. And never create a story. Anxiety is the culprit that helps people create stories that literally don't even exist." (Pitch Coach, 11:10)

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• Seven Steps to Nailing Your Elevator Pitch: 03:29–06:46
• Practicing and Preparation Techniques: 07:01–10:20
• Managing Nerves vs. Anxiety: 10:20–11:34

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Tone & Approach

The conversation remains authentic and motivational, with the guest coach offering a mix of tough love (“You need to know your numbers!”), practical wisdom, and empathy toward the anxiety that comes with public speaking and pitching.

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Summary for Non-Listeners

This episode serves as an essential primer for entrepreneurs, creatives, or anyone seeking to improve their elevator pitch game. The guest pitch coach breaks down the craft into clear, actionable steps—from market research to visual design, from practicing with intention to handling nerves versus anxiety—with relatable stories and effective techniques for preparation. The advice is candid, practical, and underscores that success in pitching comes from clarity, preparation, and honest self-assessment.

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For Reference:

Skip to 03:24 for pitch content, 07:01 for preparation tips, and 10:20 for handling nerves and anxiety.

Transcript

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[Pitch Coach]

so, okay, talk about elevator pitch. Yes.

[Interviewer]

And seven steps to nailing your elevator pitch.

[Pitch Coach]

Yeah. So first things first. Is anyone that's listening to this? If you're going to be pitching, whether it's at Invest Fest or you're going to be pitching at any place, the first thing is you want to have a clear and concise message. Who are you? What do you do? Who do you serve? What's. What is it that you're actually giving to people? What do you want the judges to know or the investors to know? So have a clear and concise message. The second commandment that I would say is make sure that you know the problem. What's the problem that you're trying to solve? Lots of times I've seen people come and pitch Rashad and they really don't know what the problem is that they're trying to solve. They just want to sell a product to you or say, hey, can you invest in my product? So you have to make sure that when you're pitching with your message being clear and concise, you need to make sure that you also know what the problem is and then think third, know the solution to the problem. Right? What is. What are you trying to solve? I understand you want to be able to have a tech company, but what is the tech. What. What is the solution? Or what's the problem that's being solved and what's the solution? How. What are the vehicles to solve that problem? The third thing is make sure that you know your market stats, right? What's going on in the market in the industry right now? A lot of people don't do their research on the industry stats, which leads to the next one. Who's your competitor? Right. I've seen people do pitches and we don't even know who your competitor is. You just tell us all about the business. But if we were to go deeper, beyond a 60 minute elevator pitch, a 60 second, sorry, elevator pitch, and let's say you all were to ask more questions. One of the questions that investors are going to ask is who your competitors are, what's the market? So because of that, it's important for anyone that's pitching to do that. Make sure that you're using proper visual aids. That's another thing too. I'm not really sure how it's going to be for Invest Fest when we get there, but if there are going to be visual aids, make sure that your visual aids are not all over the place. Make sure that you're not using all these different fonts and colors and everything like that. Keep it clean, keep it fresh. But make sure that everyone, every judge that's looking or any investor that's investing into what are interested in what you have to say can understand it clear clearly in your visual aids. I will also say just making sure that as they go through the pitch that they speak clearly, that they understand and also do a call to action. We've had pitch, I've sat in pitch matches or pitch competitions where. So what are you asking for? You never really say what you're asking for. Be clear and concise and make sure that whatever the call to action is, that it is clear, it is realistic. I'm looking for $2 million. To do what with? What's the budget? What's the forecast? What's the numbers? That's another one. Know your numbers. Right. What are the numbers going to? Where's this money going to? When is it going to happen? Most investors don't want to be married long term to something. So we want to make sure that we understand. I'm an investor myself, make sure that we understand. What's the return on investment? Do we get equity? Right. All of these things are what people should be considering when it comes to their elevator pitch. Whether it's 60 seconds, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, even up to a 30 minute pitch.

[Interviewer]

Tremendous insight because we get past all the time.

[Pitch Coach]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

And so you actually have now just helped us. And I'm sure everybody that's listening will take notes from it as well.

[Pitch Coach]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

You said that vocal health is important and so these things sound like how I will prepare as I'm going to the stage.

[Pitch Coach]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

But there's that buildup and we talked to a lot of people. We just had a pitch competition a few months ago and people were talking about the anxiety that it felt leading up to the day. So, so what are some of the type of things that you suggest for people leading up to the event? What should they be doing at home the week before, the month before, to prepare themselves for this moment, this five minute moment that could change their lives potentially?

[Pitch Coach]

Absolutely. First things, practice, practice, practice, practice. And there's a couple ways in which a person can practice, right, Troy? So the first thing I would say is practice in the mirror, see yourself. So you can see how your facial expressions look. See if the nerves are taking over, right? See yourself. And lots of times people do not like to see themselves. They don't even like to hear themselves back. Right. You'd be surprised that a lot of anxiety that happens on the stage happens because of what people are going through in their personal lives and it just comes over in there. So practice, practice, practice, practice in front of family and friends and peers, a mentor, a coach, right? And also record yourself on video and watch yourself back with no judgment. That's one of the ways in which you can actually help yourself prepare for the pitch. Another one is actually do what we call mindfulness. Walk through the pitch without you having to say something. So how am I going to enter the stage? How am I going to intro myself? How am I going to speak, what I need to say? How am I going to exit the stage? How am I going to leave? Like all of that is what we call mindfulness. Whether you're performing as an entertainer or speaker, that's one of the things that I'll tell people, sit through in mind, do mindfulness of it. Another way to prepare is breathing techniques. Believe it or not, there's a couple breathing techniques that I tell people to do. One is the four, seven. Eight is you breathe in for four counts, you hold it for seven counts, you breathe out for eight counts. What this does is it triggers what we call the parasympathetic nervous system, which is if you're having like a warm bowl of soup or ice cream and. And you're kind of like calm, where there's something called a sympathetic mode, which is that fight or flight mode. The moment people get on a stage, their palms get sweaty, they want to use the bathroom, their knees want to buckle, their mouth gets dry. And so mindfulness breathing helps them to trigger that pns, that parasympathetic mode. I always say too, arrive early. I tell people, go to the venue, see what it looks like. Like, look at the stage, sit down in the chair and actually visualize what it's going to look like. The audience that's going to be There, Walk yourself through it as you do mindfulness, but be in the environment as well. That's going to help a lot in preparing and then also to making sure that you have a backup. I had a pitch competition that I was a judge at. One of the persons forgot their visuals and so they did a whole entire pitch asking for a whole bunch of money with no visuals whatsoever. Mess up their entire elevator pitch. And so I tell those that are preparing, make sure you have a backup. If you're going to be doing something where you're sending something electronically, make sure you have something on a USB drive, a Google Drive, some sort of electronic drive so that your anxiety can actually decrease. Because lots of times people kind of cause their own anxiety to because of lack of preparation. So those are practical things that they can do to prepare for their pitch.

[Interviewer]

Just a follow up because a lot of times people will confuse anxiety with nervousness.

[Pitch Coach]

Yes.

[Interviewer]

Some people will say it's healthy to feel nervous or it's healthy to feel angst before something because you're prepared for it, you want to deliver it, you want to do a great job.

[Pitch Coach]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Is it healthy or when does it not become healthy?

[Pitch Coach]

Absolutely. It's absolutely healthy to be nervous. I was nervous coming here because I've never met you guys in person. I'm like, what are they going to ask me? I don't know. So there's something called good nerves. You just can't allow those nerves to take over and become your master. And that's where anxiety comes in. Anxiety and angst really says, what if something happens and what do I need to do to prepare just in case what if happened? So there's something between wisdom and then allowing anxiety to take over. Wisdom says, you know what, let me have a backup. That's not anxiety, that's just wisdom. But anxiety is like all of the intrusive thoughts going through your head. That's literally just thoughts. Two things that I've learned in life, guys. No one owes me anything. And never create a story. Anxiety is the culprit that helps people create stories that literally don't even exist. And so because of that, absolutely there's a difference between nerves and anxiety. Nerves is good, right? But you don't have to let it master you.

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[Ryan Seacrest]

Download today hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. It's stock up savings time now through March 31st. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hunts, Nerds, Pillsbury, Lowry's, Breyers, Quaker and Culture Pop. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more. Enjoy savings on top of savings when you shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pick up or delivery restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions.

[Fidelity Representative]

Fidelity Active ETFs have the flexibility to shift and transform as markets do the same. So instead of just riding an index, they can seek to outperform it by adapting to market conditions and pursuing new opportunities as they emerge. And while you get the potential outperformance of an actively managed fund, you can still buy and sell it on your terms just like any other etf. Markets can change in real time. Make sure your ETF can too. Learn [e-mail] ActiveETFs before investing in any exchange traded fund, you should consider its investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. Contact Fidelity for a prospectus, an offering circular, or if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Read it carefully. While active ETFs offer the potential to outperform an index, these products may more significantly trail an index as compared with passive ETFs. ETFs are subject to marketplace fluctuation and the risks of their underlying investments. ETFs are subject to management fees and other expenses. Fidelity Brokerage Services, LLC Member NYSE SIPC

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