A pitch is a performance. It might not have all the lights, costumes, and orchestra that you’d find at a Broadway musical but there will certainly be an element of song and dance. You’re standing in front of a potentially critical audience and asking them to believe in you. To feel something. To be delighted that they invested their precious time in the show.
That’s hard, and it takes preparation.
It also takes skill and skill takes practice. Since every pitch is like a premier of a new show, success demands disciplined rehearsal in order to be ready to perform.
Luckily, there are clear best practices in how to rehearse your pitch and increase your odds of success.
Before we get into rehearsal best practices, let’s dispense with a bad idea: using a script. Unlike theater, we don’t recommend using a script for your pitch. Script reading rarely leaves the impression that you can talk freely and confidently about the subject matter. Instead, have a plan for the key messages you want to convey and be yourself.
So how should you rehearse?
Broadway productions have two kinds of rehearsal: a tech rehearsal and a dress rehearsal. Both are equally relevant to your agency’s pitch process.
The Tech Rehearsal
The tech rehearsal is done in theater to make sure all technical elements are working as they should. Agency pitches should also have a tech rehearsal. You want to ensure that the room setup, videos, projector settings, and even handouts run smoothly and without issue. Have a plan for how the pitch team will enter the room, who sets up the equipment, where you each will sit, when you will stand and even how you will breakdown following the pitch.
To be safe, bring any equipment you may need in case the client lacks important technology or connections. Don’t leave anything to chance.
The Dress Rehearsal
The dress rehearsal means running through the entire pitch as if it is really happening. This means the entire team, including any agency leadership like the agency owner or CEO. Anyone that is going to be in the pitch must participate and be fully engaged in the process.
The rehearsal should run from start to finish without interruption. And you should even rehearse Q&A and how to wrap up the presentation graciously while sharing your enthusiasm for the business.
To be clear, this rehearsal isn’t about sitting around a table, going through the pitch deck and saying, “And then I’ll get up and introduce everyone.” No, you must do it exactly as you plan to during the actual presentation. Get up and actually introduce everyone. As Vince Lombardi famously said, “Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect”.
Go through the entire pitch from beginning to end and time it.
Other members of your team that are not involved in this pitch can also sit in, playing the part of the prospect. They should take notes on the full experience and share their notes with the pitch team after the presentation.
And then you run it again from the top. The second time through should be enough, barring significant concerns.
Rehearse like this and you’ll be ready for a comfortable, confident, clear pitch.
Videoconference Presentations
If you’re doing an online presentation instead of in-person, these technical and dress rehearsals are equally important. You’ll want to run through everything repeatedly to ensure all transitions run smoothly.
Start with the tech rehearsal. Make sure you are adept at using the platform that will be required for the actual presentation.
Even though videoconference presentations can sometimes feel more casual, they should not be treated casually. Dress fully as you would for an in-person presentation and make sure your energy and enthusiasm are heightened to overcome the lack of physical presence.
And be on extra guard that presenters do not read their parts from a script. The impression is rarely good and often leaves the prospect concerned about the confidence and competence of the presenters.
A Word To Agency Leadership About Rehearsals
Agency leaders should fully participate in these dress rehearsals as well as the rest of the pitch team. This will create a full knowledge and comfort with what is being pitched and how. Oftentimes the agency owner will open and close a pitch but their actions between these two bookmarks can greatly affect the potential relationship with the prospect. We’ve seen agency owners interrupt their own pitch team to clarify, challenge, or change the information being shared. This creates doubt in the prospect and suggests that agency leadership lacks confidence and trust in their pitch team, neither of which indicates a dependable working relationship.
It’s not enough to be the face of the agency, you also have to be an active member of the team. These rehearsals aren’t beneath you; they are necessary to your agency’s growth and success.
Benefits of Full Rehearsals
A full rehearsal is good for several reasons:
- It gets the team more comfortable with the material and their parts. Written content has a different feel once it’s actually coming out of your mouth.
- The entire team has a full grasp of the content being shared so any unnecessary repetition or omission can be modified.
- Overlooked slide errors such as typos, incorrect slide order and flow can be corrected.
Steve Boehler, founder, and partner at Mercer Island Group has led consulting teams on behalf of clients as diverse as Ulta Beauty, Microsoft, UScellular, Nintendo, Kaiser Permanente, Holland America Line, Stop & Shop, Qualcomm, Brooks Running, and numerous others. He founded MIG after serving as a division president in a Fortune 100 when he was only 32. Earlier in his career, Steve Boehler cut his teeth with a decade in Brand Management at Procter & Gamble, leading brands like Tide, Pringles, and Jif.
Mercer Island Group helps marketers and agencies succeed. Company leadership is as much at home with marketers and their C-Suites as in an agency’s boardroom. With marketers, Mercer Island Group is a top 5 agency search consultancy covering all types of agency relationships (creative, media, web, PR, experiential) and assists marketers with marketing organization structure, workflow and critical skill development (briefing, creative evaluation & feedback, etc.). The company also supports leading and aspiring agencies with positioning, pitch and strategy training and pitch support.
