Advice on pitching

We're currently getting ready for demo day at YC, which means quite a lot of pitch practice. Here are the main points of feedback we tend to give to teams. This advice works for almost any kind of presentation you might give.

Speaking

• Speak slowly and enunciate
• Be excited. Your pitch should not sound memorized. Intonation, cadence, and projecting help a lot
• Be specific and concise
• Look at the audience. You don't have to make eye contact with individuals, just with areas of the crowd. People in those areas will think you've made eye contact with them
• Don't use generic phrases as transitions ("so...")
• Actually explain what you do, and do it quickly
• If you make a large transition, be very clear about it and explain why
• Don't be "cute" with your points, be declarative
• If you make a joke, telegraph it. If you're not sure the joke will land, cut it
• Don't hide the big good things because you are modest, highlight them specifically early on
• Use natural language and simple sentences, i.e. no sentences with three verbs
• Don't use words you wouldn't use in normal conversation
• If an example is a real person, make it clear that you're talking about a real person, not a user model

Charts/metrics

• Charts should be easy to understand - make one point with any graphic or chart. Don't make people read charts - they'll stop listening to you.
• If you put up a graph that confuses people, they will feel stupid and stop listening
• Line graphs are better than bar graphs when showing growth
• Label your axes and use real numbers - even if they are small. The shape of the graph matters, not the absolute numbers
• Explain anomalies
• If you should be generating revenue and then show a different metric, investors will be suspicious
• TAM should be bottom up, not top down

Slides

• Titles should describe the slide
• Slides should be reentrant - each should make sense and make your case individually
• Remember that minds wander, and people check phones. When they look up, they should immediately be able to pick up the thread
• Don't use pretty, but thin, fonts. This isn't a time for subtlety, make sure your slides are legible from far away
• Coolness and legibility are not orthogonal, they're diametrically opposed[1]
• Screenshot slides are typically bad

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[1] This feels like something PG might have said directly, but I can't honestly remember.