Interview: How To Nail Your Pitch

Anne Holland, Founder of Defib First and Author of soon to be published book “7 Shocking Truths about Defibrillators” nailed her pitch at the Key Person of Influence Pitch Fest in Melbourne – an event where 10 rising entrepreneurs pitch their businesses to an audience of business owners and a panel of judges.

Despite it being Anne’s first ever Pitch, she scored a whopping 40/40 from the judges and was crowned the winning ‘pitcher’.

After tragically losing her husband to sudden cardiac arrest back in 2008, Anne discovered the shocking truth that husband Paul might still be alive had the technology to save his life been as easily accessible as it could and should be. From here, Anne was motivated to build her business, Defib First, which aims to change government legislations and make defibrillators mandatory in the workplace.

And boy did Anne’s winning pitch make us sit up and wake up to what’s really important.

In our interview with the pitching queen, Anne shares with us how she nailed that pitch, what she loves about her job and why she compares her journey of becoming a Key Person of Influence in her industry to pregnancy! We’ve also included a video of the LIVE pitch…

HOW’D YOU PREP FOR YOUR PITCH? GIVE US THE NITTY GRITTY.

I took a methodical approach which actually turned out to be surprisingly easy! First, I took the time to brainstorm wild ideas and I refined those ideas to formulate the content. I used tools such as Andrew Priestley’s Webinar on ‘How to Pitch’ and I listened to other people’s pitches. Then I printed out my pitch and took it with me everywhere, using every spare moment to practise, practise, practise.

WERE YOU CONFIDENT WITH YOUR PITCH BEFORE PITCH FEST?

I was confident that the content was true to who I was and what I was focused on achieving, but I had no confidence on whether it would be appealing to the audience and the judges. (So unconfident in fact that I hadn’t even taken a change of clothes for the final!)

WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE “P” (PITCH, PUBLISH, PRODUCT, PROFILE OR PARTNERSHIPS) AND WHY?

My favourite “P” has to be Pitch because I ‘nailed it’! But now that my soon to be published book is almost a reality, Publish is starting to nudge into top billing!

‘Pitching’ has helped me to refine my goals and establish what I am looking for from my target market, whilst ‘Publishing’ [my book] has enabled me to establish my authenticity, which will make it easier to draw attention to my aim: busting the myths and raising awareness on the urgent need for community and workplace defibrillators.

6. WHAT DOES BEING A “KEY PERSON OF INFLUENCE” [KPI] MEAN TO YOU?

For me, being a KPI is a rite of passage which embraces passion, pitch, proposition, purpose, procrastination, publication, progress, pronouncement, product, profile, people, partnerships, proliferation and presentation. I actually often compare my KPI journey to pregnancy! After starting with Passion; pregnancy and KPI both have a 40-week growth and development phase which is filled with fear, uncertainty and awe, but has you waiting in anticipation for the creation of new life in the form of Publication and Product!

7. WHAT IS THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE ABOUT YOUR APPROACH TO BUSINESS NOW, COMPARED TO BEFORE YOU BECAME A KEY PERSON OF INFLUENCE?

If I’m totally honest, I didn’t really have an approach to business, and I certainly didn’t know how to target a market. What I had was my knowledge, expertise and experience but no sense of direction when it came to selling my message. Since becoming a KPI though, I now have the clarity, the tools the skills and the understanding of how to grow my business and expand my message. The Key Person of Influence program has been transformational in not just how I approach business but also in how I view myself and what I have to offer.

8. WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE THING ABOUT WHAT YOU DO?

I love educating people on how easily they could save a life if they only had the knowledge and confidence to do so. I love that my job and my goal to save lives is driven through passion and determination. I love that my job can and will prevent other families from suffering the trauma that my own family has experienced.

9. WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST THING YOU LEARNT FROM PITCH FEST?

I learnt that ANYONE can do it, and that self-doubt, lack of confidence or fear should not stand in your way. I also discovered that women of a mature age are not invisible or past their use-by date. In fact, we are wise and have so much to offer in life skills, knowledge, experience and expertise and we should embrace those riches.

HOW DID YOU FEEL WHEN YOU WON?

It was thrilling! Getting perfect scores was just surreal and so incredibly self-affirming. I couldn’t believe it!

10. WHAT TIP WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANYONE WANTING TO NAIL THEIR PITCH?

Be true to who you are, embrace ‘self-belief’, listen to advice and practise, practise, practise! It’s easier than you think and the result is so exhilarating and self-empowering.

You can check out the video of Anne’s winning pitch here!

Catch up with Anne below:

Website: www.defibfirst.com.au

Twitter: @defibfirst

Facebook: www.facebook.com/anne.f.holland

Tweetable kudos: copy & paste to your twitter

Kudos to @KPIMethod Member Anne Holland @defibfirst for WINNING at both #PitchFest and at saving lives! #kpimethod #pitch #defibfirst