A very basic and no-nonsense guide to pitching at Hackathons (And presenting in general). Your time will be short, so you need to get to the point and present clearly and fluidly. Here are 10 basic concepts to help you communicate your vision effectively and passionately.

1. Pitching your Idea:
The Hackathon guide
The no nonsense guide to communicating
ideas with clarity and passion
Dan Ellis – Rallyteam (www.rallyteam.com)
April 29, 2015

2. The Goal
This is about communicating your idea and
the value of your idea

3. 10 Guidelines for
successful pitching

4. #1 Grab attention
There are a lot of pitches: get attention quickly
– you have 10 seconds to develop rapport
Example: Lead out with a attention grabbing fact or statistic. Or ask a
leading question of the audience.

5. #2 Describe the
problem
Your hack-idea should be trying to solve a problem.
What is the problem you are trying to solve and why would I care?

6. #3 Get to the point
Once you’ve framed the problem – get to your solution
Your time is short and so are attention spans

7. #4 Show the product
Get to the demo quickly – everything else is theoretical.
In a three minute pitch – get there in 30 seconds
- Even a mockup is better than nothing
- It doesn’t need to be polished and perfect ---
It is a hackathon after all!

8. #5 Examples are
Powerful
- People relate to stories (Think how memorable movies are!)
- Ideally, create a scenario with a persona
- Walk through an example with your solution
- Paint a picture of how it will be used in the real world

9. #6 Tone and Pace
- Don’t have so much content that you need to rush when you speak
- Speak clearly and with good pauses for effect
- Less is more

10. #7 Address
your Audience
- Refer to but don’t talk at your slides – Face the audience
- Look at the judges and establish eye contact

11. #8 Be Synchronistic
- If you have someone driving the demo – make sure that
the speaker matches what you’re showing!
- You must practice being in synch

12. #9 Don’t get
technical
- For most solutions describing the underlying
technologies doesn’t serve a purpose
- If it’s relevant, it will come out in the questions

13. #10 End Strong
- Bring the audience home
- Remind them why it (your hack) matters
- It’s OK and, in fact, almost preferable to end early

14. -- And --
Have Fun!
Thanks!
Dan Ellis
dan.ellis@rallyteam.com
@danclayellis