This article was written by our team and was initially published on Meidum https://medium.com/p/7062abcde7c5/editWe've Analyzed 20+ ICO Pitches, and Here's What We've LearnedPitching an ICO, as well as delivering any other spiel, is something that puts even experienced executives and marketing managers under the gun. No wonder: when participating in a pitching contest, you have a severely limited amount of time to give the big picture of your project and to explain to potential investors why your ICO is worth their attention and money. In a case that we recently examined, a poorly written campaign speech accounted for a considerable portion of the startup's non-success, which proves, yet again, how important mastering the art of giving presentations is. To help you out, we've analyzed more than 20 ICO pitches that won various competitions in order to devise a successful formula.
Attention-grabbin' goodAttracting listeners' attention is the first step of any presentation. How do speakers usually do that? Well, the most common hook we noticed in the analyzed pitches is a question. The majority of presenters started off by asking the audience a "what if", "did you know", or "how many of you are thinking" question. Not only was such an introduction helpful in drawing people's attention, but also it was quite engaging.
Alternatively, you can begin your speech with a short personal anecdote and or by asking listeners to think back to some relevant period or event. Whatever option you prefer, it should logically lead your talk to the next point.
The next point being…Much like the whitepaper, your pitch should also indicate a problem that people are confronting. In other words, a gap in the market that your product is seeking to fill. In comparison with any technical document, however, stating an issue when on stage shouldn't be term-laden and immensely detailed. Most successful presenters always give an illustrative and practical example which leaves the audience with a clear understanding that such a problem exists and they are about to hear your blockchain solution to it.
How you'll fix the problemThis is the part where you actually walk the public through your token and the technology behind it. We've made a couple of interesting observations that unite all the successfully delivered speeches we've examined.
First, today it's difficult to imagine a spiel without a presentation. However, very often slides are overloaded with text and lack images. What we noticed when examining the selected pitches is that they all were accompanied by presentations with minimum textual information but clear visual aids, especially at the part where the presenter walks the audience through the technical details. Various charts and graphs helped highlight the most important data and make the complex technical information more digestible.
Second, not only did all the speakers touch upon their roadmaps, but they clearly stated where they were with respect to their plans and goals. It showed the audience that the presenters and their startups had a clear sense of direction as well as feasible short-term goals.
Finally, when presenting the project, several speakers made a strong before/after contrast, which spelled out how the product they are launching will solve the previously stated problem. Those who did not do this at least provided examples of use cases.
The people behind itAnother inherent part of a pitch is introducing the people on board. Most speakers mentioned several core team members and their most impressive credentials, such as years of professional experience, past companies, and patents. Furthermore, all the presenters gave a couple of names of the most prominent people on their advisory team.
Final thoughtsIf you've read our previous article on neuromarketing, you must have noticed that all of the aforementioned items (intro, stating the problem, giving a solution to it, and introducing the team) fully align with the six stimuli that appeal to the reptilian part of the brain responsible for pushing the "buy" button.
Coincidence? Of course not.
Real professionals understand that such principles as addressing a relatable problem, indicating tangible benefits of your product, offering a sharp contrast, clearly marking the beginning and the end, appealing to emotions, and having good visual presentation actually work. So when writing your next ICO pitch don't forget to incorporate the 6 components of the winning formula.
