Developing Your Pitch Persona
Some people are surprised to learn that I’m an introvert, especially those who only know me through my online persona/social media, podcasts, and live events. In this exaggerated setting, I need to exude confidence and charisma all the time. And I truly love my work, but it does seem like the work of an extrovert: interviewing and getting interviewed, running huge fundraising workshops over Zoom, teaching a live cohort course for founders, etc.
I think most people would say the same thing about Beyonce. They’d ask, "How on earth is this woman, who gets in front of millions of people all the time, anything but an extrovert?" But she, too, is an introvert.
I’d venture to say that both of us understand what our nerves do to us. We are aware of our natural tendencies and what they would have us do. For me, that would be potentially not interacting with people, being more quiet and monotone. However, I also understand what the situation and the audience calls for.
Within my work, I know that when I'm about to record or speak on stage in front of a bunch of people, I tend to get nervous. I become a little self-conscious and unsure of what people think of me. However, I also recognize that many have come to listen, learn, get inspired, and take direction from me. I know it's helpful for founders to feel comfortable that the person they're listening to is competent and has the capability to guide them. And because of that, I'm able to modulate the way I show up in those experiences.
Embracing your alter ego
Beyonce has also spoken about having a lot of anxiety around her work. In an interview with Oprah, she spoke about her nervousness but also appreciation that people come to see her perform and experience her remarkable stage presence. We both need to adapt our natural tendencies to become someone slightly different so that the people who’ve come to see us or learn from us get the best experience possible.
I'm not saying I'm Beyonce. But I do encourage you to find your "Sasha Fierce" (Beyonce's alter ego) by first recognizing your natural inclinations. Your nervousness might manifest in a different way than it does for me. You might get nervously loud or talk way too fast with the way you spit out your sentences. How do you adjust that to fit with the traits your audience expects?
What is a VC going to be looking for and reading into when they meet you? The way you conduct yourself in that first meeting is a window into how you’ll be on the hiring trail. Will you be great at recruiting talent and inspiring your team? They’ll be looking for you to show up as a competent person whom business partners and future investors would be pumped to work with. Think about the persona you want to embody and the way you’ll articulate your words and engage with them.
Also consider the implicit and explicit biases people might have about you. How will those biases (unfairly) cause them to doubt you, and what are the characteristics you'd like to embody that might contradict those? It's not going to be the same for everyone. Confidence and excitement shows up differently in different people. But think about what you want to exude and how that will align with what your audience expects.
Permission to adopt a new persona
Once you’ve established what your ideal persona looks like, it is essential to give yourself permission to assume it. You may feel odd doing this at first, but nobody will recognize that you’re acting differently. The first times I tried to do this on camera, I felt silly and my producer had to tell me how to use more inflections in my voice and essentially give me permission to act and speak in a different way.
I'm reminded of a podcast with Shaan Puri, where he talks about how he went through most of his childhood in school with a quiet persona and wanting to be a lot more confident. And then in tenth grade he was forced to move halfway around the world. As he’s getting ready to attend his new school, his sister tells him this is a completely fresh chapter and he can reinvent himself because nobody has context for who he was before. He took that to heart and took the opportunity to adopt a much more confident persona.
You all have the same opportunity every time you step into a pitch. No one has context for who you've been in different parts of your life, so give yourself permission to embody these different personas.
Practice!
This is not going to be natural for you, especially the first time you try to pitch with a different persona. So put in the reps and practice. Record yourself, speak in the mirror, and set aside time to prepare before your meeting. It might be uncomfortable at first, but it’ll start to feel more natural and effective as you get the hang of it. Find out what works for you and own it!
Be chased,
Jason
