The 3-minute Pitch a Pyramid Task (Set aside 1,5 hours)

How to briefly present a recommendation with arguments

1. Choose a recommendation you want to communicate to decision-makers. (5 minutes)

2. Study the 3-minute structure (5 minutes)

3. Prepare a 3-minute pitch that follows the structure. (40 minutes)

4. Create Slides. (30 minutes)

5. Prepare Your Kick-start Question (15 minutes)

   Bonus Material: (15 minutes)

   Study and learn via videos:

   1. How to create a Hook(6 minutes)

   2. Example of Hooks from Ted Talks (3 minutes)

1. Choosing Your Message

Think of an upcoming meeting, where you are to present a recommendation based on your analysis to decision makers.

1. What's the problem you are trying to solve? Formulate it in one sentence only. Strive to avoid the word “and”:).

2. What’s the consequence of not solving this problem? Find your recipients’s pain points. Could it be: Losing responsibility? Doing the same things twice?, Deadline delays? Colleagues quitting, not meeting the business targets, spending too much time convincing stakeholders…?

3. What's the end goal?

4. What’s your recommendation to this problem? Formulate it in one sentence only. Prioritise a strong verb. (The verb is the most important word)

5. What’s the two main arguments for this recommendation?

6. Give each argument a brief, memorable name. Examples: “The Half-Double”, “The Manual Way”.

2. Study the 3-minute Pitch Structure:

3. Prepare Your Pitch using Post-its.

The fastest way to prepare is via Post-its. Yes, I know it feels “so-five-years-ago” to close down the computer to work with paper post-its, but I promise you this old-fashioned analogue preparation technique speeds things up:)

• Post-it # 1: Write the problem and consequence

• Post-it # 2: Write your recommendation.

• Post-it # 3: Argument 1. (If you have sub arguments - write them on post-its and place them below)

• Post.it # 4: Argument 2

• Post it # 5, 6 & 7: The action steps it takes to get there.

• Post it 8: The benefit.

• Post it 9: The title.

• Make a couple of versions until you are satisfied with your storyline and argument structure

• Come up with the opening Hook-story. (See videos below for inspiration)

4. Create Slides

Craft these four slides:

5. Prepare How you will Kick-Start the Discussion

Watch the video.

Choose a question from the list, or come up with a better one.

Video: how to kick start the dialogue

Bonus Material