January 30, 2022, Kathmandu
On a cool Saturday evening, January 29, the HULT prize at IOE – Pulchowk Campus community met up for yet another refreshing Entrepreneurship Talk Series:
The Subtle Art of Pitching presented with Bajra Technologies marks the completion of the fourth stage of the series.
This particular evening was dedicated to exploring the art of pitching great, change-making ripples of ideas the participants will be exploring throughout their journey in the HULT Prize at IOE.
A crowd of over 130 participants interacted throughout one and a half hours, exploring and discussing ideas, asking questions and being answered.
The event hosted by the Project Manager Aakriti Sharma was initiated with enlightening remarks from the keynote speaker of the day, Mr. Shreyan Paudel, who happens to be Chief Strategy Officer of Bajra Technologies, the Co-founder of a health technology startup “the solutions” and an education-focused startup “42”.
Briefing the audience on the art of pitching and its necessities, he advised the participants to understand the goals, motives and mindset of the investors they are pitching to.
He focused on the empathy analysis of the investor and the consumers and ended his speech, emphasizing three things he thinks one needs as an entrepreneur, viz. planning and market analysis, preparedness and patience.
The very energetic Mannsi Agrawal ma’am
The first guest speaker of the evening, Mrs. Mannsi Agrawal, a TEDx speaker, Corporate Trainer, a Web Series Host and a Distinguished Toast Master, took the platform after the keynote speaker.
She led a very interactive and energetic session going above and beyond our expectations. She talked about the principles of pitching, urging the participants to orient their ideas best suited to the motives of the investors, ensuring them the maximum return of their investments.
She worked with the participants to take a basic idea and mold it into a full-baked pitch statement that best advocated the intent of the product or service being pitched. She briefed the participants on the art of presenting oneself and public speaking.
She addressed the essence of relating to the audience and making your pitch emotionally appealing to them beyond all reasoning.
During an interactive Q/A session, she addressed the language barrier and pitching confidently. Addressing the fear of the public, she also disclosed some of the tricks for making your pitch more engaging and understanding the investor’s motives.
AIDA with Satish Gaire sir
The next distinguished guest speaker was not Mr. Satish Gaire, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DirectPay, WooAgents and Podmio and an investor at BookSmart, My Dental Website. LogicXY AI is recognized as the “King of SaaS” platform, rightfully so!
The session held by this influential internet marketer and entrepreneur was as engaging as it could get. Starting with his own experience with startups, he confessed the greatest challenge is getting a response.
Thus he focused his session on getting a response from the investor through the AIDA framework and how to use these techniques, in addition, to your day-to-day life, like making your TikTok go viral and get DM responses which certainly grabbed attention pretty quickly and effortlessly from the audience.
He elucidated the exploit of the AIDA framework (Attention Interest Desire and Action) to pitch your ideas and get a favorable response.
Through a lively Q/A session, he addressed questions on grabbing the attention recommended books that could help one equipped with the art of pitching, market analysis, and making your product stand out in the competitive market creatively.
Humor and Pitching with Stephen Dyer, sir
The final guest speaker of the session, Mr.Stephen Dyer, an award-winning comedian, keynote speaker and corporate communication trainer and co-founder of MalPensando, a bilingual comedy school in Canada, and the reTHINK group held the audience spellbound with his charming and captivating aura. Mr. Stephen focused his session on leveraging humor to flourish the business pitching.
He presented on the pillars of communication, body language, comedy and connection. Time and again, he pressed on his motto of “Escaping competition through authenticity.” He emphasized the essence of authenticity to leave an impression, to carve an identity on the minds of the investors and people in every walks of life.
In an extremely vibrant and interactive session, filled with laughter and open conversation, he talked about the crowd work, pre-pitching and controlling nervousness, among other public speaking techniques.
He went as far as to advise people to get to the venue before time to know your audience and suit your communication about it.
He introduced this idea of connecting to people through vulnerabilities and positively adding humor to your pitching. He addressed the audience’s questions on productivity with the same enthusiasm.
These sessions were a spectacle to behold, with the chatbox on fire throughout the session, the participants pining for more despite time constraints.
With the basics of pitching, productivity, and public speaking in entrepreneurship and other walks of life, and the participants’ expectations being met, the program came to an end.