How to present our ideas

In connection with the YOUTH PROJECT COMPETITION WITH A FOCUS ON DEVELOPING CRITICAL THINKING AND RECOGNITION OF RISKS ARISING THROUGH DIFFERENT INFORMATION FLOWS, we offer you resources to help you.

Before you start working on the white paper (the application form that you must fill out and send), we advise you to present your idea to several people and see how they react. Let these not be your grandmother, mother or cousin (i.e. people who like you and will give a positive assessment just because they love you). Seek an objective opinion from outside to find out:

  • whether you present your idea clearly and specifically and
  • whether it sounds meaningful and achievable?

 

We have gathered for you the experience of business experts and offer you several tips for preparing and presenting your idea to an audience.

I. Preparation before pitching:

1. Research the donor/program:

  • What are the priorities, mission, and goals of the funding program?
  • What types of projects do they typically fund?
  • What are their track records?
  • Who is the person you will be pitching to (if known)?
  • Why it’s important: You should tailor your pitch to show how your project directly contributes to achieving their goals.

2. Clearly define your project:

  • Problem/Need: What is the problem your project addresses? Be specific and support it with data if possible.
  • Solution: How will your project solve this problem? Clearly describe what you will do.
  • Goals and Expected results: What specifically do you want to achieve? What will be the measurable results of the project?
  • Target group: Who will benefit from the project? How many people? What is their profile?
  • Innovation/Uniqueness: How does your project differ from other similar initiatives? (Is it a new initiative or something that has been done elsewhere and you want to apply it to your environment?)
  • Sustainability: How will the project continue after the funding ends (if applicable)?

3. Prepare key materials (Pitch Deck/Presentation):

  • Short and visual: Use little text and a lot of visual elements (graphs, photos, infographics).
  • Main slides:
  • Title slide: Project title, your name/organization.
  • Problem: Clearly define the problem.
  • Solution: Describe your idea/project.
  • Objectives and activities: What you will do and what results you expect.
  • Team: Who is behind the project and what is their experience.
  • Budget (requested funding): How much money do you need and for what. It can be a general amount if you don’t go into detail.
  • Why us/Why now?: Why you are the right team for this project and why it is important to fund it now.
  • Contacts: Your contact information.
  • Be flexible: Prepare a shorter (1-3 minutes) and longer (5-10 minutes) version of your presentation.

 

II. During the pitch:

  1. Start strong (The Hook): Grab attention right away. It could be a statistic, a personal story, a provocative question that illustrates the problem.
  2. Be concise and clear: Avoid jargon. Use simple, understandable language. Every word should carry weight.
  3. Focus on the value to the donor: What impact will their funding have? How will it contribute to their mission? Will it improve their reputation? Will it secure them new partnerships?
  4. Tell a story: People remember stories. Present the problem and the solution as part of a narrative that is emotionally engaging.
  5. Use visuals effectively: Slides are an aid, not the main source of information. They should complement what you are saying, not repeat it.
  6. Be enthusiastic and confident: Your passion for the project is contagious. Confidence shows that you believe in your idea.
  7. Be prepared for questions:
  • What are the risks?
  • What is the plan B?
  • How will you measure success?
  • How will the project be maintained after the funding ends?
  • What is the team’s experience?
  • What makes you unique?
  • Why you?

8. End with a “Call to Action”: What do you want to happen after the pitch? Do you want to schedule a meeting for a more detailed discussion? Send them a full proposal?

 

III. General tips:

  • Practice, practice, practice! Present to friends, family, colleagues. Get feedback.
  • Be flexible: Sometimes you will need to adapt your pitch on the fly.
  • Don’t overload with information: Less is often more. The goal of a pitch is to spark interest, not to give every detail.

 

Here are some links to articles that may be useful to you:

And a few videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0hVIH3EnlQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWRtG_PDRik

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbbpqHp77dY

 

We hope these guidelines will be useful when you prepare your project idea for the competition! We look forward to your suggestions!

Good luck!

 

 

Tags: