26 BCBusiness april 2014 illUSTraTiON: GraHaM rOUMiEU
1. Collect a stable of underlings.
The more people looking up to you,
the more powerful you appear.
2. Expand your advice outside
the business world to ensure that
your mentee is well rounded.
3. Share your network with
your mentee by giving out the
phone numbers of your friends
and colleagues.
4. Start a weekly digest of all
your thoughts and revelations.
lift quotes from other luminaries
when you're short on material.
5. Have fun and take your
mentee on unexpected outings.
Coffee dates and lunches are far
too predictable.
6. if there's no connection, dump
your mentee before they get too
attached to you.
v i S u A l l e A r n i n G
How to Be
a Mentor
more interested in meeting with that
person." Being authentic underpins
what Saunders considers the most
important aspect of a pitch: making
a connection. "A good pitch is one
where it's very conversational," he
says. "You're talking with each other
rather than talking to someone or
talking at someone."
One Size Doesn't Fit All
Rather than using one blanket pitch,
tailor your approach to each audience.
That will forge stronger connections
than delivering a rote spiel, hopefully
sparking meaningful dialogue. "It's not
about being a chameleon, because you
are who you are," says Saunders, "but
you have to tailor your presentation
or the facets of your business to what
their needs are."
Mind the Details
Drop the jargon and avoid the
technical minutiae, advises Hellmann.
At
UBC, he says, "we have very
technically minded students who
immediately want to talk about their
unique diff erentiating technology
and get lost in the detail." Pay more
attention to cues from your audience
than to the points on your agenda:
are they bored? Intrigued? "You
have to be able to improvise," says
Saunders, adding that some of his
best pitches have happened when he's
thrown the slides out the window and
catered to the client's inclination in
the moment.
reAD
To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth
About Moving Others by Daniel H. Pink
looking at the art and science of selling, including
how to make your message more persuasive.
WAtCH
David s. Rose: How to Pitch to a VC
"The pitch Coach" shares the 10 things you
need to know about yourself to successfully
pitch a VC. Ted.com
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