Precious Williams, CEO @ Perfect Pitches by Precious, LLC
Startup Grad School Stage
Ascent Conference 2020
[00:00:01] Today, everyone is showgirl, Precious Williams and I am the proud founder and CEO of Perfect Pitches by Precious and I want to welcome you. Welcome. We welcome you to Secrets of the Killer Pitch Master, The Art of the Killer Elevator Pitch. So happy to be here with you all today. I apologize if this isn’t going to be as interactive as I would like, but we’re still going to go ahead and move forward. For all of you who came here to learn about how to make a killer elevator pitch, this is for you.
[00:00:30] So here’s our agenda for today, we’re going to learn more about an elevator pitch, why do you even need one in the first place? How does it really serve you in your business, your career and even your life? Then we’re going to talk about how to use an elevator pitch to truly differentiate yourself in the marketplace. What makes you so different and what makes you so appealing to an investor, to media, to tech people to at networking is what makes you so juicy. And we want to keep the conversation going. And number three, since we’re going to take it from a regular basic elevator pitch, we’re going to go into what a killer pitch actually looks and sounds like. OK, so I hope that you all are with me and let’s go.
[00:01:15] So in case you don’t know anything about me, I am Precious Williams. I’m the the founder and CEO of Perfect Pitch by Precious. And yes, I’m a world class master communicator. I’m a 13 time national elevator pitch champion. My work has been featured, including myself and my clients. We’ve been featured on Shark Tank. I was in season eight and twenty sixteen. I’ve been on I’ve been a CNN Wall Street Journal, Forbes magazine, movies, documentaries, television shows around the world that have to do with business and pitching, you name it. I’ve been there and done that. I’m an international professional speaker, a serial entrepreneur, and I love what I do for a living, which is create a killer. Elevator pitches, media pitches, investor pitches, speaker pitches at interview pitches.
[00:02:06] And so you’ve come to the best. Why do they consider me the best? Because I am high. But Fortune 500 companies, corporate executives, nonprofits, foundations, successful speakers and entrepreneurs to have them. What has like, oh, competition. My secret sources. I really work primarily with women entrepreneurs, speakers and corporate executives. And I teach them how to be bad bitches with power pitches. Now, for some of you, you may think that that’s pretty crass. It’s really not as a champion speaker, as someone who’s been in the game twenty five years, I really specialize in teaching women how to get out of their own way and have to have the confidence to truly pitch themselves no matter what. And then also created a workbook that also helps you pitch yourself no matter the environment. You’re what I’m saying. And so I want you to have my contact information just in case something happens with the feed. Take down my contact information, take a picture. I want you to know that my website is w w w that perfect pitch is by precious dot com. You can reach out to me on Facebook at I’m at perfect pitch p on Twitter. I am at perfect pitch P on Instagram I am perfect pitches P in on LinkedIn. I am Precious L. Williams Killer Pitch M.. And so now let’s get started. Who is ready for the secrets of a killer pitch master? The art of the killer pitch begins now. So before we even get there, I want you to truly know that the secret to getting ahead is simply just getting started. What did I say? The journey of a thousand steps begins with just one. So many people out there are looking at Shark Tank and think that teaches you all that you need to know about fishing and it really, really doesn’t. And I want to share some of my story today, but I also want to share how you can move forward, no matter what, with the right mindset and also how to kill it every time you’re on stage, how to kill it if you’re meeting with an investor, how to get media attention on you, how to get the job or the position of your dreams. Let’s get it. Let’s go. So before we begin, let’s do some truth bombs. Let’s deal with them truck bombs, because before we could even get into teaching what a basic pitch looks like and sounds like, I need your mindset to be right to bomb number one. We can’t become who we want, but remaining who we are. I need you to take off everything that you feel has been holding you back, whether it’s family, career, past relationships. Take it all off right now. If you truly want to have a successful business, a multimillion dollar, multi hundred thousand dollar, multiple, six figure business, multibillion dollar business, you have to let go of all the things that hold you back. You can’t go to the top utilizing the same skills that they got you to where you are right now. So trust me, this is part of the pitching game. I want you to come out of the gate smoking, I want you to come out fighting for your position, because this is a battle, business is a battle, and I want you to fight to win. Do you hear what I’m saying? Truth Toubon Number two, don’t let someone dim your light simply because the shining in their eyes. Let me tell you something. I’m known as the killer pitch master, and I’m not for everybody. Some people love me because of my my audacity, my ability to always show up different, my ability to run different wigs, my ability to kill it every time I’m on stage or every time you hear me speak. I don’t worry about it from somebody else’s eyes only shining with the light that God gave me. So don’t if you have good news and you want to put it out there, put it out there, you’re not bragging. You are giving the most high. What is do so shine bright. You are born in abundance to shine bright like a diamond that you are. So let’s get into it, an elevator pitch, what is an elevator pitch, something if you are shafting the teacher here, but that’s not true. An elevator pitch is a short, brief way of introducing yourself, your business, your brand, your book, your product or service in a very unique way. What you’re really doing is giving your audience a juicy, juicy morsel of the full meal that you’re juicy morsel, not a little bite, but a morsel. And why do you want to do that? Because you want to keep the conversation going. You want to get to that next meeting. You want to get to that next phone call. You want to get to that next chick. You want to get to that sales call that’s going to that’s going to blow everything away. So remember, give them a juicy morsel of more to come. That’s why I pitched doesn’t have everything in it. It has the highlights that you want people to know about you, your business, your brand, your book, your product or service. How does an elevator pitch help you now in the future? The truth of the matter is when you learn how to pitch yourself on a short timeline, it really helps people know if they’re for you or not. And you will be wasting time on people who can never afford you or are not not right for you. So the minute you pitch yourself, like when I wrote the book Bad Bitches and Power Pitches, right. This book is for every woman is for the unapologetic woman who’s ready to step into her greatness. Does that mean every woman? No, some women are going to have a problem with the title. But remember, the book wasn’t written for everyone, is written for a very specific group of women. And once you learn that, remember, you’re not selling to everyone and you’re not trying to get everybody, you want to get the tribe to fix your book. How does it help you in the future? Because if people are hearing you today, they will start referring you to other people down the road. So make sure that your elevator pitch is crisp. You see that they really get you. And why does everyone need one? If you don’t have one? What you do is you keep saying different things every time you talk. And no one, no one has gotten used to your consistency. You don’t have a consistency. Why do you think when I interviewed. Here’s one of mine. Here’s one of my short pitches. Ladies, ladies, raise your hands if you want to be a bad bitch with a power pitch. Fellas. Raise your hands if you want to be a bad man with a master pension plan. Well, you’ve come to the right place. My name is Precious Williams and I’m a proud founder and CEO of Perfect Pitch. But Precious and I literally teach the art and the science of the killer. Elevator pitch, media pitch. Investor pitch, speaker pitch in interview pitch. Why why do Fortune 500 companies, corporate executives, foundations and non-profits hire me? Because I help them. What hashtag sle all competition. So if you’ve already tried the rest now you should try the best again. Precious Williams hashtag killer pitch master hashtag play no games, high stakes legal competition. Do you see how different that is. Is called pattern interrupt and being able to get people’s attention quick. Passing in a hurry. Quick pass in in a hurry. And we can say that over and over and over again, people will always remember bad bitches and power bitches. She specializes in pitching. I need her for elevator media or investor pitching. You see how different that is? What are the basics, the essentials of a basic pitch? So take it like you’re in an elevator and you only have at most 20, you must have like twenty one floors to go to floor. No one. Who are you? It was very clear that my name is Precious Williams. What do I do? I create a killer. Elevator pitches, media pitches, investor pitches, speaker pitches, interview pitches. What makes me unique? I am a 13 time national champion who is used pitching to get on top television shows along with my clients. My clients make me look better because they’ve done it to. So not only are you dealing with someone who’s been who’s been judge, you’re dealing with someone who can write it for you and show you how to do it, how do I do it? I do it. I do it through just I’m great at pitching. I’ve been a speaker since I was 16 years old. And so I’ve been doing this a very, very long time. And who does it affect? Mostly successful women, corporate executives, speakers and entrepreneurs. Do you see how quick it is? You want to make sure that they know that they know that’s quick, fast and in a hurry. That’s basic. So now I want to get into and I know that it seems like I’m flying through. It’s just that we have a certain time period. And I really thought I was going to have enough time to really get to you the way I want it to. So before we even get into the basics, the wood takes it from a basic pitch to a killer pitch. Let me share some things with you. This is only ten forty one.
[00:11:02] Pitching isn’t easy, but it sure is fun, is sure is fun.
[00:11:09] Once you learn the basic pitch, you can start taking it into overdrive, you can start getting people to really understand what it is you do and why they should be a part of what you do. It depends on what network that you’re part of. Every one of us is probably in a networking group. If you’re not getting referrals, maybe it’s because people don’t know how to help you. Make it easy, tell them what you need and make sure that your pitch really addresses certain pain points. Remember, if your pitch does not address any pain points, then you will be treated like everybody else, like you don’t matter. So it’s very important as you start building up into a killer pitch, then we’re going to start getting into the killer pitch. Now, here are some killer pitch tips that I want you all to know. And yes, this is me with the blond wig. This is at the Women of Color and Capital conference that happened last year. And this was an amazing, amazing conference. I so I stood on stage for six minutes. I got an opportunity to speak at Microsoft, and I think it was Merrill Lynch that day, I was on stage for six minutes. Think about that. That’s how great a pitch can be. So when you express your whys, why so important to remember? Simon Sinek wrote the book, Start with why. I don’t want you to start with the I want you to express your why. Why did you start your company, your organization or career in the first place? Why did you start it? What is the point of who do you want to help and why? It has to be clear who you want to work with. When you say I work with everyone, which is what most people say in their pitches, it’s a horrible thing for you to do. You don’t work with everybody because everybody is going to like what you do. There has to be a specific niche you want to fill, and once that niche knows who you want to fulfill, they’ll come to you. They’ll come to you and then you have to make it clear, why are you the ultimate person or resource to handle those specific pain points? Do you know what when they come to me? Do you know what companies and corporations come to me because they have a problem with messaging. They have a problem with attracting their target market. They have a problem with beedi attracting and securing clients, customers deals. They’re not just wanting to pitch for pitching sake, they have that real pain point, and I can help them with that.
[00:13:38] What is the pain point that keeps your audience up at night? You have to know that. You have to know what your audience pain points are. Remember the target market, not everybody. Women usually struggle with competence, so I have a thing that I call rock star confidence that I teach to women in addition to pitching and speaking. What is your unique selling proposition, what is it you do better than anyone else? What’s your secret sauce? What is that you see more so that they need to take away from your pitch? What is the thing that makes you stand out? What credentials do you have? What abilities and skills is that no one else possesses but you? What is it you have to express your watch. Why should you be chosen in the first place?
[00:14:28] Why you start it, why are you continuing it and why are you the ultimate resource? Make sure you express that in your page. Number two, you want to be a master storyteller. It’s very important that when you’re telling when you’re pitching that people know why you’re doing it. So I’m going to give you part of my pitch from Shark Tank. I know you want to hear that.
[00:14:50] Ladies, it’s Valentine’s Day and you finally met a man of your dreams. Know what time it is? It’s time to find some sexy, sexy, sexy lingerie to set the mood off nicely. But you weigh over 200 pounds. Was a big girl in the city supposed to do well for anything like me? That you went to Victoria’s Secret and you found out that they don’t even make a bra in your size. So then you would actually still reeling, right? He didn’t really like the selection finally as a last resort. She went to Macy’s, which is her black base in white again. Was a big girl supposed to do well? That’s why I created curvy girls lingerie at curvy girls lingerie with ultimate shopping experience before big divas and plus sized fashionistas. And just so we’re clear, over 40 million women less fortunate, larger in the United States, just like me and we all want pretty underwear was just about the most mainstream. Lingerie companies don’t create products for women my size again. What’s a big girl supposed to do?
[00:15:49] So I know what you’re thinking. Let’s talk dollars and cents, right? What time is it? Right. In our first six months, we cross six figures. How do we do it? With our innovative website. And then we created our own direct sales model. We had women actually buying into our company to be able to sell our launch right to their network, to our home party model, and then we go on tour with our lingerie. Every quarter to a different city, just to let them know what we’re doing in the marketplace, remember, curvy girls matter. And if there’s a lot of them out there, that’s an untapped marketplace. So sharks, if I were you, I would get on this train and let’s ride it out. When I tell you we celebrate curvy women and all that we do, we truly do. I started this company at three hundred twenty seven pounds and I’m always going to be a full figured diva and a plus specialist. My name is Precious Williams. They is Curvy Girls Lingerie. Thank you. So what did I do when I told a story? What was the story? I couldn’t find lingerie on my side of a red hot relationship. Is Valentine’s Day satisfying the audience’s mind of where you want them to go? Be bold, unexpected. When I walk Noshaq, I got a low cut, canary yellow peplum dress, extreme makeup and extreme apro. Why? Because I bring drama, energy and intensity to what I do. I am. I’m the killer monster, not a pitch master killer. I slay all competition. And number three, no, I study your audience. You may not know who’s judging you, but you have an idea if they’re funniest of their general at their finest professionals are general audience. Speak to that. But give them a story. Give them give you more juicy morsels to hang their hat on. OK, can you captivate, intimidate the audience? This I will run to very, very quickly because I think you all understand this. You must grab the audience’s attention in the first ten seconds of your presentation, which means that you have to ask a question, a startling statistic, a fact, something that stands out. Hold on a second. Excuse me, excuse me. And the reason why you want to do that is because you want to interrupt the pattern of everybody starting with my name is Precious. This is what I do. You don’t want you to come at it from a totally different perspective. How do we do that? I want you to be somebody nobody thought you could be. And that means even yourself, if you don’t think you can. Why are you doing it? Because, you know, somebody needs it. Someone to start off with a bang in with fireworks. Why do you think they call me the ultimate bad bitch with a power pitch? I don’t hide from that. I stand I stand strong, tantalized down. I’m going down with it. I’m like the captain. I’ll go down with the ship. This is my playground and it’s your playground. So you want to captivate tidally every time you into a row and you want to challenge the status quo. I walked into rooms with people who look nothing like me. And they all thought I was going to talk about food and what did I talk about, a red hot love affair with a Hollywood actor and that’s what started my company. And they couldn’t believe that I had the audacity and the audacity now captivated titillate. And finally, we’re coming up towards the end. I want you to know what is your secret weapon. Before we begin that, let’s look at these let’s look at these chips. You did not wake up today to be mediocre, just like to see no mediocre. So don’t show up. Mediocre, show up, ready to do battle fearlessly. Be yourself. That means that to see if everybody is telling you how they think you should be, show up as you are ready and don’t lose your real self in the search for acceptance by others. A lot of people don’t accept themselves. So why are you looking for acceptance from them? The people who stand out the most of the people who are willing to go toe to toe to show why they’re the best in the world at what they do? I’m a goat. The greatest of all time. Or you will go. So let me ask you, what is your secret weapon? Some people say is their courage, their confidence, their conviction. I say your perceived flaws are your secret weapon, age, race, class, sex, gender, sexual orientation, all of that. Those are your secret weapons. Why? Because they never see you coming. What about when I walk into a room? Sometimes just because I’m black. They will dismiss me or assume I have children, multiple baby daddies, no education. I have a B.A. in English from Spelman College and I have a law degree from Rutgers. Passed the bar on my first try. But you wouldn’t know that by looking at. And I like being I like being dismissed. I like being when people don’t recognize my greatness because it didn’t come in a package that they thought, which means that when I hit the stage, I blow them away because they weren’t expecting it. Let your per their perceived flaws. They’re not real flaws. Their perceived flaws be your secret weapon. They’ll never see you coming. Speak authentically, own your magic. Why don’t you get into that space? Because you deserve to be there and remember, like Broadway, every time you pitch to Showtime and you can make a pitch conversational or you can stand up and do it. Remember, you you adapt to the environment. OK, so let your perceived flaws, but your secret weapon, they never see you coming. There are opportunities for you to pitch everywhere, everywhere. Go to events, virtual networking, public access podcast. Get out there and get your pitch together. Here is a free resource I want you to take advantage of. Please take a picture. And I believe that you also will get a video of this, a recording of this. But go to w w w that perfect pitch is by precious dot com slash kwi is it. Take my free six question quiz which will teach you the type of pitch person you really are and how you should start your pitches off. So trust me, you’re ready. And please take this is a free quiz. And here is my contact information as we come down to the very end, please take down my contact information.
[00:22:00] Finally, if you’re interested in the book Bad Bitches in Power Pitches for women entrepreneurs, it’s because only it’s on. Amazon is also on my website. W-W that perfect pitches by Precious that dotcom go to the work with me page and you’ll also see a way to get this book and also my companion workbook. I hope that this has been so beneficial to you all. I’ve enjoyed being here with you all and as you all know, I’m very interactive. So I hope that you got a lot out of this. And I really, truly appreciate everything that you’ve done to be here with me today. You all, Rob.
[00:22:35] My contact info again, and I thank you, thank you, thank you so very much, and I believe that I did it on time.
[00:22:45] I think I did so anyway, if I had any questions, like how did I get in the kitchen, just know I started with negative four hundred dollars in my bank account. And I went on, I pitch to the producers of a national television show, and I took four hundred dollars and turned it into five hundred thousand dollars from one television appearance. And the producers told me you need to enter more pitch into pitch competitions. And that’s how I became a 13 time champion and I won over one hundred fifty thousand dollars more. So I started with six hundred fifty thousand dollars to really get my business off the ground. So if you don’t think the pitch can help you, I promise you that it can. And that is how I became the killer pitch master. Because every time I stood on stage, a slate, all competition, I walked in knowing that they day dismissed me early so that I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. And so that’s why I think it’s very important that you take pitching very, very seriously and that I hope you enjoy this presentation today. I truly love showing up different and showing up for my people. So if you’re a woman entrepreneur or speaker or corporate executive, please check me out. I am here and available. If you want to launch a book, a product or service, a new brand new business, I am here at your service. They call me the killer pitch master. My name is Precious Williams and I’m so delighted to be here with you all today.
[00:24:04] Britney, did I do it all right?
[00:24:09] And again, please don’t judge me with your questions. Excellent, thank you. Thank you so much. You all have a wonderful day. Precious Williams ProFounder SEAL Perfect. Just by Precious.