In Spring 2013, team ecovent took Bill Aulet and Howard Anderson’s New Enterprises course at MIT Sloan. It’s a fast-paced class that offers a step-by-step guide to founding a company. Over the course of the semester, we were forced to condense our ideas into a 20 page business plan and were selected as one of 12 teams that would pitch before a panel of visiting judges at the culmination of the course.

Before the final presentations, Aulet gave a lecture on how to make a winning pitch. He cited “Callas’ Law” as the key to success. Maria Callas was a famous opera singer who believed, “There are only two things that matter: how you enter the room and how you leave it.” Even though we had spent countless hours focusing on the content of our pitch, Bill emphasized the importance of intangibles. Judges, audiences and VCs will form their first opinions before you even open your mouth. Your confidence—and preparation—matter.

Here are a few more of Aulet’s tips for fellow entrepreneurs:

• Know your audience – You have to understand who you are presenting to and present to them. The message can (and should) change by the audience.
• Keep it short – Don’t try to cram too much into the time allotted. A pitch should lead to a meeting or another pitch. You need to sell your idea, not divulge every thought.
• Start with a story – Use a narrative to explain your idea and the problem it solves. Not all VCs and “pitch masters” agree on this point, so see the first bullet point and tailor your pitch to your audience.
• Focus on “the ask” – follow the adage “tell the audience what you are going to say, say it and tell them what you told them. Bill’s structure: start with a story, give a brief summary of your idea, tell the audience what you want them to take away from the pitch – the key ideas – and then tell them what you will ask of them at the end. This last part is crucial, and we have never done it in the past. This method is direct, targeted and frames the audience for what they are about to hear and what they will be asked to do in the next steps.

Armed with these insights, Dip and I reformatted our pitch and won an audience choice award for best pitch of the day. While it was nice to win the vote for best pitch, we were much more excited when one of the visiting judges asked us if he could buy our beta system.

Looks like Bill’s tips are working.