**jhealee.com | Ways to Work | Coaching | Clarity | Strategy | Onsite | Workshops**

An audience-centered workshop on pitching and venture narrative

I lead this workshop for startup and innovation centers, entrepreneurship programs, and founder groups.

Pitching is not only about explaining the venture. The entire pitch carries a story: what is changing, why it matters, what the venture makes possible, and where the audience fits. Each part builds on the next, giving the audience a clear path through the presentation.

Using the Hero’s Journey as a practical guide, participants learn to shape that narrative from a 30-second elevator pitch through a full pitch deck.

The workshop may be offered as Session 1 on its own or as a two-part series.

Session 1: Crafting a 30-Second Elevator Pitch

90 minutes

Short pitches are often the hardest. In less than 30 seconds, founders need to be brief, clear, and relatable, while still specific enough for people to understand what they are building and why it matters.

Participants practice introducing their venture in a way that quickly creates common ground, brings the core problem into focus, and makes the audience want to hear more.

We work on:

• Why pitching is different from other presentations
• What the audience needs to understand first
• Using the Hero’s Journey to shape a short pitch
• Creating common ground with the audience
• Deciding what belongs and what gets in the way
• Crafting and refining each participant’s elevator pitch

Participants leave with a concise pitch that is clear, compelling, grounded in the real strengths of their venture, and natural to deliver.