Beyond the Pitch Script: 10 Takeaways on Storytelling
In an Enthuse Foundation webinar, Cait Fitzpatrick and Casey Carroll, co-founders of the brand and storytelling agency BWB, shared how founders can build a story strong enough to carry a pitch, an application, or a hallway conversation. Click here for the full webinar.
Here are our top 10 takeaways.
Aim for clarity and resonance. Clarity means people understand what you're building, who it's for, what problem it solves, and why it can work. Resonance means they understand why it needs to exist and why you built it. Clarity without resonance is forgettable, and resonance without clarity is confusing.
Unpack before you package. Your LinkedIn bio, website, and application answers can sound technically correct but emotionally empty when they're polished too early. Start with questions like what sets you off, what can't you stop thinking about, and what do you wish existed. Work through them alone or with a peer, then circle the words that are uniquely yours and build from those.
Your perspective is your competitive advantage. Others may describe the same market opportunity, but they don't share your combination of lived experience, insight, and relationships. Casey and Cait suggest asking what you understand about this problem that someone else might not. Naming your underlying assumptions and beliefs also makes you steadier when investors push back.
Let a good question interrupt the rehearsal. When a story starts to feel over-worked, come back to a simple question like "whose story am I telling?"
The story that matters is often right in front of you. Founders tend to hunt for a bigger mission or a better sentence, when the weird family story, the moment you couldn't find what you needed, or the thing you do differently without noticing is often the answer. Your story should also keep evolving.
Consistency doesn't mean repetition. People should encounter the same truth everywhere, not the same sentences. When editing, ask whether the piece helps people understand, whether they can sense why it matters to you, and whether something specific or surprising helps them remember. Not every line needs to do all three, but the story as a whole should.
Map your message by audience. Once you've found your central story, sketch what each potential consumer or audience member might care about most. All your messages matter, but they matter at different times to different people. If you're juggling many versions of a pitch deck, ask what truth runs through all of them.
Treat slides as cues, not scripts. Slides full of words pull attention away from you, because people start reading instead of listening. Use images, a headline, and a few prompts for yourself.
Use AI as a mirror, not a ghostwriter. AI can help you spot the central truth across your materials or check whether new copy still sounds like you. Left to its own devices, it can flatten your message into something generic. If the draft sounds great but you couldn't say it out loud, keep revising until it feels like yours.
Be selective about feedback. Everyone has opinions, so decide what you're asking for and from whom. One simple exercise is to have someone read your pitch and tell you only what they heard and one question they have. Process the rest with a peer, partner, or journal so one skeptic doesn't talk you out of a good idea.
Bottom Line: Your job isn't to invent a more impressive story. It's to find the one that carries the most weight, and to know it well enough that you don't have to memorize it.
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