關於 takeaway sentence ，我們在網路上蒐集到這些相關的討論、資訊與評價

【Pitching in the Age of COVID-19】

Pitching is a very fundamental skill that we help all of our founders develop. Whether it's to potential employees, clients, or investors, understanding your target audience and crafting your narrative accordingly is a ubiquitous art that is pivotal through all lifecycles of your startup.

But COVID19 has completely redefined the rules of the game. Subtle emotional cues that you would normally pick up through body language and facial expressions have now been washed out by pixelated screens and internet latency. Building rapport through prolonged pleasantries and adhoc chit chat have been mulled over by coronavirus talk and regimented back-to-back virtual meetings.

And if you had a hard time captivating the attention of your audience in person, those efforts are even more likely to be thwarted now with the handful of distractions they literally have at their fingertips from internet browsers to messaging clients to phones.

Having now sat through dozens of virtual pitches, I'd like to pass on 5 tips to keep your audience interested and engaged (specifically geared towards founders pitching investors):

1. Do your homework
I can't stress this enough. This applies both in a pre and post COVID19 world. Leave as much guess work out of the equation by doing as much research on the person you're meeting as possible. If it's an investor, understand the basics of their fund, including fund size, areas of interest, geographic coverage, as well as the investor's background (age, schooling, nationality, etc.). Use these data points as way to build rapport and tailor your pitch accordingly.

2. Send your deck early
A prospective investor may or may not read it. But you have to at least give them that option. For the ones that do, the conversations are guaranteed to become 2x more productive, with an initial field of understanding and questions having already been set. You typically only have 1 hour, so best make use of that time.

3. Streamline your deck
Often times slides are filled with a superfluous amount of information or too many graphics where the main point gets lost in translation. Make sure you can summarize each slide in a one-sentence takeaway, and that each slide helps illustrate either 1) the problem 2) your solution 3) your team 4) your traction. Generally 10 - 12 slides will suffice. Anything extra, put it in the appendix!

4. Insert Q&A breaks
Usually when someone is confused or skeptical, it shows on their face. Less evident on virtual meetings unfortunately. Strategically insert Q&A breaks in your pitch to make sure your audience is on the same page, rather than letting questions pile up till the end. This also helps make the pitch more dynamic, more engaging, and more of a conversation. Studies have also shown that people tend to tune out after 10 minutes, which is why Apple normally swaps out its speakers every 10 minutes or so at its annual WWDC.

5. Practice, practice, practice.
A lot of times it's not so much what you say, but how you say it. Early stage investors are often times betting on feeling as much as rational hypotheses. This means you need to exude a sense of confidence and passion, which may be hard to generate when you're speaking into a camera for 1 hour. Try recording yourself on camera to see how you actually come off and then adjust accordingly.

Furthermore, don't just practice the pitch in and of itself, but also Q&A where a lot of the "sale" actually occurs. This is when investors are testing your wit and execution, to really understand if you know your space and your business, and extracting any insights you may/should have. They're also looking to see if you have a true passion for the problem at hand. Startups are hard. Very hard. If you don't have a strong heart or "why", you will not make it.

5.5 This goes without saying, but when conducting virtual pitches, make sure you have good hygiene, dress appropriately, and are in a quiet place where you won't be distracted by pets, children, or loud chatter.

Happy pitching!

-Jun Wakabayashi
Analyst, AppWorks

If you're startup working in AI, blockchain, or SEA, be sure to apply to AW#21 to join the region's strongest founder community: https://bit.ly/3c1KEUK

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1. THREAD: Dear world, I want to say a few words about what happened in #HongKong yesterday.

2. An estimated 550,000 Hong Kongers made yesterday's annual July 1 protest the highest ever in turnout. It marked 22nd anniversary of the 1997 Hong Kong handover to China, now only 28 years before 'One Country, Two Systems' is set to expire due to the '50-year no change' policy.
...Continue Reading
//反送中運動發展至今，國際輿論確是面臨挑戰，感謝眾志戰友敖卓軒 （Jeffrey Ngo）幫忙協作，我的Twitter剛發了 29 個 Tweet，嘗試爭取國際社會理解昨日立法會行動的來龍去脈。

不求國際社會的朋友完全同意昨日的所有舉措，但求理解前線戰友的意志，對他們有著多一分體諒，少一分責難。

行動過後，保持輿論支持仍是關鍵所在，需要具名拋頭露面的輿論工作，我們會好好努力，對比起你們所作的決志，我怎敢怠慢。

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1. THREAD: Dear world, I want to say a few words about what happened in #HongKong yesterday.

2. An estimated 550,000 Hong Kongers made yesterday's annual July 1 protest the highest ever in turnout. It marked 22nd anniversary of the 1997 Hong Kong handover to China, now only 28 years before 'One Country, Two Systems' is set to expire due to the '50-year no change' policy.

3. Simultaneously as the peaceful demonstrations were taking place, other young protesters attempted to enter the Legislative Council complex. To understand WHY it happened, we must examine what happened over the past month.

4. Hong Kongers' strong resistance against proposed extradition arrangements with China was heard loud and clear around the world. Solidarity rallies took place in over 30 cities, and the international community spoke up.

5. We tried EVERYTHING available to us. On June 9, one million Hong Kongers took to the streets peacefully. But before the night had even ended, Chief Executive Carrie Lam released a statement saying she would press ahead with the bill in three days.

6. That’s why, in the morning of June 12, when the Legislative Council debate was set to take place, Hong Kongers were bracing for our last fight. We knew there would be no turning back. Beijing had enough votes because only 40 out of 70 seats are directly elected by the people.

7. And then there was miracle. Protesters managed to blockade the complex completely. Well-documented evidence published by the international media show excessive force used by the police. Many injuries ensued, but in any case lawmakers could not convene.

8. It was only after this escalation that Lam made a small compromise to pause the bill’s reading. Even she acknowledged events on June 12, NOT June 9, that changed her mind. Months of Hong Kongers and the world expressing concern did not matter to her at all until she saw blood.

9. But Lam called protesters ‘rioters’. She would not agree to an independent investigation on police brutality. She stopped short of withdrawing the bill, let alone stepping down. Combined with the first death of a protester, TWO MILLION people marched on June 16.

10. Hong Kong has 7.5 million people, so an equivalent of ONE IN FOUR out of the entire population protested in a single occasion. I am not aware of anything comparable to this level of discontent against a government in modern history.

11. Lam finally apologized two days later, but for what? For failing to ‘properly communicate’ to Hong Kongers what the extradition bill was all about. Even up until that point, then, the subtext was that she was still right and we were too stupid.

12. Commentators around the world thought the movement was over by then, because the bill had supposedly been ‘suspended’ and Lam had said sorry. But actually none of our demands were met. Lam refused dialogue with opposition lawmakers and continued to praise the police.

13. Since my release on June 17 from prison, I took part in a number of smaller-scale rallies, sit-ins and occasional skirmishes. We wanted to let Beijing and the world know the fight was far from over. The G-20 summit in Osaka was then fast approaching.

14. Hong Kongers’ determination was on full display again when, within 11 hours, we crowdfunded over HK$6.7 million for newspaper ads ahead of the G-20 summit calling for the world not to neglect us.

15. We were grateful for world leaders, including Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and President Donald Trump, for raising the issue of Hong Kong human rights in their respective meetings with Xi Jinping. Yet by June 29, our demands were still ignored. It appeared we were really losing.

16. Devastating news followed. Two additional young fellow protesters jumped to their deaths over this past weekend. The Hong Kong government was pushing us to the point of despair and desperation. We tried every possible way imaginable to make our voices heard.

17. In a democracy, this extradition bill would long ago have been terminated. Polls consistently show some 70% of Hong Kongers in favor of a full withdrawal. The political career of any other leader would also have been over with this level of resistance over such a long period.

18. Alas, Hong Kong is not a democracy. Lam, a puppet of Beijing is also unlike any leader. The source of her power comes not from Hong Kongers but from the Chinese Communist Party. This brings me back to events yesterday.

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19. The protesters who broke into the Legislative Council complex were NOT rioters. They were NOT violent. Their objective was never to harm any individual. They wanted to make the regime hear Hong Kongers’ voice, and they had no other option. WE ALREADY TRIED EVERYTHING ELSE.

20. Perhaps not all of you will agree with every single action they took yesterday. But what are a few pieces of glass worth in comparison to the deaths of three young men and women? What are a few portraits worth in comparison to the very survival of Hong Kong as a place?

21. The moment they stepped into the building, they knew what awaited them. They would face almost certain prosecution and probable imprisonment over rioting charges, which carry a maximum sentence of 10 years. They have a whole life ahead of them.

22. Some well-intentioned opposition lawmakers tried to persuade protesters out of it. But they replied that since others had already perished, whatever physical and legal consequences they would face immediately paled in comparison. Watching this exchange put tears in my eyes.

23. Even after the break-in, protesters behaved with unimaginable discipline. They left cash at the counter before taking drinks from the cafeteria. They sealed the library off to preserve historical documents stored inside. Not a second did they lose their cool.

24. What kind of young people does Hong Kong produce? Smart, efficient, attentive and freedom-loving. I am proud of them, although I confess I do not have the courage to do what they did yesterday. I have been jailed three times, so I know full well what now lies ahead of them.

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25. Sometimes in life we are forced to make split-second decisions that will forever alter us as individuals, and perhaps even alter the course of history. It is of course too soon to tell, but I can only hope that years later when we look back to 2019, we will have no regrets.

26. Hong Kongers remain as united as we ever are. I am proud of what our friends did last night. For the first time I was also tear gassed, right outside the complex when cops tried to clear our defense line. Moving forward, we will continue find our own place and fight on.

27. The ongoing protests have already defied the expectations of not just every commentator and scholar but also myself as an activist. I would be foolish to try to predict what is next.

28. If there is just one takeaway for the world: Events in Hong Kong are about so much more than the bill, more than Lam, more even than democracy. They all matter of course. But in the end it is about the future of Hong Kong beyond 2047, a future that belongs to our generation.

29. Please continue to keep an eye on us, and keep supporting us. On behalf of Hong Kongers I thank everyone for taking the time to learn about this unique place we call home. THREAD ENDS//