What industry pros look for
The notes the community's most respected reviewers give most often — with real examples of each. Fix these before you post.
- Cold hook
- One clear story
- Real stakes
- Comparables
- The ask
- Energy and presence
- Clarity
- Pace
- Eye contact
- Runs to time
1 Cold hook
The first 15 seconds earn the next 60.
The open is the whole game. A pitch that starts with throat-clearing loses the room before the story arrives; open on an image, an event or a question.
Test: Does the first line make us want the second?
2 One clear story
Character, event and goal, in plain speech.
One pitch holds one story. If a listener could not retell it back to you, there is more than one story fighting for the room.
Test: Could a stranger repeat the spine after one listen?
3 Real stakes
What is won or lost, said out loud.
Stakes answer why the goal matters. If nothing is at risk, the room has no reason to lean in.
Test: Is the cost of failure (or the prize) stated?
4 Comparables
An "X meets Y" that places the project.
Comparables place a project on a shelf in one breath, so the room knows the tone, scale and audience without a paragraph of explanation.
Test: Do the comparables tell us the shelf, not just two titles?
5 The ask
What you want from the room, stated.
Rooms say yes to requests, not vibes. Naming what you want (a producer, finance, a co-writer) gives the listener something to act on.
Test: Is there a clear, actable ask?
6 Energy and presence
The pitch has a pulse; the person is in it.
On camera the messenger is half the message. Presence is what makes a room believe you can carry the project.
Test: Does the person feel present and invested?
7 Clarity
No mumbling, no jargon, no reading voice.
If the room has to work to follow the words, it stops following the story. Clear speech keeps the attention on the pitch.
Test: Is every word easy to catch on one listen?
8 Pace
Conversational, not a memorised recital.
A recited pitch reads as nerves; a conversational one reads as confidence. Pace is the difference between reading at the room and talking to it.
Test: Does it sound like a conversation, not a recital?
9 Eye contact
The lens is the producer.
Every glance down at notes is a broken handshake. Holding the lens is what makes a to-camera pitch feel like a conversation.
Test: Do they hold the lens, or read from below it?
10 Runs to time
The class it was posted under is a promise.
The runtime class is a promise to the room. Going over is the most common flag on the site; discipline with time is a craft signal in itself.
Test: Did it honour the class it was posted under?