Angel HQ held another investment evening recently, with three more ventures presenting to the club.  As time goes on we've got more and more rigorous pre-investment evening - we support entrepreneurs to present as well as you possibly can by suggesting you stick to some rules:

1) Preparation:  know your pitch content inside out and back to front (warning, don't know it SO well it sounds rehearsed.  That's a tricky one!)

2) Preparation: find out which angels are going to be there and get to know them.  Check LinkedIn, google, naymz, Facebook even so that you know these people; find out where they hang out, contrive to bump into them.

3) Preparation:  get your company ready for scrutiny.  There's so much to say about that, more another time (and I'll reference the experts who know the fine art/science required in this space) but its completely true that investment needy is not investment ready. 

4) Preparation: be physically as well as mentally prepared.  Eat right, hydrate, practice breathing  (it's a good idea, keeping breathing) Victoria and Amanda from Fit 2 Front coach Angel HQ entrepreneurs in this space and feedback says it makes a huge difference.

5) Preparation: practice your networking skills.  This is absolutely key and if you don't, you might hurt your chances.  It's all very well to be polished up on stage, but if your networking efforts are aggressive, or unco-ordinated or badly timed you could negate that positive effect.  It's not to say that the crowd aren't sympathetic, they are.  And especially if this is your first time raising money its a huge, adrenaline filled dragged-out moment and you're bound to do some things you wish you hadn't.  All I'd say is remember its the end of a long and busy day for the angels and it's easier to relax over a glass of wine if you're not already pitching to them the moment they walk in.  And after the presentation itself, make the most of the relationships begun through question and answer but know when to leave, and know when to gracefully accept feedback.  When to leave:  when you've gently walked around the room and chatted with friendly faces,  and picked up on questions asked during the pitch.  When to accept feedback gracefully:  every time it's offered, with no need to refute.

OK that's one rule, executed in four different ways :-)