Another good video by VC Mark Suster about how to speak when invited on a panel:
- Entertain
- Be energetic
- Be short and to the point (people don’t remember who long you spoke, but what you said)
- Say something different than the person before you
- If the moderator asks the wrong question, answer a different one
I would also add that pitch competitions are a form of entertainment. A pitch for such an event is completely different from a pitch to the partner group of a VC.
And most of the time, pitch competitions are far more entertaining than panels. In a pitch competition, the presenter is on the line, sharp. People in panels usually do not prepare and can hide behind the others on stage, making them a lot less interesting to watch.