Pitch Package - the whole performance

A pitch is one argument delivered through three instruments: the deck (setup), the demo (proof), and the speaker (trust). The demo is the proof; the deck is the setup. This skill's job is sequencing and budget, so the instruments never fight each other. Two rules govern everything: interview before you build, and budget the slot first.

Phase 1 - Interview before you build

STOP: produce no artifacts in this phase. Ask (adapting to what's already known):

1. Audience: hackathon judges, VCs, or a customer? What do they explicitly judge or care about (rubric, thesis, their own pain)?
2. Slot: total minutes? Is Q&A inside or after it?
3. Inventory: what already exists - working product? demo video? deck? scripts? Reuse beats rebuild.
4. Demo mode: live product on stage (higher wow, higher risk) or recorded film (deterministic)? Default to recorded unless the live path has been rehearsed with a fallback.
5. Speakers: who talks, and are there real credentials to weave into the intro?
6. Constraints: venue machine? offline? projector resolution? phone-as-teleprompter?

Reflect the answers back as a one-paragraph brief and get a nod before Phase 2. Skipping this interview is how pitches end up with a beautiful deck for the wrong audience.

Phase 2 - Budget the slot first