Vanessa Van Edwards analyzed 495 Shark Tank pitches and found that entrepreneurs who got funding signaled friendliness the moment they entered the room: open posture, purposeful movement, welcoming demeanor. Stiff posture and closed body language correlated with rejected pitches. People decide if you're trustworthy in seconds, before you speak.
We did an experiment in our lab where we analyzed 495 pitches on Shark Tank. One thing that we learned in analyzing all these pitches is we learned that successful entrepreneurs, successful pitches who landed a deal, had a couple of specific nonverbal cues they used more than others. And the biggest one is they signaled friendliness or trust right from the start of their pitch. Their grand entrance included a friend signal. So the bad pitchers, they often walk down a long hallway, they usually stay pretty still, they keep their hands by their sides or in their pockets, and they walk down the hallway and they say, "Good morning, sharks. Today I'm looking for an investment in my company. This is fine, but it's highly competent. They're focusing all their charisma on the verbal content. But actually, we like to look for nonverbal signals first. And this is a critical part of your grand entrance. When you enter a room, I want you to immediately signal friend, not foe. I want you to immediately signal trust.
