THE 5-MINUTE PITCH

Influence Faster. Stay Relevant Longer.

A high-energy live training by Ignite Talks × Palmer E.
In-person or Remote · 5 hours · Highly interactive

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You Won’t Get More Time
So Learn to Win With Less

You finally get the meeting.
Thirty minutes on the calendar.
Then fifteen.
Someone says:
“Sorry — I only have five minutes.”

That moment is not rare.
It’s the norm. And it decides:

  • which ideas move forward

  • which careers accelerate

  • which voices get heard again

Most people improvise.
Some talk faster.Others add slides.
The best are ready.

Get in touch
A woman in a pink dress is speaking into a microphone on stage, with a large screen behind her displaying a drawing of a surprised stick figure.

Why 5 Minutes Is the Most Powerful Format in Business

We all pitch. Every day.

  • Ideas to leadership

  • Projects to clients

  • Solutions to teams

  • Trade-offs to executives

In big companies especially, time is the real constraint.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth:
According to research highlighted by Harvard Business School, up to 95% of decisions are made subconsciously , driven by the emotional brain. We justify later with logic and data.

Yet most pitches lead with:

  • spreadsheets

  • bullet points

  • context overload

Then wonder why nothing lands.

Five minutes forces clarity.
And clarity creates influence.

Contact
A man wearing glasses, a black T-shirt with the words 'REPEAL ALLIANCE' printed on it, and yellow sneakers is speaking into a microphone on a stage, with a large screen displaying a black-and-white photo of a building in the background.

The Goal Is Not to Explain.
It’s to Ignite.

Great 5-minute pitches don’t try to say everything.
They do something far more effective:

  • they activate the audience

  • they create desire

  • they make people think with you

Your audience stops being passive listeners.
They start doing part of the work for you . As in Inception, the strongest ideas are the ones people believe they discovered themselves.

Or, as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry put it:
“If you want to build a ship, don’t gather wood. Teach people to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

Five minutes is the perfect format for that.

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The 5 Foundations of a Powerful 5-Minute Pitch

In both the training and your daily practice, influence comes from mastering these five structural pillars:

  1. Audience
    Understand who decides, what they feel, and how they judge value.
    Practice translating ideas into the language of their needs.

  2. Ending
    Decide before you speak: what you want them to remember, feel, and do.
    Engineer endings that linger and move decisions.

  3. Story Arc
    Build narrative tension in support of choice:
    context → tension → choice → outcome
    Data serves proof; emotion gives it meaning.

  4. Emotion
    People decide emotionally first — and justify later.
    Learn ethical emotional structuring to build urgency, possibility, and alignment.

  5. Delivery
    Presence, pacing, pauses, and clarity create trust.
    Learn how to sound like leadership — not just speak smart.

Work With Us
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CASE STUDY

When John Mills, founder of wildfire-alerting app Watch Duty, was invited to speak at TED 2025, he had five minutes to tell a story that mattered to millions.

Learn more

How the Training Works
(And Why It Sticks)

This is not a lecture.It’s a live, high-energy lab .

  • 5 hours total

  • Small groups of 5

  • Breakout work throughout

  • Each participant becomes the team lead for one foundation

  • Practice, feedback, iteration — in real time

You don’t leave with theory.
You leave with capability.

Learn more

  • "Brady is an excellent emcee, speaker, and coach. With almost two decades of experience speaking and coaching, I couldn't recommend him more. I had the pleasure of working with him on my TED talk and I don't know what I would have done without him. Five stars!"

    —

    John Mills
    CEO, Watch Duty

  • "Our office has been working with Benoit’s team on many high stakes presentations for the last 10 years, both internal and external. We always appreciated the cutting edge graphics combined with a great attention to details. Their consulting work has been instrumental in getting our messages across."

    —

    Nathalie Dacquin
    Marketing Director, Sony Interactive

  • “Benoit\Palmer E. has been a strategic help to turn our objectives into clear and dynamic stories. We love their ideas, skills and positive energy!”

    —

    Steven Aim
    Communication Director, Ubisoft

  • "Benoit has designed, thanks to his strong story telling expertise, some unique IP presentations and I have been able to secure/unlock new brand partnerships with key players / tier 1 companies.”

    —

    François Tallec
    VP of Global Partnerships & Consumer Products Business Development, Ubisoft

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The Preparation Paradox

Most people think: “It’s only five minutes — that should be easy.”

The opposite is true.
The shorter the pitch, the more preparation it requires.

But that preparation pays off everywhere:

  • inside the pitch

  • in Q&A

  • in negotiations

in decision-making moments

Like a Rubik’s Cube:
You can fumble for hours — or learn the technique and solve it every time.

This framework makes your thinking faster and stronger.

Free Guide: The Preparation Paradox

Why shorter presentations demand longer preparation—and how the best speakers actually rehearse.

Discover the rehearsal discipline used to prepare a TED Top 10 talk, and a practical framework you can apply to your next high-stakes pitch.

Page from a white paper titled "The Preparation Paradox" discussing the importance of thorough preparation for speeches and presentations, emphasizing the value of shorter presentations with longer rehearsal.

Influence Today. Relevance Tomorrow.

A woman on stage giving a presentation, standing in front of a large screen that displays a slide with the text "HI, I’M ELISE" and a photo of a bowl of instant ramen noodles with chopsticks.

AI is changing how work gets done.

But here’s what AI can’t do: set direction.

Without a framework:

  • AI makes you reactive

  • output replaces thinking

  • clarity erodes

With a framework:

  • AI accelerates execution

  • you stay in charge

  • you become the editor, not the servant

This training helps you future-proof your influence.

Frameworks age well.
Tricks don’t.

The Real Question

What’s the cost of not mastering this?

  • The idea that stalls

  • The meeting that goes nowhere

  • The moment someone else gets the green light

That’s leaving influence to luck. Or you can learn the framework — and be ready every time.

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THE 5-MINUTE PITCH

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Your ideas, amplified.

Your audience, activated.

Your future, future-proofed.

Reserve your spot