Pitch as a business PR-text: Communicative and pragmatic aspect

Abstract

The article discusses pitching as a communication technology and a pitch as a business PRtext. For a more complete and correct definition of the concepts of a pitch and pitching, the semantics of the multi-valued pitch lexeme underlying them are analyzed. The types of pitching are described by the field of activity, by the intended purpose and by the time of the presentation. The subject of the study was the textual features of the investment pitch as a PR communication tool. The main purpose of the work is to analyze the structural and content components of the investment pitch in the communicative and pragmatic aspect, including the characteristics of the addresser, addressee, object, goal, functions, etc. The material for the study was selected using the method of random sampling of 28 video recordings of pitch presentations presented on the foreign TV shows Shark Tank and Dragons’ Den, posted on the social network YouTube. The analysis of the material showed that the text of the pitch is based on the principle of combining standard and expression, noted by V. G. Kostomarov, in relation to the language of the newspaper. The tendency towards standardization is manifested in the typical structure of the pitch, the tendency towards expressiveness — in the use of certain verbal and paraverbal means, with the help of which the addresser seeks to express a subjective attitude not only to the content of speech, but also to the addressee, influencing his consciousness and stimulating him to make the necessary decisions. Based on the identified differential features, the definition of an investment pitch is proposed. It is concluded that the investment pitch can be included in a number of other proposals coming from the PR subject — proposals for cooperation, commercial proposals and proposals for sponsorship, calling it an offer for investors.