The average length of a funding pitch to angel investors is 10 minutes. Even if you have booked an hour with a VC, you should plan to talk only for the first 15 minutes. The biggest complaint I hear from investors is that startup founders often talk way too long, and neglect to cover the most relevant points. Or they get sidetracked by a technical glitch due to poor preparation.
If you start by pitching your extended life story, that's the wrong point. Equally bad is an extended pitch on your new disruptive technology. Investors are more interested in your solution and your business, rather than your technology. Here are some tips on the right approach and the right points to hit:
Most importantly, don't forget to practice, practice, practice. Just because you have given a thousand pitches in your life, don't assume you can finesse this one by reading the bullet points in real time from the slides that your team put together for you. You need to be totally familiar and comfortable with your pitch to give it effectively.
Forget the theory that you can "rise to the occasion" and impress everyone with your dynamic speaking ability. If you are pitching the wrong point in the wrong way, the occasion will be more the demise than the rise of your dream.