A great pitch requires the delivery of a single, compelling, and engaging narrative.
One that concludes with the audience excited to see what comes next.
To have bonded with you as the protagonist. To want to be part of it. To be enticed by the possibility.
And to commit to making it happen.
Treating each section of a pitch – your team, your plan, your budget – as discrete elements interrupts the story and breaks the spell. It undermines your ability to build energy.
You have to safeguard your argument. It’s better to cut content than lose the flow.
When approaching the next section of your pitch, think of it as a new perspective on the same story, not as new content. The narrative is the content. It’s what they’re going to remember.
Describe your team as they relate to the narrative. Your competition as they impact your narrative. Your plan for its capacity to enact your narrative.
Keep the central narrative central.
Geoffrey MacDougall 
Can “argument” be used interchangeably with “narrative,” and if not, what in your view is the difference? Does the narrative rule remain the same, whether one is writing copy, a grant application or proposal?
In this context I think they are essentially the same thing.
And I think the narrative rule holds true across all forms of pitch media.
I’m impressed! You’ve managed the aomlst impossible.