One key is having told the story or pitch multiple times before, so you can get the timing right. I've observed this with my own stories and it matches what I'v

One key is having told the story or pitch multiple times before, so you can get the timing right. I've observed this with my own stories and it matches what I've heard about comedians. Another thing can be talking the idea out with someone who is willing to bounce things back-and-forth with you. Thats what you're doing here, but you might want to put energy into making connections where you can regularly do that in-person. The hard part is when you have to be concise on-the-spot, like if someone asks you a question out of left field. Here, I try to first buy time with phrases like "thats a good question" or by adding "ummmm"s and "ahhhh"s to my speech so the person knows that I"m thinking rather than ignoring them. It is not perfect though, and people are still impatient.