Types of Pitches

I want to clarify the difference between a sanity test and a formal pitch  They are both a type of pitch.  The difference is their purpose.

Sanity Test 

This is an informal pitch.  You do this quickly, with no prep, to people who it isn't the end of the world if you don't impress them.  It should take anywhere from 30 seconds to minute or two.  Again it's called a sanity test, because if you are willing to create an entire game without even asking someone if they'd want to play it, you are crazy.  The purpose of this is to ask the question: 

"Does this sound like a game you'd like to play?"

Formal Pitch 

When I talk about pitching, I'm talking about a more formal pitch with slides, board rooms etc.  This should take 5 to 15 minutes.  In this context you are presenting to a bunch of people who can green light your game idea.  That is, give you the money or resources  (or permission) to start work on it.

Validation  

This is a follow up after any kind of a pitch.  The purpose is to determine if it's not only good enough to be liked, but if it's so interesting someone would actually pay money for it.  To do this, you simply ask the question at the end:

 "Would you pay XX dollars for this game?"

NOTE: True validation happens when you can actually get a pre-sale from the person right then and there (for say a 50% discount of course).