Good discussion.
Just like job interviews these days, pitch presentations are very much about psychology and delivery. Since it's extremely hard to judge a game solely on its story, agents or executives search for things that seem original, buzz-worthy, gimmicky, topical, etc. They also want to know, just like in job interviews, what you can do that nobody else can. What makes your project so great? We might have to employ more of a salesperson's jargon here.
Maybe for the next round, the host (I'll happily do it again) should describe what kind of company/publisher we're actually visiting? That will make it easier for the participants to visualize what kind of jargon and concept they should use.