Making a Pitch: igniting others
I love working with my clients on pitches. We have only minutes to ignite others. There is something so clean and sharp about a pitch. The best are simple and passionate.
And they take a lot of work to craft, hone, and deliver with precision. Remember the quote from Blaise Pascal, “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”
We want to have everything the audience needs to assess our idea or product, and leave them curious enough to want more.
Overall, the thing we want from a pitch is to be memorable. Those being pitched see many ideas, people, and pitches, so we want to both have an exciting idea and communicate it with all the skills we can cultivate.
Pitching is a lot like auditioning: it’s easy to fall into all-or-nothing thinking but in reality, it is the beginning of a relationship we will nourish.
Having said that, we need to “go in hot,” as the wonderful actor/director/coach/acting teacher, Sekou Laidlow, reminded us in class. We do not have the luxury to wade in slowly and get used to the audience, we have to be warmed up and ready. That means that we are over-prepared, can do the pitch in our sleep, have warmed up our bodies and voices, are present and breathing, and are RAW (ready, alert, and waiting, as they say in Nia).
And if we don’t “get the part” (the funding, the job, the prize) this time, we are now known and can cultivate that relationship in case we are “perfect for the role” next time.
As an actor, there have been many auditions where I did not get the role I as up for. But the director called me for subsequent auditions which I did book.
Things to watch out for when crafting a pitch:
Stuffing as much information as possible into a tiny amount of time.
Complex slides.
Speaking quickly through the material to fit it all in.
Spending all of our time honing the content and little time up on our feet rehearsing and saying it out-loud.
If we overwhelm the audience, they will not retain anything. It will be a blur. So be kind and specific. Keep it simple and passionate.
Instead, we start by asking:
In order to ignite excitement in others, what about this idea ignites excitement in us?
What are the MUST HAVES for the pitch? Cut everything else.
What is our intention? Remember to choose an intention that is for the audience and does not boomerang the attention back on ourselves (“to share this thrilling idea” vs. “to win the pitch”).
Open the doors to creativity: What are the big ideas and how can they be expressed in…art, performance, experience, color, sound, visuals, play, audience participation? We want to capture our audience’s attention, so play! Go crazy in rehearsal brainstorming and try everything! Something might work! And if nothing does—those layers of play and color are forever part of our presentation.
Then we:
Rehearse like mad until the words come out fluently and roll off of our tongues.
If we must use slides, keep them clean, easy to read, simple.
Let our ideas land. We have to scaffold our delivery so that the audience can follow us.
When we are nervous, we tend to speed up, so consciously sloooow our delivery down. Breathe…
Practice so much that we move past the stage where the pitch sounds rote, so the talk is alive and present, new every time.
We know we’ve practiced enough when we absolutely need that next ingredient, the audience.
Remember that our pitch begins the moment we step out of our car or the elevator. We are there to connect with others and build relationships, so any warm-up has already happened.
Any materials that expand on our presentation can be sent out after the pitch so that during the pitch the attention is on us and not on the packet.
Always follow up with a note. And in the future, find ways to stay connected. If things don’t work out this time, they might the next.