Here's the Pitch

Introduction

Life’s a Pitch

“The only reason to give a speech is to change the world.”

—John F. Kennedy

Former Chief Evangelist of Apple and entrepreneur supremo Guy Kawasaki tapped into the driving force of entrepreneurs when he named his blog “How to Change the World.” Although money and success are prized, when entrepreneurs talk with passion about their product or service, they talk in terms of how it will help people or change lives.

It is passion and vision that enable entrepreneurs to make great sacrifices and take risks that transform their dream to reality. For many entrepreneurs, there is a point when the pitch becomes the opportunity to take the dream to the next level. So often, however, those same qualities that make achieving great things possible fail to take shape or appear during the pitch.

Those Who Aspire Must Inspire

Throughout history, great speeches have moved people and nations to take action and bring about change. Leaders have understood the power of a well-crafted speech, whether Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address or Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, to inspire its audience. The late Steve Jobs was a master at inspiring people through his annual Macworld presentations, connecting with his audience and taking them on an exciting, unpredictable journey.

Yet although history shows us that you can only move people to take action by reaching both their hearts and minds, the vast majority of unsuccessful pitches are data dumps that reach neither. Instead, more often than not, they induce “Death by PowerPoint.”

It is not enough for a pitch to simply inform. It must also engage and inspire. To achieve the desired impact, a pitch must, among other things, combine conversation, storytelling, and sales. Facts are never enough, and efficiency should not be confused with effectiveness.

Pitching in a Tough Climate

The collapse of the financial markets in 2008 has placed the entrepreneur center stage. The loss of jobs and job security has led to people of all ages, from all walks of life, aspiring to become entrepreneurs. Discussion is frequent in the media about whether entrepreneurship and innovation offer the best way out of the recession. An emerging theme of “hero” entrepreneurs was recognized by U.S. President Barack Obama in 2010, when he declared November 19 National Entrepreneurs’ Day.

As the new generation of entrepreneurs is discovering, however, surviving and succeeding as an entrepreneur is more challenging than ever. According to the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA), at least 50 percent of start-ups fail within the first five years. Of those that continue, many barely survive.

Lack of capital is one of the primary reasons that new businesses fail. The collapse of the financial markets has meant that banks have stopped lending to small businesses and that investors are wary of start-ups.

This grim picture is reinforced by research that indicates that when it comes to pitching to investors, entrepreneurs have a 1 in 300 chance of success. On the sales front, companies have less money to spend, which has meant that winning a big sales contract is tougher than ever.

Information Overload

To add to the entrepreneur’s challenges, time-strapped investors and corporate executives are distracted to an unprecedented degree by e-mails, texts, and social media. Old, overused pitch techniques, such as trial closings, rapport building, and inoculating against objections, are no longer sufficient to compete with increasingly limited attention spans.

Pitch to Win

Now more than ever, there is an urgent need to bring the power of communication and persuasion back to pitching. The understanding of emotions and psychology that has enabled speakers to inspire and motivate audiences for centuries must be readily embraced and utilized, alongside exciting findings from neuroscience about how the brain works.

During my 15 years as a successful attorney, I came to realize that the lawyers who consistently won did not always have the strongest cases, but they did always have the best trial skills. They knew how to successfully pitch to both judge and jury.

During my eight years of working with and coaching entrepreneurs and start-ups, I have seen a similar pattern. Entrepreneurs get funded and win new business even if their ideas, teams, and abilities to execute are not as strong as their counterparts’.

This means that, every day, entrepreneurs who should succeed fail, simply because they don’t know how to pitch. This skill deficiency is compounded by the fact that to have any hope of getting a start-up off the ground, an entrepreneur needs to work around the clock and fill many roles. Consequently, very little time is left for developing pitching skills or preparing pitches. Too often entrepreneurs only begin to realize their importance after endless investor or sales pitch rejections.

Great Pitchers Are Made, Not Born

There’s an often-repeated myth that you’re either born a great pitcher or you’re not. This myth simply provides a justification for not preparing properly and an excuse for why pitches fail. World-class communicators are often described as naturals. The truth is that these so-called naturals put in days, and sometimes weeks, of preparation and use an array of proven strategies and techniques to consistently win over their audiences.

Time and time again I have witnessed entrepreneurs with little or no experience develop into pitch superstars. Nearly 25 years as a professional pitcher and coach has proven to me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that great pitchers are made, not born.

In this book, you will learn the same powerful strategies and techniques used by some of the world’s greatest presenters, strategies and techniques that we teach our clients at the Investor Pitch Clinic and that I’ve personally used to raise millions of dollars from some of the toughest investors in the world and win sales pitches worth more than $70 million.

As you begin to develop pitch skills that mesmerize and motivate, you’ll discover a new ability to get funded, win new business, and attract media coverage.

Everything You Need to Know about Pitching

This book is divided into four parts.

In Part I, you’ll discover the fundamental pillars of pitching. You’ll gain an understanding of the psychology of the pitch, including the key drivers of decision making and how you can create favorable power dynamics.

The greatest presenters of our time consistently use the same delivery strategies and techniques to spellbind their audiences. They know how to use their body language and vocal delivery for maximum impact and how to quickly capture and hold their audience’s attention. Here, you will learn exactly what these techniques and strategies are and how to quickly master them.

Since we lived in caves, people have used the power of storytelling to inspire and educate others. You will learn what story elements work and how to incorporate them into your pitch.

Finally, the Q&A session is often the most challenging part of a pitch. When you know how to handle tough questions, you’ll understand their potential to increase the effectiveness of your pitch. This part will show you how to make Q&A sessions work to your advantage so that you begin to welcome, rather than fear, them.

In Part II, I focus on the different forms that a pitch can take. I’ll show you how to create quick, attention-grabbing high-concept pitches and elevator pitches that are essential in today’s fast-paced world. As many entrepreneurs have discovered, shorter pitches are harder to develop and deliver than longer pitches.

Advances in technology and the ever-increasing popularity of social media has led to the rise of the twitpitch, e-pitch, virtual pitch, and video pitch. Pitching through these media, without the benefit of your physical presence or voice, requires a different approach, which I will teach you.

Every entrepreneur needs pitch documents, usually an executive summary and pitch deck. Most, however, are so badly created that they remain unread or deleted by the reader. Additionally, there are fundamental misunderstandings as to what documents are most effective for the different stages of the pitch process. Providing the wrong document at the wrong stage can damage, rather than enhance, your pitch.

I’ll show you how to create an executive summary and pitch deck, which will grab your audience’s attention within the first few seconds and inspire them to read to the end, as well as clarify what should be provided and when.

In Part III, I look at specific issues relating to the four audiences you’re most likely to be pitching to, namely, investors, prospective clients, the public through crowdfunding, and the media. Different issues arise for each audience, and consequently different approaches and techniques are required.

One of the biggest challenges people face when pitching is overcoming fear and communicating confidence. In the United States, public speaking is the number one fear, and in the United Kingdom, it’s number two (spiders are the number one fear). Advances in neuroscience have enabled us to understand both the causes and the cure.

In Part IV, I teach you how to prepare for your pitch by developing a winning mind-set.

You will learn how to rapidly eliminate fear and how to literally reprogram yourself so that you feel and communicate rock-solid confidence....