Life is One Big Pitch So You Better Start Practicing It

Today, I spoke with Francisco Dao, who is a well-known businessman, writer for Fast Company and Inc., as well as someone who dedicates most of his life to help people understand how to create successful pitches (elevator pitches).  As a brand, it is necessary to learn how to convey your message to your audience because you only get one chance.  Francisco shares his method for creating a winning pitch, as well as what happens when you fail.

What makes a good business or personal pitch?

A good pitch should be easily understood and memorable. People often try too hard to cover all their bases and end up “losing” the pitch in the jargon.   I believe it’s better to be understood even at the risk of being incomplete or oversimplified, than complete but NOT understood.

What are your 4 P’s?

My 4-P’s are what I teach or create for companies.  I believe they are the four components of effectively communicating what your company does or why someone wants to do business with you.  They are:

• Pitch – this is your 10 second or 60 second elevator pitch that should hook people in and get them interested
• Print – Website and marketing copy MUST be clear, compelling and understandable.
• Platform – Essentially public speaking skills.  Far too many corporate execs “waste” their speaking opportunities with poor platform skills
• Presentation – presentations should be constructed in a manner that keeps the audience in engaged.  If the pitch is the 60 second version, the presentation is the 60 minute version.

Can you list some examples of good and bad pitches and why they were successful or unsuccessful?

As I explained in #1, good pitches are understandable and memorable.  The best of the bunch also double as the company’s mantra.  I know these are technically slogans and not pitches, but there are so good, they can easily double as a pitch.   Here are some winners.

• FEDEX – (old) When it absolutely positively has to be there overnight
• Wal-Mart – (old) Always Low Prices, Always
• BMW – The Ultimate Driving Machine

Here’s a 10 second pitch I created for a forensic accountant.  Instead of going into a bunch of accounting jargon, imagine this conversation

“What do you do?”

“You know how people try to hide assets and money during a divorce?”

“Yeah.”

“I find the money.”

BAD PITCHES

Almost all Tech companies and American car companies have bad pitches.  Nobody can remember them and they don’t really say anything.

What is the aftermath of a poor pitch?  Can you redeem yourself?

If you are pitching to press or venture capital you probably won’t get a second chance.  I explain that pitching is a lot like trying to get a woman’s attention at a bar.  You have anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes to get someone interested.  If you’ve blown it, you are unlikely to recover.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8XUX8r0dY8]

What is your pitch creation process from start to finish?

The first thing I do is look for the most valuable part of my client’s offering. If we use the example of my forensic accountant, it would be very easy to get lost in a bunch of “ we do deep research accounting investigations blah blah blah.”  Instead, I figured out what was the core value that they offered and explained it in a way that everyone can understand.

My process for creating a good pitch is really about finding the part of the message that matters and then distilling out the B.S. I wish I could tell you it was a complicated 15 step process but it really isn’t.

There are however two reasons why VERY few people can do this well.

• 1. People have trouble creating their own pitches because they get too close to what they’re doing and can’t see the forest for the trees.
• 2. Most PR reps/consultants, think pitch creation is about writing fancy copy. They think they have to earn their money by coming up with jargon and buzzwords.  This is completely backwards.  Strong pitches are usually free of jargon.

——
Francisco Dao is the founder of www.StrategyandPerformance.com, an executive coaching and consulting firm specializing in helping companies and senior managers bridge the gap between their intended strategies and actual company performance.  He is a writer for Fast Company and Inc.

He was founder of TDEC Inc., a million-dollar training business, and has served as a strategic development consultant to numerous technology start-ups. Formerly he was the vice president of sales for Net Aspects, and held senior positions in sales and Asia-Pacific Rim development for Ramp Networks and IMC Networks. He is a regular contributor to Across the Board (bi-monthly publication of The Conference Board), and can be reached at fdao@thekillerpitch.com.

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