The first time I pitched, I had no idea what I was doing or how to do it.
I almost choked when the Tabasco PR rep asked me how much money I wanted.
I just blurted out a number ($3,000 dollars) and she said, “YES!”.
I was asking for a paid sponsor for my first singing chef production, “The Fried Chicken Theory According to Jackie Gordon: an evening of sultry soul food and sweet soul music”, in Australia.
“Is that for Melbourne and Sydney, $3,000 each?”, she continued.
“Yes!”, I said without hesitation even though I was SWEATING and my stomach was doing somersaults.
This is not a strategy I’d recommend.
I’ve pitched a lot since then and I’ve been very successful at:
– getting sponsors and partners
– selling products and tickets
– filling events
– attracting paid coaching clients
WHY PITCH
Pitching is important because you want to sell or influence your audience.
A well-crafted pitch:
🎤 Makes A Strong First Impression: Your pitch is an opportunity to engage, show your authority, and inspire confidence in your audience.
🎤 Provides Clarity & Conciseness: A good pitch distills your ideas into a clear message that highlights the most important points.
🎤 Build Connections: You’re not just selling an idea; you’re building relationships with the people you’re pitching to.
🎤 Helps You Standing Out: You’re not the only one in your niche. Crafting a compelling pitch differentiates you from the competition.
Your great idea is only as good as your delivery.
If no one understands or cares about what you’re pitching it will fall flat.
Effective communication is make or break when pitching to investors, presenting to clients, sharing your vision with your team, etc.
HOW TO WRITE A 2 MINUTE PITCH
Before you write your pitch you have to know:
- Why are you pitching?
- What do you want?
- Who are you pitching to?
- Why should they give it to you? aka What benefits do they get from giving it to you?
A really good practice is to try to deliver your pitch in 2 minutes or less. That’s about 250-300 words depending on your pace.
It’s not a lot of time.
But it forces you to come up with a tight pitch to match your listeners short attention span.
I talked about pitching on the ASK Jackie Gordon the Public Speaking Answer Lady! Livestream.
Here’s an outline for writing your 2 minute pitch.
GRAB EM! [20 seconds]
Hook them by saying or doing something that makes your audience pay attention and illustrates the problem you’re solving or the opportunity you’re offering.
HINT: Stories, humor, shock, drama, emotions are key to hooking and swaying listeners.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM? [20 seconds]
introduce the solution to your audience’s problem.
HINT: Personalizing works best. Be specific.
THE FIX [20 – 40 seconds]
How does your idea or product solve your audience’s problem? Highlight the key benefits.
HINT: Features relate to facts. Benefits relate to feelings. Feelings sell stuff.
THE WHYS [30 seconds]
Let your audience know why you and your idea are unique and valuable. Establish your authority
HINT: Storytelling drives this home.
WHAT NOW? [10 seconds]
Close with the action you want them to take NOW!
HINT: Incentivize with a sweet offer and add urgency.
#PublicSpeaking #Pitching #CommunicationSkills #Livestream #ASKJackieGordon #ProfessionalDevelopment #CareerGrowth #Networking #Entrepreneurship
Jackie Gordon
I've been creating outside-the-box ways to get paid for speaking and performing since 1998 and even won awards! I've been coaching speakers to speak more effectively for years. Now I want to help them get paid for it.
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