How to Give a Knockout Pitch

In American baseball the pitcher can make or break a ball game. The best pitchers warm up, they know the right strategy- whether to strike out the batter or let them walk, They vary their pitch and never lose confidence.

Well, you don’t have to play baseball to pitch. In business you will be making pitches whether it’s an elevator pitch, a sales pitch, a media pitch, a job interview pitch, an investor pitch, or pitching an idea to your manager.

Michael Quinn, the founder of Minor Nobles, the NYC-based consultancy, conducted a study to learn about what makes a good pitch. There were 1800 responses, 75% were male and 25% were female. 

The job levels were  12 % entry-level, 37% mid-level and  51 percent executives. The respondents heard up to 10,000 pitches in a year’s time.

What did the study reveal? Here were the learnings:

Master the facts. It’s important to know your content but when pitching to executives, relevant experience is critical. The more senior the audience, the more important this becomes. Avoid being scripted and don’t rely on the pitch deck. Bring up experience in a conversational format early in the pitch. For less senior audiences do your homework and know the facts.

The team trumps the individual. In other words don’t assign one person to deliver the pitch. It shows cohesiveness when other team members present and it’s more engaging for the audience. Do not bring team members who lack experience or don’t have a lot to say. The exception to relying on one presenter is if a senior team member has high level expertise, listens effectively, and can build trust.

Show Passion for the problem not just the product or solution. Passion is a top trait valued by the audience. Enthusiasm sells. Can the audience feel the energy of the pitch?  Also important are the details. Is it just surface knowledge or can they go deep?

It’s easy to get sidetracked trying to sell the decision-maker on the greatness of the team and the product. But it’s not about the product. It’s about them. Show as much passion for the audience as for the product. Focus on the audience and what they care about. What are their goals?

Listen and respond carefully

Nobody wants to be sold! So listen more and speak less. The difference between winning or losing the pitch is chemistry. That involves empathy, passion, direct communication and excellent listening skills. Focus on building trust.

According to the study, there is no surefire way to win a pitch. It’s more of an art than a science. So start by reading the room and adapt accordingly.

Follow these pitching tips to knock it out of the park.

To learn how to Speak Confidently and Effectively check out my LinkedIn learning course. It ranked in the Top 20 Most Popular courses for 2 years.

To learn techniques to overcome fear of speaking, read Chapter 3 of Knockout Presentations.

To work with me contact DiResta Communications, Inc.