Pitching in protest. That Black Power salute.

PITCHES AND TROUGHS. THE BEST 100.

Last Wednesday, unecessarily late, on BBC4 there was a brilliant documentary, Black Power Salute. It went behind the scenes to explore the action and motivation that led to the moment when Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black gloved fists at the Mexico Olympics in 1968. One of the 20th century’s most powerful, enduring images.

Black Power Salute

As the programme spells out this was not a spontaneous gesture. It was, even though not described as such, a brilliantly conceived and stunningly executed pitch, an act of persuasion. It expressed the resentment of black people at that time and fuelled the momentum of civil rights.

I was in the stadium watching, having competed without success in my event a few days earlier. The effect on the ‘ live’ audience was surprisngly muted. A gloved hand has little visual impact at a distance of 70 or so meters. Smith and Carlos knew this. They were targetting the worldwide TV audience whose screens framed, in close up, the men and their raised fists. The iconic image.

Muhammad Ali, the ‘greatest’ pitcher of all time, called it the ‘single most courageous act of the 20th century’. It could be, but for me what is truly astonishing is the way they handled the physical and emotional demands of reaching the final and then having to win. Not for the medals but for the opportunity to protest.

For us lesser mortals, a reminder that a picture is worth a thousand words.

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David “no-notes” Cameron at Blackpool

PITCHES AND TROUGHES. 100 BEST STORIES.

Last week in Glasgow, in the lead up to the by-election, David Cameron delivered what has been described as a taboo-breaking “moral leadership” speech . As reported it was a speech of real substance, with strong uneqivocal messages, for example “….we prefer moral neutrality, a refusal to make judgements about what is good and bad behaviour, right and wrong behaviour”.

It contained powerful messages which will register and which will drive the Tory agenda. However it is not this speech but his speech at the Tory Party conference in Blackpool in autumn 2005 that merits being included in the 100 Best Pitch Stories.

It was a five-way pitch. The two favourites going in  were the big beast Ken Clarke, an experienced and  fluent platorm speaker, and, in the lead, the bruiser David Davis, (now somewhat bruised by his by-election activity?) The other three were Liam Fox, Malcolm Rifkind and David Cameron. 

All five spoke for roughly the same amount time, to the same audience of party faithful and no one can remember what any of them said!

Quite simply the political landscape changed on that day. Not because of what Cameron said but  because of the way he said it.

 

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Federer vs Nadal, the ultimate pitch.

We, that’s some thirteen million of us in the UK, have just seen the greatest ever tennis final.  That is the almost universal view of commentators.  The two best (ever?) players in the world, playing unbelievable tennis, in the longest final ever, with unbearable tension, where only a couple of points separated winner from loser.

By any measure, an amazing contest but the outstanding skill alone does not explain the way it captivated the imagination of sport and non-sport fans alike.

What made this so special, so compelling was the spirit, the body language and the demeanour of both Nadal and Federer.  There was no playing to the audience, no exaggerated macho arm pumping, no screamings of “come on!” no lengthy disputes over line calls and yet the intensity never let up.

Here were two people so utterly focussed on themselves, and on each other, that nothing outside  was allowed to distract or enter their zones of pure, unadulterated concentration.  Watching them, apparently oblivious to us spectators and viewers, compounded the drama.

In the final scene, barely minutes after the final point, each talked to camera. Grace in defeat and grace in victory have never been better expressed. Two remarkable winners.

 

 

 

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Putting principles into practice.

It’s a truism I guess, but principles aren’t worth much if they are not put into practice. This is where the Best Practice Guides come into their own.

The latest guide is Staging and Content.  In effect, it looks at practical ideas to address the principle that ‘it’s not what you say but the way you say it’ that matters in pitching.

Another  fundamental principle is that the better you manage available time, resource and, most of all your energy, in the lead up and during the pitch itself, the greater your strike rate.  The Perfect Pitch Process guide looks at ways of achieving this.

Decisions are rarely taken on rational grounds alone.  ‘People buy people’.  This principle so easily forgotten in the often feverish last minute attempt to improve content. The  Rehearsal guides and Chemistry Lessons are intended to help make people, not content, the heroes and heroines!

The guides, copyright of parkerinc , are easily downloadable for reference at the appropriate stage in any pitch. If anyone has, or knows of, other guides that might be shared please let us know

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Aliens. “Jaws in space”.

PITCHES AND TROUGHS. 100 BEST STORIES.

Recently, I was involved in an informal rehearsal with a team preparing to pitch a powerful concept to go into production.  There was no doubt that it was a strong concept.  However, in the course of the rehearsal it became clear that lack of a single minded and compelling expression of the idea  would hinder the sell.

This experience reminded me of a great pitch story that I  cannot personally verify ,but it is so good it has to be true!

This is the story of how the creators pitched the concept for the film Aliens to the studio bosses. 

They said think of it as ” Jaws in space”.

if anyone knows of examples anywhere near as good, please tell…

 

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