Tag Archives: Michael Parker

A lack of drama….

Any good pitch needs a touch of theatre. This is as true of the informal cross-table discussion as it is of the larger set piece and while the theatre might be created by staging, or props or, hopefully, an idea, its success will depend on one thing. Did it make an emotional connection?

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Given that the Greeks gave us theatre in the first place,  given the setting and given the 2,800 years of history, it was very sad that the torch lighting ceremony in Olympia was so lacking in emotion. It was not because the flame went out and had to be re-lit. Nor because the grass was worn or that the ‘virgins’ looked disinterested.

 What was lacking, and who can blame the Greeks, was dynamism, energy and the theatrical drama so evident in Athens.  For them this must be a bitter reminder of what was and is no longer. It was a pitch lacking emotion and this came across in the coverage.

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Fortunately for London this lowkey start will be long forgotten by the time 8,000 inspirational torchbearers have carried the flame through over 1,000 cities, towns and villages. A whole lot of emotion will be going on!

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French lessons.

In the Observer Review a week ago there was a profile interview with the ‘legendary’ French rock star Johnny Hallyday on the occasion of his 70th birthday. While a huge star in France he is one of many French singers who do not cut la moutarde outside that country.

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In discussing his success he credited advice received from an even more legendary French legend, Maurice (‘thank evan for leetle gerls..’) Chevalier. He said: “Look I don’t know if you’re going to be a great singer or not but you must always be careful with your entrance on stage and your exit. In the middle you do what you can. You try to sing.”

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Pitch teams should note this advice. Most are so concerned with the content, the singing bit in the middle, that they overlook the first impression and the last, entering the stage and leaving it. Both these legends knew how to make an entrance and Chevalier, in particular, worried little about the singing and let his charm carry the day. Another useful French lesson.

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Mad Men’s Roger Sterling offers advice.

In the latest episode of Mad Men the bumbling Englishman, Lane Pryce, is nervous about making his first ever pitch to a prospect over dinner.

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 He seeks advice from Roger Sterling, who has all the best lines and clients eating, (drinking and smoking) out of his hands.

“It’s kind of  like being on a date”

“Flattery, I suppose?”.

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“Within reason but I find it’s better to smile, sit there like you got no place to go and just let him talk. Somewhere in the middle of the entree they’ll throw in something revealing and you want to wait to dessert to pounce on it and let him know you’ve got the same problem he has. And then you’re in a conspiracy, the basis of, quote, friendship.Then you whip out the form.” (Client questionnaire)

“What if I don’t have  the same problem, if he is more reserved?”

“Just reverse it. Feed him your own personal. That’s it. Get your answer. Be nice to the waiter Don’t let him do the cheque…….and find out everything you can about him before you get there.”

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A quiet pitch…

 Susan Cain’s book, Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, has been a US bestseller since it was published.

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It has featured on the cover of Time and whether you are extrovert or introvert ( nearly one half of us) it should be read. For the student of pitching  there are many insights but two stand out. Ever since the ‘cult of character’ in the nineteenth century (Abraham Lincoln and the like) was replaced by the ‘cult of personality’ (How to Win Friends …..) emphasis has been on the extrovert, the ‘saleman’ .

In casting a pitch team it is not surprising that extroverts tend to be selected first, after all a pitch is a sell. However the ‘sell’ is usually more about a team and their attitude than it is about a specific product or solution. The balance of the team is all important. A crowd of extroverts or a  contemplation of introverts would be equally unappealing. “‘The most effective teams are a mix of the two types”.

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When it comes to leadership quiet passion can be as persuasive as exuberant enthusiasm.  And if you want to see how well an introvert can present check out Susan Cain’s brilliant talk   TED2012: Susan Cain: The power of introverts

Also relevant to the pitch, or rather its preparation, is her plea to “stop the madness for constant group work”. She does not argue against teams working together. She does make a powerful case that the best ideas are not the result of “group think”, something pitch teams overly rely on. The best ideas tend to come from individuals- often the introvert- “working in solitude, a crucial ingredient of creativity.”

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Galloway’s winning pitch.

A lot has been written about the ‘shock’ result in Bradford.  How Labour were complacent and misjudged their supposedly strong backing. How they were taken by surprise by the levels of on-line activity.  They cited the make-up of the ethnic grouping that responded so strongly to Galloway’s views, particularly women and the young.

In short they were looking for the political explanation for failure.

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Few were prepared simply to credit Galloway for being so very good at pitching!

 What he said was spot on for this audience, if not the wider one, but it was the way he said it that made the huge difference. As Helen Pidd in the Indie, giving him a five star rating for ‘personality’, said:

“The Respect party didn’t win a 10,000 majority, George Galloway did; his easy charm, peerless way with words and genius ability to play to his own strengths while exploiting others’ weaknesses (and hiding his own).”

The same journalist writing in the Guardian gr about the way he spoke to Muslim women directly quoted one of them :”He made the women feel important. He made youngsters feel important and that’s a lesson for the other parties to learn.” Like him or not, he knows how to make the emotional connection vital in any pitch.

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