Tag Archives: pitchcoach

Preparing for an audition.

Pitching , even to apparently unemotional procurement evaluators, is theatre.  You are putting on a show and this calls for performance from the cast , your ‘dramatis personnae’, and we can learn from the world of stage.

For actors and actresses themselves  however, their pitch is not the stage performance, it’s the audition

For them, this must be every bit as competitive, more so, with futures riding on it and rejection more personal, than the fiercest business pitch.  Advice on handling it  is given in an excellent  book, Winning Auditions, 101 Strategies for Actors.  Many hold true for any pitch.  With acknowledgement to author Mark Brandon, here are some of them.

” Preparation strategies deal with planning, mental discipline, and attitude- essential requirements for becoming a formidable competitor”

“Never forget this all-important rule: ‘On any given day, any given team, no matter the odds, can beat another”.

“Have Confidence.  Brand it on your brain, sear it on your chest, or tattoo it on your arm: ‘Confidence Sells’.  Never forget it. Nearly every result you desire will come from fully understanding this one phrase.” 

“Improving your ability to obtain work is just as vital as improving your ability to act.  You have to be as much a hunter as you are a performer.”

” Actors who are fiercely determined to get ahead will get ahead.  Nothing will ever serve performers more than sheer persistance.  A steadfast attitude that doesn’t recognise set backs practically voids all other attributes- including looks and talent”.

For me,  all these strategies, which relate to preparation, ring true.  Others, on presentation and performance, will  be covered in future posts.  Meanwhile the Staging and Content  guide  covers  similar ideas.

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The elevator pitch.

Some seven years ago Saatchi was taken over by Publicis headed up, then and now, by Maurice Levy.  At the time a story about him was in circulation, maybe apochryphal but I like to think it is true.  On hearing  a major potential client was staying in the same hotel,  he arranged for a ‘chance’  introduction in, yes, the elevator.  The win followed.

This one example of his flair did more to make us, at Saatchi, feel relaxed about the takeover than any of his many other achievments!

Another story relates to  New York’s bid to be Olympic host city during the period when formal presentations were forbidden by the IOC protocol police.  No lesser person than the Deputy Mayor would spend hours lurking in five star hotel lobbies,  and no doubt their elevators, for apparently accidental encounters to deliver his apparently off-the cuff  pitch.

The point is, of course, that  they were prepared.  In the current newsletter of “pitchcoach partner” GBP Consulting,  Carl Schneider  makes some  interesting observations.

” An elevator pitch is a pre-packaged speech ready to be delivered whenever the opportunity comes along……a short self-promotion speech consisting of about 100 words….with a structure of  this is what we do, here’s how you benefit”.

He gives a personal example: ” I  coach business development for financial advisers so that they can improve their conversion rate and so win more business”.  Think I  might use that one  the next time I am in the right lift.

Incidentally, according  to Carl the antecedent of the elevator pitch can be traced back to “ordo naturalis”, a similar speech device introduced in Ad Herrenium, circa 86-82 BC!

But they weren’t blogging then…

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A moving experience

 On Saturday I watched, or rather,  took part in a new play called Stovepipe, written by Adam Bruce and staged in a cavernous space, deep in the bowels of the West 12 shopping centre in Shepherds Bush. Originally intended as straight theatre, the author claimed that at first he was “borderline fucked off'” with the decision to make it a promenade piece.

He changed his mind and loves it, as did the audience and a certain Tom Stoppard,  “One of the best promenade dramas I’ve seen, truly effective and illuminating”.

Set in post-war Middle East, we the audience follow the actors, inhabiting their locations, as the narrative unfolds.  We are delegates at a sales conference, a thronging street crowd,  perched on bar stools in a brothel, ducking bullets in the desert and mourners in a  chapel.

Rather than being passive observers, we were taking part.  And we enjoyed it, all 90 plus non-sitting down minutes of it!  The dynamic audience interaction lifted the play, capturing our senses and our imagination. Altogether, an original, stimulating and memorable experience.

Do the lessons here for pitching need spelling out?  (If so,  Best Practice Guide,  Staging and Content  is worth a look.)

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Mad Men, an ad man’s view

Most critics, and I share their views, have heaped praise on this superb period drama from a period not so long ago. With a career in advertising, that stretches back to the sixties, many of the images resonate strongly with me.  Four of them stand out. The ubiquitous cigarette,  the nonchalant sexism, the sleek coiffured hair and, yes, the pitch. How have they changed?

Perhaps the only real change is that offices are now smoke free zones, which is good. But it took 50 years or so and when Team Saatchi opened its doors 15 years ago, we were among the pioneers of no office smoking. Only in the last few years has it become the norm.  Mad Men can’t be helping anyone trying to quit right now.

Hair is still coiffured but with more imagination?  But Draper cannot compete with one of advertising’s most enduring, iconic images, a very British one, that of Dennis Compton, champion for Brylcreem, swashbuckling Test cricketer and England/Arsenal footballer.  Beckham, who?

Yes, of course we are more politically correct aren’t we? Mad Men wallows in “sexual banter not yet harrassment”. But a survey, only fifteen years ago, showed that of all creatives in advertising  less than 20% were women. Not a great leap forward.

Finally, the pitch. The props may have changed – relentless PowerPoint not an option, procurement a word related to sexual favours, below- the- line a dreary cousin and on-line beyond imagination – but the fundamentals remain.  The surge of focussed energy, the search for a winning strategy informed by client insight,( the search then less inhibited by political correctness) and the last minute ‘big idea.’

Add to this the casting ( who is today’s Don Draper?),and the performances needed to create compelling theatre on the day.   No change.

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“FAIL TO REHEARSE, PREPARE TO FAIL”.

This pitchcoach article was written for www.gorkanapr.com, the site that links PR professionals and journalists. It’s their editor’s headline, which I both like and endorse!
 
In any pitch it is wise to assume that your competitor’s solution is as good as yours and that their people are as talented.  The difference can be down to your performance on the day. This is why investing time on rehearsals, several of them, is essential.
 
In rehearsal, involve an ‘outside’ viewpoint since it’s what the audience takes out, not what you put in, that will count.  Look for differentiation in the way you say it in these areas.
 
A powerful attention-getter opening.
 
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression” (Will Rogers).
 
Assume the decision is based on first few minutes, and it might be. Your opener should capture immediate interest with wit and surprise, not the unsurprising introductions, agenda and rehash of the brief. They come later.
 
Pitch an experience.
 
Put yourself in the shoes of the prospect receiving, say, four successive presentations all using slick PowerPoint, enthusiastically delivered.  Efficient, yes. Differentiating, no.
 
Aim to engage in a memorable way by staging a relevant experience. Without major theatrics, you can create an interesting environment, encourage participation, surprise with imaginative display, sample product, etc, etc. Imagination is all.
 
Easy to follow.
 
Don’t assume intense concentration from your audience, particularly at the end of the day. Is your presentation really easy to follow? Does it clearly relate to the brief?
 
A good test is this.  If you can’t summarise your presentation clearly in three minutes, without visual aids, then the chances are you do not have a workable structure.
 
People buy people.
 
The best content pitch in the world won’t win if prospect is not happy with the people. Are they a genuine team? Are they my kind of people and since this varies by individual, keep reviewing ‘casting and chemistry’.
 
Good rehearsal will reinforce the people dimension, sense of teamwork, infectious enthusiasm, crackling energy. Rehearsing makes nice people nicer and increases their confidence.
 
Demonstrate insight!
 
There are two areas of insight. The first and, more obvious, is one that allows you to demonstrate you really, deeply, understand what makes the client’s consumers tick. Evidence of original thinking will score well.
 
More important can be insight gained into the client and their decision process. Why are they reviewing, who is the real decision taker, what are the underlying issues, what’s in it for them? Keep on listening!
 
Close powerfully.
 
Often the least rehearsed part, it is the final chance to make a lasting impression. Tell them what you’ve told them as if it was the only basis for evaluation.
 
The close.  No props. No charts. No videos.  Just the team leader, heartfelt and personal.  It’s not what you say.  It’s the way you say it.
 
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