One of the few people to thrive on being boring was, as captured on Spitting Images, snooker’s Steve ‘Interesting’ Davis. A successful pitch consultant, who advises clients on their selection process, warns that their attention span is minimal during presentations. Despite this, one of the commonest errors is to be worthy, dull and boring. Why is this?
Many reasons, of course. There is the natural inclination to show just how much hard, clever work has been done. Or there is the temptation to reproduce everything that has gone into a lengthy tome of a document. Or a feeling of obligation to give everyone involved in the build up a role in the pitch.
All of these fall into the same trap . It’s not what you put into a pitch that matters. It’s what the audience takes out. A pitch is a performance and, however serious the subject, you are putting on a show that should deliver the content in a way that surprises, delights and engages the audience.
Sir Alan Sugar in an interview in the Daily Telgraph, post the Apprentice, commented on Gordon Brown who he seems to like. “His problem is that he is not an actor……..a serious person, who with all due respect is a bit boring, not that eloquent in his presentation skills”
In the same article he went on to say “….what a sad state of affairs that you need a showman to get someone to vote for a party”.
And to lead the successful pitch!