The Pitch Episode 170: Polished Pitch Trumps Off The Cuff

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Imagine if Game of Thrones was produced on the fly. Learn how to elevate the presentation of your words above the bare-minimum standard.

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How do you prepare a verbal pitch? Some people pitch with no preparation at all and just go for it totally off the cuff. Whether it’s for an interview, sales presentation, media pitch or even a flash briefing. Pitching on the fly might be easier for you, but it’s less informative and entertaining for the person who’s listening. Before you pitch off the cuff, write it down, rehearse it and review it. You want to write down your pitch, even if you don’t think you’re a good writer, because it gives you the opportunity to really gather your thoughts and rearrange them in a way that will be more powerful when you say the words. You want to rehearse your pitch out loud so you can hear how it sounds and because the written word doesn’t always translate verbally and this gives you the opportunity to make adjustments. Ideally, you should rehearse it with someone else to get feedback. You want to review it so you can improve it. If you are doing a media interview that means watch or listen to your interviews and take notes on how to make them better. If you are recording a pitch in the form of a flash briefing, for example, listen to it before you upload it. If there are too many blunders, then re-record it because if you don’t, your listeners will be more focused on where you tripped up and will likely miss the next 30 seconds of what you are saying. “The Pitch” challenge today: for professional communications make the effort to make your message as polished as possible. As a society we are consumed with casual conversation, so in order to rise above the bare-minimum standard, you have to put time and effort into your words. Can you imagine if the HBO series, Game Of Thrones produced their episodes off the cuff? They would not have the following or the ratings they currently have. Whenever someone tells me how much they love Game of Thrones, they always say, “it’s so well written.” Yes, it’s very well written, rehearsed and goes through extensive reviews and edits before any episode is aired. Which is probably why you aren’t seeing a new Game of Thrones every night. People respond to carefully thought out words, so take care in your delivery, because a polished presentation will be recognized and rewarded.

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