The Pitch Episode 77: Dig Deeper

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There’s a danger with using Google, Siri and Alexa for research. Learn how to uncover a credible source that will strengthen your pitch.

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Remember spending hours researching at the library? If you don’t then on some level you are very fortunate to have always had the Internet at your fingertips and now Alexa or Siri on voice command to fact check and find a wealth of information in a time crunch. But here’s the danger: Since it’s so easy to “Google” to find what we need it can deter you from digging deeper to uncover credible sources. Before you reference a source in your pitch, make sure you have the original source to back up your facts. Make sure that source is credible and unbiased on the subject matter. For example, recently I found a story in the Huffington Post that cited 10 studies on a dietary supplement that I was writing about for a client’s press release. This article included visible hyperlinks to show where to find the original studies. I thought I had struck gold by cutting my research time in half so I could finish writing my press release. But I took the time to do a little more digging only to discover all the hyperlinks in the story were either broken or directed to another person’s article but not an original source. And then after reading some fine print at the bottom of the Huff Post article it was clear that the entire article was sponsored by a company that also sells the same dietary supplement. Not a credible source! “The Pitch” challenge today: Go deeper with your research and make it a game to find the original source. Once you identify who conducted the study or survey, look behind that veil and determine how credible the source is on the subject matter. Are they truly unbiased or is there motive to promote a product or a cause. Avoid research not coming from credible news sources, and even with credible news sources, fact-check their source. It may seem like it’s easier to research with today’s technology, but it’s actually more difficult to cut through the abundance of opinions and agendas in order to find the truth. Don’t stop digging until you have a reliable source that will strengthen your pitch.

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