Pitch Anything: An An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning Winning the Deal 1. The Me Method a. There is is a fundamental fundamental disconnect disconnect beteen beteen the the ay e !itch anythin anything g and the ay it is received by our audience. As a result, hen it is im!ortant to be convincing, nine out of ten times e are not. "ur most im!ortant messages have a lo chance of getting through b. Traits of a #$illed Investor Investor i. %uic$ to calcula calculate te yield yield curves and and instantly instantly analy&e analy&e hat's hat's being !itched !itched ii. ii. Detect Detect fla flass or (# no no matter matter ho ho ell ell hidde hidden n iii. Tough Tough tal$ing, tal$ing, but at the same time, time, itty itty and and charismati charismaticc c. Pitc Pitch h Met Metho hod d #te #te!s !s i. #et the frame. frame. )rames )rames create create conte*t conte*t and relevance relevance,, and the !erson ho ons the frame ons the conversation. ii. ii. Tellin lling g the the stor story y iii. iii. +evea +eveali ling ng the the intr intrig igue ue iv. iv. "ffe "fferi ring ng the the !ri !ri&e &e v. ail ailin ing g the the hoo$ hoo$!oi !oint nt vi. vi. -ett -ettin ing g the the decis decisio ion n d. Presenter's Presenter's !roblem: !roblem: can ma$e your your most im!ortant im!ortant !oints !oints clearly clearly,, ith !assion, !assion, and be ell organi&ed, and still not be convincing. That's because a great !itch is not about !rocedure. It's about getting and $ee!ing attention. That means you have to on the room ith frame control, drive emotions ith intrigue !ings, and get to a hoo$!oint fairly uic$ly. uic$l y. e. We are our on on orst coach. coach. We We $no $no ay too much much about our on sub/ect sub/ect to be able to understand ho another !erson ill e*!erience it in our !itch, so e tend to overhelm that !erson. f. Deali Dealing ng ith ith 0roc 0rocodi odile le (ra (rain in i. The brain brain develo!ed develo!ed in three three se!arat se!aratee stages. stages. )irst )irst came came the old old brain, brain, or croc brain2, that is res!onsible for initial filtering of all incoming messages. -enerates most survival fight3or3flight res!onses of all incoming messages. 4oever, the croc brain's reasoning reasoning !oer is !rimitive because it doesn't have a lot of ca!acity. ca!acity. ii. The midbrain midbrain,, determines determines the meaning meaning of things things and and social social situatio situations ns iii. The neocorte* neocorte* evolved evolved ith a !roblem3 !roblem3solvi solving ng ability ability and is able able to thin$ thin$ about com!le* issues and !roduce ansers using reason. iv. iv. "ur thought thought !rocess !rocess e*actly matches matches our evoluti evolution: on: first first survival, survival, then social relationshi!s, finally !roblem solving. v. Pitching Pitching means e*!laini e*!laining ng abstract abstract conce!ts, conce!ts, but message messagess that are are com!osed and sent by your young neocorte* are received and !rocessed by the other !erson's old crocodile brain. We We are hardired to be bad at !itching. It is caused by the ay our brains have evolved. vi. It's It's the $luge $luge e tal$ed tal$ed about earlier. earlier. The ga! beteen beteen the loer loer and u!!er brain is not measured in the to inches that se!arate them
!hysically. It must be measured in millions of years 5the five million years or so that it too$ for the neocorte* to evolve, to be more !recise6. Why7 (ecause hile you are tal$ing about !rofit !otential,2 !ro/ect synergy,2 return on investment,2 and hy e should move forard no28 conce!ts your u!!er brain is comfortable ith8the brain of the !erson on the other side of the des$ isn't reacting to any of those highly evolved, relatively com!licated ideas. It is reacting e*actly as it should. It is trying to determine hether the information coming in is a threat to the !erson's immediate survival and, if it isn't, hether it can be ignored ithout conseuence. 1. If it's not dangerous, ignore it. 9. If it's not ne and e*citing, ignore it. . If it is ne, summari&e it as uic$ly as !ossible8and forget about the details. ;. Do not send anything u! to the neocorte* for !roblem solving unless you have a situation that is really une*!ected and out of the ordinary. vii. If your !itch is com!licated8if it contains abstract language and lac$s visual cues8then it is !erceived as a threat. ot a threat in the sense that the !erson listening to your !itch fears he is going to be attac$ed, but a threat because ithout cues and conte*t, the croc brain concludes that your !itch has the !otential to absorb massive amounts of brain !oer to com!rehend. And that is a ma/or threat because there /ust isn't enough brain !oer to handle survival needs, the !roblems of day3to3day life, and e*isting or$ !roblems !lus hatever unclear thing you are as$ing it to do. Presented ith this $ind of situation, a circuit brea$er in your brain is tri!!ed. The result7 A neuroto*in gets attached to the !oten tially threatening message 5your !itch6. This is li$e a )ed<* trac$ing nu mber, hich, in turn, routes your message to the amygdala for !rocessing8and destruction. viii. We assume that our audience ill do hat e ant them to do if our idea is good, if e didn't stumble through the !itch, an d if e shoed a inning !ersonality. Turns out, it doesn't or$ that ay. What is vitally im!ortant is ma$ing sure your message fulfills to ob/ectives: )irst, you don't ant your message to trigger fear alarms. And second, you ant to ma$e sure it gets recogni&ed as something !ositive, une*!ected, and out of the ordinary8a !leasant novelty. i*. The croc brain is !ic$y and a cognitive miser hose !rimary interest is survival. It doesn't li$e to do a lot of or$ and is high maintenance hen it is forced to !erform. It reuires concrete evidence8!resented sim!ly in
blac$ and hite8to ma$e a decision. Minor !oints of differentiation don't interest it. And this is the brain to hich you are !itching. *. I had made the crocodile brain feel safe= I as feeding it short vignettes of clear, visual, and novel information= and I asn't ma$ing it do much or$. 9. )rame 0ontrol a. >oo$, I only ant to $no to things from you. What are monthly e*!enses, and ho much are you !aying yourself7 b. Imagine for a moment that there is some $ind of !oerful energy field that surrounds all of us, silently transmitting from the de!ths of our subconscious. This invisible defense shield is genetically designed to !rotect our conscious minds from sudden intrusion by ideas and !ers!ectives that are not our on. When that energy field is overhelmed, hoever, it colla!ses. "ur mental defenses fail, and e become sub/ect to another !erson's ideas, desires, and commands. That !erson can im!ose his ill. o one really $nos hether there are human energy fields or not, but !erha!s this is the best ay to thin$ about the mental structures that sha!e the ay e see the orld, hich I call frames. And in a moment, you ill begin to understand hat ha!!ened hen Tom's frame came into contact ith8 and colla!sed under8(ill (el&berg's !oer frame. c. There are millions of !eo!le in the business orld, and each brings a frame to his or her social encounters. Whenever to or more !eo!le come together to communicate in a business setting, their frames suare off and then come into contact, but not in a coo!erative or friendly manner. d. )rames are e*tremely com!etitive8remember, they are rooted in our survival instincts8and they see$ to sustain dominance. e. When frames come together, the first thing they do is collide. And this isn't a friendly com!etition8it's a death match. )rames don't merge. They don't blend. And they don't intermingle. They collide, and the stronger frame absorbs the ea$er. "nly one frame ill dominate after the e*change, and the other frames ill be subordinate to the inner. This is hat ha!!ens belo the surface of ever y business meeting you attend, every sales call you ma$e, and every !erson3to3 !erson business communication you have. . The lesson of the co! frame is an essential one: If you have to e*!lain your authority, !oer, !osition, leverage, and advantage, you do not hold the stronger frame. +ational a!!eals to higher order, logical thin$ing never in frame collisions or gain frame control. otice, the officer does not need to !itch you on hy he is going to issue you a citation. 4e does not need to rationali&e ith you. 4e doesn't have to e* !lain his !oer, he doesn't need to rest a hand on his gun, and he doesn't need to describe to you hat ill ha!!en if you decide to resist. 4e feels no need to e*!lain ho critical it is that you remain calm and obedient. 4e doesn't suggest that you have fear and an*iety. ?our croc brain instantly and naturally has these reactions to the co! frame. ?ou are reacting= your croc brain is in control. ?our actions are automatic, !rimal, and beyond your gras!.
;. I thin$ of these things before I ta$e a meeting: What are the basic !rimal attitudes and emotions that ill be at !lay7 Then I ma$e sim!le decisions about the $ind of frame I ant to go in ith. )or many years, I used /ust four frames that ould cover every business situation. )or e*am!le, if I $no the !erson I'm meeting is a hard3charging, ty!e A !ersonality, I ill go in ith a !oer3busting frame. If that !erson is an analytical, dollars3and3cents ty!e, I ill choose an intrigue frame. If I'm outnumbered and outgunned and the dec$ is stac$ed against me, time frames and !ri&e frames are essential. @. -oing into most business situations, there are three ma/or ty!es of o!!osing frames that you ill encounter: a. Poer frame b. Time frame c. Analyst frame . ?ou have three ma/or res!onse frame ty!es that you can use to meet these oncoming frames, in the initial collision, and control the agenda: a. Poer3busting frame b. Time constraining frame c. Intrigue frame B. There is a fourth frame you can de!loy. It's useful against all three of the o!!osing frames and many others you ill encounter: a. Pri&e frame
