The “S” Word – Part 5: Pitch Perfection

Editor’s Note: As part of our ongoing series diving into the world of sales, part five explores how to create the perfect pitch. If you missed it, check out the previous installment in this series, The “S” Word – Part 4 Craft your Connections, or start from the beginning and catch up with part 1, The “S” Word – Part 1: Who’s afraid of the big bad “S”?.

---

Pitching is an inevitable part of the selling process. Whether you’ve been invited to a formal pitch for a large research project or you’re trying to persuade the finance team a that ResTech platform is an essential purchase, you’re going to have make your case. And more often than not this will be in the form of a verbal presentation.

People freak out at the mention of the P-word. Like the S-word it can conjure up a feeling of dread. “I’m going to have to stand there and speak in front of the CEO. The spotlight will be on me. I must dig deep and find my powers of persuasion.”

This isn’t a post about conquering your nerves. That’s for another time. But, there is something we can do to feel more assured when we’re engaged in a pitch.

People feel more confident when they’re in familiar territory. A fifteen minute keynote on the power of story to a thousand people? I’ll be fine. Ask me to speak about the world economy or the technology behind generative AI to 15 people… I’d break out in a cold sweat. When pitching our own ideas or services we’re usually already in familiar territory. But something about the format and structure of presenting, a very formal act of selling, can throw us off.

I’ve worked with hundreds of market researchers who try to compensate for this fear of the format by moving to the center of their comfort zone. They go deep into the data. They focus attention on process and methodology. It’s where they feel safe. Of course there are occasions when this information matters most. But chances are, it’s not when you’re trying to sell your product, service, or insights to another human. So, how do we make the sales pitch feel more familiar? It all comes down to my favorite subject: story.

The patterns of story, as I’ve highlighted throughout this series, are key to how humans process information to create meaning. When we want to influence someone to buy what we’re selling, there are ways of telling a story that can help us. There are structures helpful to our customer, because our pitch follows a pattern their brain uses to create meaning. These structures are also helpful to us as the presenter. Because story patterns are so familiar to the human brain. it makes them easier to recall. We can worry less about what we’ll say next, because a story structure will lead us there naturally. We become familiar with the pitch structure and therefore more confident in our delivery.

There are a few different selling story structures we can explore, but I’m going to focus on one of the simplest.

The story. A protagonist wants a prize, but they are faced with an obstacle. A guide shows them the possibilities ahead. And although there are several paths the protagonist can take, the guide helps them choose the right one and achieve their goal.

Recognize it? It’s the (simplified) basis for A LOT of Hollywood blockbusters. As a pitching structure it looks like this:

Context

Why is this presentation happening? What do we believe matters most to the audience/potential customer? What evidence can we offer to support this belief? It’s important to frame this information in a language that supports the worldview of your audience. What words matter to them? What words don’t? No detailed methodology, unless your audience is data scientists or fellow researchers.

Conflict

What’s the point of pain for your audience? Why should they be paying attention to what you’re saying? Again, framing with language that matches the audience’s worldview is crucial. If you’re talking to your CMO, whose current remit is to find cost savings, maybe the frame is avoiding inefficiency or maximizing spend. What words can you choose that will play into that? It will be different for every audience and situation.

Concept

What’s the high level way you will resolve their pain? This is your opportunity to create a lens through which your audience will see all the information that follows. Your chance to guide them toward the path you want. Maybe you offer a metaphor to help them simplify their choices. Maybe it’s by using words associated with the right choice.

Choices

What options does the audience have to achieve results? Including a degree of choice provides a sense of agency. You’re not telling them what to do, you’re providing carefully curated options for them to consider.

Close

What’s your recommended course of action as a specialist in the field? This is where you bring the sale home. It’s important to base recommendations on your position as a specialist and not simply as a means to win a sale. Everything is about focusing on the best interests of the customer.

I’ve seen this story structure unlock many a researcher’s relationship to pitching and presenting. Rooting the pitch in a familiar and effective format allows them to focus their message while simultaneously boosting confidence. It provides an easy to remember, clear set of signposts to follow. And it reframes the presenter’s thinking away from the sale toward providing the best outcomes for their audience/potential customer. It places them in the role of guide – an expert who just wants to share a brilliant insight about what their service or idea could offer the audience. Hardly like selling at all.