Pitch Anything

Here’s the Pitch

Regardless of the business you’re in or the product you sell, common wisdom holds that you must work harder to land more sales pitches and that you will make only a couple of sales from every 100 pitches. Thus, sales is a numbers game that depends only on effort and volume.

That sounds like a pretty difficult way to make a living, because it depends on the idea that – no matter how good your presentation skills – you are destined to strike out most of the time. Instead, you need to learn this crucial secret: As a presenter, the success of your pitch is less about your presentation skills and more about how you get and hold your audience’s attention.

Crocodiles and Business

To boost your pitch success percentage, take a moment to understand some basic neuroscience. The brain is divided into three parts. The first and deepest part is the “crocodile brain”: The “croc brain” responds first to all incoming messages and reacts in a fundamental way, with raw emotion and a fast fight-or-flight reaction. The second part is the midbrain, which responds next and gives meaning and thought to the input it receives. The last response comes from the...