How do you give a persuasive presentation and, ultimately, get your way? I was fortunate enough to track down the amazing Michael Port, author of Steal the Show and Book Yourself Solid, for an interview in which he shared some great tips about how he teaches corporate clients to create compelling pitches.
Claire, the landscape architect for Grandma Cuddles Day Care, has a great idea! She believes that beautifully styled ponds, a decorative hedge maze, and a few strategically placed Audrey II carnivorous plants can keep the little kiddies happily inside the grounds without the current eyesore of concrete walls, barbed wire, and guard towers. (Never mind the noise from the graffiti removal squad. They use abrasive sandblasting hoses! It makes it hard to nap).
If she simply presents her new plan for the Center, she’ll be laughed out of the room. Or worse. Grandma is known to be enthusiastic about letting her little charges know who’s boss.
She can make her pitch most effective by including five major elements.
#1 - Identify Your Big Idea
Every pitch needs to have a big idea. On the one hand, this sounds obvious. On the other, it may not come naturally.
Claire is thinking of all the details of her new landscape. However, if she launches directly into the details, no one will have any idea where she’s going. Each member of her audience will latch on to one element. “Claire wants ponds everywhere! This isn’t Sea World!” or “Think of all the business we’ll lose from the barbed wire manufacturers! Say no to Claire’s eco-terrorism!”
In business, the big idea will usually have implications for action.
Instead, Claire needs to summarize her plan in a single sentence. That’s how she gets her big idea. “It’s time to bring the Grandma Cuddles campus from Third Reich Brutalist into a modern landscape reflecting the joy we feel when we know everything is under control. Our control.”
In business, the big idea...
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