What’s your pitch?
Your pitch is your answer to “So what do you do?” - That magic question posed to you when introduced to someone at a seminar, networking event or social gathering.
And you want it to be great. Right?
To help you craft your perfect pitch, here is a refreshing take on how to create a pitch that rocks and doesn’t send your audience running for the exits.
Let’s look at some pitch approaches.
The Nametag Pitch
“What do you do?
“I’m a Business Coach”.
“Oh that’s interesting.”
Doesn’t work. There is no pitch. You are not memorable and your answer doesn’t lead to a secondary question or pique curiosity.
The Rambling Pitch
“What do you do?”
“I help people with their businesses. I work on their management, marketing, financials, personnel, leadership, systems and so much more. I love working with people because people are so great. I also love businesses and am fascinated by how each one works”…….. and so on ad nauseam.
“Excuse me. I need to go to the toilet”.
They never return.
Doesn’t work because you have adopted a machine gun approach and your pitch lacks focus and clarity. They stopped listening half way through and couldn’t comprehend, let alone remember, your message.
The Elevator Pitch
“What do you do?”
“I help business owners optimize the four P’s – profit, productivity, people and performance”
“That sounds interesting. How do you that?”
This is better. The pitch is clearer, more memorable and elicits a secondary question.
The ‘You Know How’ Pitch
Never say the unutterable. It makes your tongue feel icky and you suffer heartburn.
Introducing the “You Know How Pitch”.
Pitch #1
“You know how most businesses just float along and never achieve the success they should?”
“Well what I do is help small and medium businesses optimize what I call the four P’s – profit, productivity, people and performance”.
“In fact, I work together with clients to devise and document a concise strategy that drives and rewards the team, converts customers into loyal fans and creates fantastic wealth and lifestyle outcomes for the owners.”
Pitch #2
“You know how some skinny guys feel terrible about their bodies and wouldn’t be caught dead in a gym?”
“Well what I do is train 18 to 25 year old skinny males in private with a guarantee they’ll put on at least 10kg of muscle mass in 6 months”.
“In fact, I’m working with two guys in your neighborhood at the moment."
See how more compelling these two pitches are?
The “You Know How” Pitch is conversational and flows. It tells a story and sets the scene.
You can imagine your listener nodding and asking further questions when you finish.
You can imagine your listener walking away with your card and remembering what you do.
They may even contact you again or refer potential clients.
This is the power of the “You Know How Pitch”.
Now I want you to draft your “You Know How Pitch”.
Don’t worry. It will seem weird at the start. But craft it and play with it.
Once you have created it, I want you to trial it through road-testing it with listeners.
What’s the worst thing that can happen?
Through road-testing it with listeners, you can assess their reaction through body language and follow-up questions.
Based on this analysis, you can then make tweaks to your “You Know How Pitch” to enhance it.
In time, you will nail it and have the Perfect Pitch.
I’d love to hear your “You Know How Pitch” so please add a comment.
