Review of Perfect Pitch: The Art of Selling Ideas by Jon Steele

The sharks are circling, and you are just panicking, the overwhelming feeling that they sense your fear. The fear of presenting is more demanding than the fear of death. We have all heard tips and hints on how to make the perfect presentation, but none seem to work. Having the perfect pitch can help calm down those sharks in the water feeling, it can also help seal the deal on that investor meeting. Jon Steele takes aim at the perfect pitch by providing personal stories of his own experiences and passes on his knowledge of how to accomplish the ideal pitch for entrepreneurs. The obvious advice for presentations is most often the overlooked one – using your content to engage with the audience.

The book is written in a compelling manner with some fantastic examples told through personal tales of struggle and triumph. A great litmus test of a good business book is whether it provokes not only considering or approaching an issue differently but implementing the tips. This book passes the test with flying colors and provides great use for starting entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs that are looking to expand.

Power of 5

Jon breaks down everything into fives. He sees a pitch constituting of five jobs – those of researcher, writer, producer, director and performer – and there being five distinct stages:Firstly, grazing, and gathering raw materials. At the start of any process it is wise to combine research, general knowledge and learned knowledge. A strategy that Jon uses is a Post-it note for every bit of relevant information and then re-organize it into themes.

Secondly, looking for meaning. Drawing everything together and looking for connections. By drawing these connections, it makes for a complete idea and brings out flaws that may be present. Thirdly, dropping it. Rather than working 24/7, we can let our subconscious work on the problem while we take our conscious mind off it by doing other things. “Writers block” can lead to frustrating times as a presenter and by letting our subconscious do the work for us means that we can think of ideas not otherwise accessible. Also, adapting and distilling. There should have a central theme that could be repeated in 2 minutes. After all time is money. With the full presentation, each part should engage and surprise. It can be broken down into an inciting incident, progressive complications, a crisis, a climax and a resolution. Much like Freytag’s pyramid or Nancy Duarte’s presentation shape. Lastly, writing the presentation. Having control is key and by writing the script down to the last apostrophe, gives that control – both in terms of content and timing. If you know the content inside out, you can deviate from it if necessary. And adapting Jon’s method, here are five elements to his thesis, with five nuggets under each heading.

Prepare

• People work better on one task than several at once
• Work in a small, tight, committed team
• Take control. Taking control means keeping work and social life separate, not allowing interruptions, having space for thinking, treating others as you would like to be treated and looking after your brain• Start quickly and devote equal time to each aspect
• Practice makes perfect/

Recognize the competition

• The focus should be on beating the competition and not finding the perfect answer
• Belief has to be turned into action – this is done by persuading that your idea is the best
• Save energy for the big issues rather than proving the obvious
• Either say something different or say the same thing better
• But a USP of some description is needed to stand out and plant doubt in the competition/

Ensure a narrative

• The best speeches are done using the simplest language
• Presentations should tell stories
• A good presentation has a start, a middle and an end
• A few well chosen questions can be a powerful tool
• Use minimal slides with a prose leave-behind.

Keep the tone engaging

• The five key elements are truth, beauty, excitement, significance and persuasion
• Communicate; don’t lecture. The best presentations are question marks; not full stops
• Communicate one idea at a time
• Be inclusive as the audience doesn’t listen to what you say but what it means to them
• Passion breeds success. When you believe, giving ground is tantamount to failure.

Connect with the audience

• Own the room
• Minimize space between the presenter and the audience
• Give a sense of what it would be like to work with you
• If one answer is given, don’t give a second if it involves repetition
• Keep consistency of message and openness of mind and manner.