Monday, November 4, 2019

Pitch Anything

By Oren Klaff

This book shares a common stream of thought with "Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow." That we have two parts to our brain. First, we have a croc brain that thinks fast and emotionally. It worries about threats, social status and saving calories. It will hijack the deep thinking part of our brain at a moments notice. The croc brain is lazy, fights hard to let the deep thinking part of our brain do work.

We fail to pitch ideas because we present information, ignoring the croc brain. People only pay attention, when they are curious. You can only sustain interest for about 20 minutes, no matter how interesting the topic.

The croc brains reaction to a pitch is...
1. Ignore if possible.
2. Only focus on the big picture. It needs high-contrast and well differentiated options to choose between.
3. Emotional. Most of the time that emotion is fear.
4. Focused on the here and now with short attention span that craves novelty.
5. in need of concrete facts. It look for verified evidence and doesn't like abstract concepts.

There is a large section in the book about frame control-- controlling conversations.

In most business conversations there are three frames...
1. Power Frame
2. Time Frame
3. Analyst Frame

Recognize these themes and deploy
1. The power-busting frame.
2. Time constraining frame
3. Intrigue Frame.
4. Prize Frame

Discussions about Beta-traps. The little things that pop up in conversation that demonstrate your are inferior to someone else. That you are not the alpha.

For example, if a decision maker is late to a meeting, you can wait. This demonstrates that you are inferior to the decision maker. Or, you can reschedule, which says your time is valuable and you have other options.

If someone says "Be brief. I only have fifteen minutes." Respond. "That's OK. I inly have 10."

Persistence is important, but constantly trying to close the deal shows that you are desperate.

Pitches have to be short. 20 minutes or less.
1. Introduce yourself and the big idea: 5 minutes
2. Explain the budget and the secret sauce: 10 minutes
3. Offer the deal: 2 minutes
4. Stack the frames for hot cognition: 3 minutes.







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