pitching

Use “Pitch Hacks with Extreme Confidence”

~ Tom Marcoux ~ Leave a comment
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Get Tom Marcoux ‘s book “Soar With Confidence … PItch, Lead, Succeed”

“I don’t think I’m confident enough to pitch and get funding—with so much competition,” my new client, Will, said.

After we went through details to ensure the value and soundness of Will’s business offering and plan, we focused on his real concerns concerning presenting a pitch.

As an Executive Coach, Pitch Coach and the Spoken Word Strategist, I help my clients hone their skills and performances.

“Will, you’ll experience Extreme Confidence through a process of developing new skills and shifting out of your ‘default-settings,’ I assured him.

I’ll share how to break Three Default Settings:

1. Break Default Setting #1 – Retreating from Tough Questions

Confidence is contagious. You need your body language AND your words to work together to express confidence in your project and your own abilities.

I’ve seen speakers/pitch-makers look confused and overwhelmed by tough questions posed by potential investors. The pitch-maker’s body language causes trouble when they reflexively take a couple of steps back—away from the questioner.

In my workshop “Pitch with Extreme Confidence: The Pitch Hacking Method,” I have attendees work with a partner and practice taking one to two steps forward and toward the person posing a tough question.

While the pitch-maker is stepping forward, they say a “Catch the Question – Reply.” This is a reply that sounds like: “George, I hear that’s important to you” or “Susan, I’m glad you brought that up. This is a good time for me to address that.”

Even if you have no ready answer, you can buy yourself time with something like: “George, I hear that’s important to you. I’ll need to pause for a moment. I want my answer to be useful to you.”

You might call this a way to “stall with poise.” By the time, you have finished saying your memorized Catch the Question – Reply, your mind will have some ideas for your response.

2. Break Default Setting #2 – Providing Too Much Data

I’ve noted in meetings in Silicon Valley, CA that some people try to combat nervousness by burying the audience in tech details. What we really need is to present briefly. You need to be able to communicate the essence of your offer in these three durations: 1 minute, 5 minutes and 15 minutes. Provide the most compelling detail. You’re looking for the “Telling Detail.” For example, I saw a film producer flub a presentation by presenting too much data. He would have been better off to have said simply: “This music star has earned numerous awards. Two of his albums have gone Platinum.” That’s it. The tech investors in the room would have received the point.

Trim your presentation. Ask yourself these questions:
* What’s the most important thing the investors want to know?
* What would grab their attention?  

3. Break Default Setting #3 – Missing the Storytelling Opportunity

Researchers note that human beings are conditioned to like and relate to stories.

Successful pitch-makers often use a “narrative frame” so that the audience can feel the essence of the offer. [I talked about the narrative frame during a recent phone conference call for my group Pitch Power Fest CLICK HERE to see the meetup.com group]. The narrative frame includes these standard elements: Hero, Hero’s assistant, Victim, Villain.

Your first sentence or question can set up your compelling story. Here are examples:

  • What element of _____ are the XY companies missing? And how is this hurting customers today – and every day? [Customers are the victims. The particular companies are the “villains.”]
  • What causes the trouble with ____? Who can save ____[X million] people their hard-earned cash and ______?

I’ll put this in few words: “Tell the Compelling Story!”

A story can be as brief as one sentence.

Here are examples:

“Using just one of Tom Marcoux’s methods, I got more done in 2 weeks than in 6 months.” – Jaclyn Freitas, MA

“Tom Marcoux coached me to get more done in 10 days than 2 years with other coaches.” – Brad Carlson, CEO of Mindstrong, LLC

 

In summary, the way to deliver a powerful pitch with extreme confidence is to use Pitch Hacks. (Hack often refers to a creative, clever solution!)

I’ve shared with you the Pitch Hacks of breaking Three Default Settings.

The best to you with your next pitch.

Warmly,

Tom

Tom Marcoux
Executive Coach
Spoken Word Strategist

Pitch Coach

CEO (leading teams in United Kingdom, India and USA)

Speaker-author of 41 books (with free chapters on Amazon.com )
Author of Soar With Confidence: An Executive Coach Reveals Secrets, Lies and Countermeasures So You Excel Like Top CEOs and Leaders – Pitch, Lead, Succeed (See more when you CLICK HERE )
 
1.8 min. video (on YouTube): Tom Marcoux pulls back the curtain about how his directing a feature film that went to Cannes Film market helps with “Building Your Brand”:
Author of Time Management Secrets the Rich Won’t Tell You (See more when you CLICK HERE )
Author of What the Rich Don’t Say About Getting Rich: Work Smarter, Live Better (See more when you CLICK HERE )

Use the Real Secret to Nail Your Pitch or Your Speech

~ Tom Marcoux ~ Leave a comment
Get Tom Marcoux 's book "Soar With Confidence ... PItch, Lead, Succeed"
Get Tom Marcoux ‘s book “Soar With Confidence … PItch, Lead, Succeed“

“I hear you’re a pitch coach, Tom. Tell me something that can give me a true advantage,” said John, an acquaintance, trying to make the right pitches to get funding for his startup company.

“Many of us have to unlearn so we give the best pitch of our lives,” I began. “The problem is that when human beings are under stress, we fall back on ‘default settings.’ I started off as a shy, timid, 9-year-old boy playing the piano for a tough audience. My leg fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings. To give great speeches in front of hundreds of people, I had to recondition myself. I had to break out of my default settings.”

“How do you do that?”

“It took coaching by mentors. It also takes what I do with my clients. I guide and coach them through my process Elite Adaptive Conditioning.” I said. “I’ll give you an example. What’s the worst thing for someone giving a pitch?”

“My mind going blank,” John said, real concern on his face.

“Exactly. And that fear can ride inside your subconscious mind. So, what I do is help the client develop Real Confidence,” I said. “Over and over we practice what I call Recovery Methods. For example, I’ll say to the client, ‘Your mind has just gone blank. Use one of your Recovery Methods now.’ Then the client immediately does a Recovery Method. This embeds the excellent-response into the client’s subconscious mind. This is Elite Adaptive Conditioning.”

Here’s an example. Giving a speech at IBM, my mind went blank, and I did NOT skip a beat. I said, “I’ll need to pause for a moment; my brain needs more RAM.”

The audience of tech people laughed; they loved that comment. And I remained poised. I continued with, “Now, I want to emphasize …” [These are just two of many Recovery Methods that I tailor for my clients.]

Two Crucial Points for Your Rehearsal

First, merely rehearsing your lines of your pitch is NOT enough. You will do better by rehearsing Vital Details like how to respond to the 10 Worst Questions the Investor Could Ask. Have at least two answers for each question. Then rehearse those two answers in response to having someone ask you such questions.

In my graduate level, public speaking classes, I would have the students help each other practice. One student said, “Bad question” and the other student practiced “catching the question.”

One catches the question by saying something like:

  • I’m glad you asked that. I was going to get to that in the next section. We’ll work with this point now.
  • George, I can see that means a lot to you.
  • Good question. That leads us right into …

SECRET: Some investors purposely “mess with you.” They are testing you. They want to see if you are “Leader Material” before they even consider investing in you and your company/idea. So, you must rehearse dealing with Tough, Surprise-Questions.

Second Crucial Point: Always rehearse the Most Vital Detail.

I learned this one the hard way. In a timed-speech contest, the important thing is to end the speech on time. I made a big mistake by going overtime by 8 seconds — and my funny, warm speech was disqualified.

I had rehearsed:

  • how to start my speech
  • how to say “I have three main points for you”
  • how to address the speaker AND the audience
  • how to bring in spontaneous humor
  • how to end my impromptu evaluation-speech with a summary

But I had failed to rehearse the Vital Detail: how to cut a speech short—with grace. I could have rehearsed a quick ending: “And the final thing I’m going to share is ______.”

Here’s the item to notice: If you participate in a “pitch fest” and you’re supposed to pitch in just 20 minutes, prepare two patterns. First, prepare to present for 10 minutes and have a dialogue with the potential investors for 10 minutes. Second, rehearse how to cut your pitch short—with grace. You can rehearse something like: “And one final thing: I encourage you to say yes to funding my project because of [Reason #1] and [Reason #2]. Thank you.”

The Real Secret to Nail Your Pitch or Your Speech …

To nail your pitch or your speech, realize that it’s not just about rehearsing the text of your speech. You need to rise to the higher level. This is where you’ve prepared for your mind going blank, you can cut off your speech with grace, and you can handle the toughest questions.

That’s how you create your best performance – and that’s how you create Real Confidence in yourself. We’re talking about the Real Confidence that is contagious to the potential investors. This puts you in the ideal position to gain funding.

Warmly,

Tom

Tom Marcoux
Executive Coach
Spoken Word Strategist

Pitch Coach

CEO (leading teams in United Kingdom, India and USA)

Speaker-author of 41 books (with free chapters on Amazon.com )
 
Author of Soar With Confidence: An Executive Coach Reveals Secrets, Lies and Countermeasures So You Excel Like Top CEOs and Leaders – Pitch, Lead, Succeed (See more when you CLICK HERE )
 
1.8 min. video (on YouTube): Tom Marcoux pulls back the curtain about how his directing a feature film that went to Cannes Film market helps with “Building Your Brand”:
 
Author of Time Management Secrets the Rich Won’t Tell You (See more when you CLICK HERE )
Author of Connect: High Trust Communication for Your Success in Business and Life (See more when you CLICK HERE )

Be At Your Best: Pitch Well and Answer Tough Questions!

~ Tom Marcoux ~ Leave a comment
Tom Marcoux address Stanford University PhDs and PhD-candidates. After his speech, Tom answered a question about "how to deal with tough questions."
Tom Marcoux address Stanford University PhDs and PhD-candidates. After his speech, Tom answered a question about “how to deal with tough questions.”

“How did the top filmmakers fail to engage the Silicon Valley investors, Tom?” my friend Jill asked.

“Many of them crashed and burned when they reacted to questions,” I replied, noting what I observed at a private investors’ meeting in Palo Alto, California.

Here I’m going to share briefly some vital ways to respond (not react) to tough questions.

I have three steps: a) Catch the question, b) Answer the question and c) Shine light on the Diamond.

1. Catch the Question

As I work with clients, I’ve seen many of them recoil and step backwards when they’re asked a tough question. Wrong move. Stepping backwards shows that you’re unsure of the value you bring.

Instead, over the years, I have conditioned myself to step two steps forward when someone asks a question.

I invite to step toward the person and say something like this (to “catch the question”):

  • Susan, I’m glad you brought that up. I was going to address that in the next segment. Let’s do this now.
  • George, I can see that’s important to you.

When you answer a question in that above manner, you show that you are not uneasy about the question. You also give yourself time to think. I call it “thinkspace.”

2. Answer the Question and Shine Light on the Diamond

When you answer a question, you do NOT have to accept the premise.

Picture this:

George (potential investor) asks, with an edge: “Anita, how do you have the gall to ask us for money when your first company went belly up?”

Anita replies: “George, I can see that means a lot to you. I learned a lot from the experience with the previous company. Recently, while working as vice president of XYZ Company, I’ve learned of a market segment that no one was aware of three years ago. I have the focus and the data to back up that this is a prime opportunity for investors like you to take advantage of some new data and new technology.”

The above answer covers something that is implied by George’s tough question: The possibility that Anita is incompetent.

Anita does not reply in any way in which she could hurt her own cause. She will NOT provide some self-conscious, self-denigrating comment that could be recorded as a terrible soundbite that issued from her own mouth.

Instead, she expresses “the Diamond” – also known as talking points – that she is competent (working as vice president at XYZ Company) and that she sees new opportunities (backed up by new data and new technology).

The truth is: With great coaching and proper rehearsal, you can prepare for the 10 Worst Questions You Don’t Want to Answer.

When you do that, you’ll be so prepared, that you will know, even in your subconscious mind, that you have real value to convey to potential investors.

That’s when you’re strong and ready … and you will succeed.

Warmly,

Tom

* See my new book Year of Awesome! How You Can Use 12 Success Principles including 10 Seconds to Wealth  (CLICK HERE to look inside the book)

Tom Marcoux
CEO (leading teams in United Kingdom, India and USA)

Speaker-author of 40 books (with free chapters on Amazon.com )
Executive Coach – Pitch Coach
Spoken Word Strategist
 
Author of Time Management Secrets the Rich Won’t Tell You (See more when you CLICK HERE )
 
1.8 min. video (on YouTube): Tom Marcoux pulls back the curtain about how his directing a feature film that went to Cannes Film market helps with “Building Your Brand”:
 
Author of Connect: High Trust Communication for Your Success in Business and Life (See more when you CLICK HERE )

How Your Mindset Helps You Connect with People – On the Subconscious Level

~ Tom Marcoux ~ Leave a comment
Secret so You Pitch Well in Tom Marcoux 's book "Darkest Secrets of Making a Pitch for Film and Television"
Secrets so You Pitch Well in Tom Marcoux ‘s book “Darkest Secrets of Making a Pitch for Film and Television”

Can your mindset create good results instantly?

On this topic, I turned to my friend and colleague, David Barron, with nearly 20 years of experience in doing clinical hypnotherapy.

Here at PitchPowerFest.com, we’re currently expecting that David Barron will be joining us in our proposed upcoming events in Silicon Valley, CA and a later event on the East Coast (potential locations in New York or the Walt Disney World Resort).

I’ve invited David to share two vital elements of truly connecting with the investors during your presentation.

  1. Start off by assuming that you have rapport.

You start off that you like these people and assume that they like you.

Just pretend that everyone there is your best friend and that you’re their best friend. And you demonstrate that feeling as you do your presentation.

For example, look them in the eyes. When they’re talking, give them your full attention, showing that they are important.

  1. Start with assumption that the presentation is about THEM. It is not about you or your product/project.

You demonstrate that this is true by starting with the focus on what is important about your project to them. You get away from the general idea of “this is why my project is great.” Instead, you have on a filter that sees the world from their values.

David Barron, clinical hypnotherapist, helping people for nearly 20 years.
David Barron, clinical hypnotherapist, helping people for nearly 20 years.

David Barron emphasizes: “Make sure that you engage in a conversation, not just a presentation.”

A powerful practice, indeed!

Warmly,

Tom

* See my new book Year of Awesome! How You Can Use 12 Success Principles including 10 Seconds to Wealth  (CLICK HERE to look inside the book)

Tom Marcoux
CEO (leading teams in United Kingdom, India and USA)

Speaker-author of 40 books (with free chapters on Amazon.com )
Executive Coach
Spoken Word Strategist
Author of Time Management Secrets the Rich Won’t Tell You (See more when you CLICK HERE )
1.8 min. video (on YouTube): Tom Marcoux pulls back the curtain about how his directing a feature film that went to Cannes Film market helps with “Building Your Brand”:
Author of Connect: High Trust Communication for Your Success in Business and Life (See more when you CLICK HERE )