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Pitching: The Best Story Wins

After several presentations, the client will struggle to remember who said what. They will, however, remember a strong singleminded idea. You are not going to be employed for getting it right, you will win because they think you can get it right. Clients are not looking for good work – they are looking for good people.
No matter how brilliant you are, your work can seldom win a pitch. Perhaps there are instances when the work sells itself, but I don’t feel that that’s the goal for starting a relationship – the work is there to sell you. In the same way I expected my Porsche to sell me. I did not want my date to drool over my car, I wanted my date to drool over me - because I had the car. This superficial strategy aside, the creative work cannot win a pitch – it just plays a pivotal role in stimulating an emotional reaction.
On the contrary, advertising agencies that pride themselves on communicating well with consumers, can be unsympathetic to the very audience sitting in the room. I have seen countless variations of somnolence-inducing slides that cover everything from geo-demographic descriptions of target markets, to an actual summary of the client’s operation, to ‘ensure we’re on the same page’. It is a complete myth that people need to be completely informed.
Whenever a presentation opens with a ‘Contents’ slide, the entire process becomes an exercise for the audience to pray that you get to the end of the deck as soon as possible. You’re telling a story, not reading a book. And even if you were to read the book to someone else, would you read the index? Before settling in with a child to read Little Red Riding Hood, would it help the story any if you outlined what you were going to say?

Walk to granny

Meets fox

Fox eats granny

Fox impersonates granny

Fox gets ready to eat Little Red

Woodcutter arrives in nick of time

Live happily ever after

However, it could accomplish the task more quickly – to get them to fall asleep.
You don’t have to be an exceptional presenter to tell a better story than the next person. What you do need is structure. Not all parents are good readers of fairy tales, but all are equally loved and instantly appointed – and this from children – our harshest critics. It is not about performance. It is about clarity. It’s not about being a great presenter – it’s about being a clear thinker. Very often the reason the account went up for pitch in the first place was ‘They didn’t understand our business’. Unclear thinking. Don’t think in terms of a polished presentation – think in terms of polished thinking.

About the author
Sid Peimer is the sometimes strategic director of the full service agency BEHP. He is also the owner of the metropolis www.stratplanning.com – his very own domain where he has proclaimed himself president.