Do you need to sell your next big idea?

Google "perfect elevator pitch", and you will find many tools and frameworks. Some gifted people are teaching others how to do this, and if there is a market for something, then there will always be a product. This means that you better learn some selling or pitching technique or you will be soon out of the market.

Selling ideas is natural to humans, we can communicate and speak to others since early ages, and even if we are not confident about this, it is a fact that we persuade and get persuaded when communicating to other people. We, humans, like to have an opinion, soft or strong there is always an opinion, and we are mostly dynamic beings, so our views can change.

Experts talk about our reptilian brain and basic instincts. They usually take their hands up in the air and touch the back part of their skull to point out that we all have it there. Then words like emotions and fears fly, and we picture ourselves in the middle of the wilderness hunting our being hunted by wild animals.

It is revealing, we have found that we have this reptile brain and that we still have emotions, even if today we tend to communicate more with machines than with people. In contrast, some other people are not convinced about these ideas, and they think that each of us has a unique set of beliefs and therefore the same pitch framework cannot convince everybody.

However, we have been pitching our ideas or feelings even before learning to speak, a smile or a tear are simple ways to express emotion. As humans, we transpire feelings and emotions, and we love to talk and share to feel, that is why everybody loves a good story. And then, the story-telling frameworks for pitching or selling are born.

The Recipe.

So, your google quest about the perfect pitch will come up with tons of results with amazing cooking recipes that can look like:

1. Start your story (pitch) with the pain, others call it the problem, and if you can relate to it or have some emotional experience to tell, you should use it to connect with your audience.
2. You have the bad guy, now introduce the hero to the story: the solution, how your idea, product or whatever you are selling will cure the pain of the world? Do not forget to use hope, it is a powerful weapon.
3. But the hero is usually not enough; he is a raw diamond that needs to be polished to bring light into darkness. So, you introduce your brand and tell how your specific solution is able to ease the pain of the world (if ever there was some pain).
4. Now, you have the villain and the hero with superpowers. So, you speak about the fight; it is better if you introduce a princess, so get more drama, but you have to explain why this is the perfect place and moment for your solution?
5. And finally, you need a spectacular ending, how about a quick functional demo? Something that provokes an astonishment feeling, like the feeling after thinking why I’m still reading this If I could just google it?

If you are trying to sell something to someone, it seems that offering him exactly two alternatives it a good bet. Two options will not drive the reptilian brain crazy with too many options, nor will make it distrustful for only having one alternative in a world full of them.

If what you want is to get some investor to put money into your idea, you will need to think at his level and have an eagle's view. Just remember that investing money into something risky is irrational, so you should not try too hard to be credible, but you have to be honest. Keep your presentation concise; most people do not like to waste their time.

Good storytellers use simple language; they prepare and practice their act. But above all, they genuinely believe in their ideas faith has proven its worth long enough.

As seen in the previous TEDx video, in average only one in a hundred (1%) of all elevator pitches are successful in getting people to invest in your ideas, a gambler would say those are bad odds and will quit the game. But a believer would think that he only must try a hundred times to succeed. Is the glass half empty or half full?

Finally, and because of that mathematical fact, we would have to say that there is not a perfect pitch recipe. However, there is a way to improve your chances by at least knowing the rules of the game. So study and practice for your pitching, the experience is a product of time.

So, do you want to do a good pitch?

Check the links and videos we scouted to write this post. Sit down and try to create your own unique story with a fantastic ending, maybe you will even need to break some stereotype, and the villain can be your product, or the hero a mighty princess.

We wrote this article after finding that many pitching techniques, based on knowledge, are now rather conventional and have become dull. We must innovate, but the golden rule will always be to keep trying, this is only my first pitch, and I have a hundred more to go.

We started this review for our first pitch with www.primeralista.com, currently working in an MVP. We are interested in Technology, Real Estate Development, Construction, Fintech, Proptech and Healthtech adventures, Consulting, Product and Project management. So please do not hesitate to contact us if you think we share any interest.

Thanks for reading, and sharing!

Camilo Blanco & Nathalia Gonzalez.