PDF Summary:Pitch Anything, by Oren Klaff

Oren Klaff has developed pioneering presentation techniques that have enabled him to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for some of the largest companies in the world. By focusing on how we’ve evolved to receive and interpret information, Klaff approaches the art of pitching through our more primitive instincts, directing us to tap into the parts of our brains that are truly responsible for decision-making. In Pitch Anything, he walks the reader through these techniques step-by-step, laying out a practical, measurable system that can help you craft a stronger, more effective message.

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Beta Traps

Your target’s higher status is reinforced with “beta traps”: business procedures and social rituals that confirm her status as alpha and yours as beta.

Beta traps are small ways that your target sets the rules. Remember, our croc brains recognize that the one who sets the rules is the one in command. When we enter a lobby and are told to sign here, sit there, and wear this badge, our croc brains get the message: We are following the rules, not making them.

Beta traps make us feel like outsiders and needy for social approval. When we are asked to wait in the conference room, for example, while our audience trickles in chatting and laughing, we feel excluded from the group and expected to seek approval through small talk. It triggers our croc brain’s fear of isolation, making us feel inferior and anxious.

Be aware of the beta traps you encounter, and avoid whichever you can. Follow the guidelines of the business you are visiting, of course, and don’t come across as unprofessional, but look for small ways to defy them. For example, instead of sitting in the lobby where they direct you to, stand, leaning against a wall. Above all, don’t engage in small talk.

Capturing Situational Status

To capture the higher status position at your meeting, you will need to seize “local star power.” You can do this by following a series of steps that positions you as the dominant player.

1. Become the star of the show (your pitch meeting) by being more knowledgeable, competent, and skillful than the others in the room in some specific area.
2. Maintain your status by keeping the conversation in the areas of your expertise. Ignore all irrelevant conversational threads that arise.
3. Solidify your status by redistributing some of your power to others in the room. Get one of them to agree with you on something, thereby recruiting them to support your position as alpha.
4. Make your target confirm your status by making a statement qualifying herself. Ask her to convince you of why she should partner with you, or ask her to explain a recent deal—make her feel she is chasing you.

Understanding Attention

To effectively command your target’s attention—not just spark her interest, but hold it—you must understand the factors that control attention.

A person is paying full and close attention only when she feels both desire and tension. Desire is your croc brain telling you that this thing in front of you will improve your life or your chances for survival. Tension adds consequences, making it feel important.

Create desire by positioning your idea as something new and interesting. Then create tension with a series of “tension loops”—“pushes” and “pulls” designed to make your target feel you are rejecting her and then accepting her again.

For example, say, “We might not in fact be right for one another,” and then pivot to, “But then again, if we could find a way to work together, we’d accomplish a lot as partners.” She’ll feel tension from this exchange and will keep her attention focused on you.

Finally, no matter how terrific your pitch, wrap it up after 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, your target’s mind will begin to drift and she’ll start to forget what you’ve told her.

Making the Pitch

Now that you understand the basics of frame control, status, and attention, you can focus on the specifics of your pitch.

Your pitch will have four parts:

1. Introducing your pitch, yourself, and your idea (5 min)
2. Discussing the numbers, the competition, and the secret sauce (10 min)
3. Offering the deal (2 min)
4. Creating hot cognitions by stacking frames (3 min).

1. Introducing Your Pitch, Yourself, and Your Idea

Introduce your pitch by assuring your target that it will be brief (20 minutes). This will put her at ease, knowing what to expect and knowing she won’t be asked to sit for an hour.

Introduce yourself with a brief overview of your past successes. Mention one or two prime accomplishments only.

Introduce your idea using a “Why now?” frame. A “why now” frame appeals to your target’s croc brain by making your idea seem novel and timely, activating its “fear of missing out” instinct. With a “why now” frame, you’ll position your idea or product against three market forces:

1. Economic forces: Has anything changed financially in your market or the larger world that positively affects your idea?

• Changes in interest rates, inflation, and the value of the dollar are strong examples of forces that can open up business opportunities.

1. Social forces: Have peoples’ behavioral habits changed in ways that will support your idea?

• Newsworthy topics like concern for environmental issues are often a strong influence.

1. Technological forces: What changes in technology are driving your industry or making your idea possible?

• Such changes can flatten existing business models and create new ones. Showing that you are ahead of the curve here can create excitement.

Then, outline your idea with a quick, top-level overview highlighting key elements.

• “For [target customers]
• Who are unsatisfied with [current market options]
• My idea/product/project is a [new idea/product/project category]
• That provides [key benefit]
• Unlike [competing idea/product/project]
• My idea/product/project [has these key features].”

For example:

• For companies maintaining server rooms on the west coast
• Who are dissatisfied with their inefficient air-conditioning systems
• My product is a wall-mounted panel
• That provides equal cooling power with 25 percent more efficiency.
• Unlike portable air conditioning units,
• My product uses minimal electricity and has no moving parts, ensuring easy maintenance.

2. Discussing the Numbers, the Competition, and the Secret Sauce

This part of the pitch is most susceptible to the trap of analysis, cold cognitions, and boredom. Of course, these specifics can’t be glossed over if your message is to be credible, but the key here is momentum. Be brief, competent, and efficient.

The Numbers

Start with the budget. The budget is often the most difficult piece to put together and present, so if you nail it, you’ll set yourself apart. Spend relatively little time on your projections: these are numbers that are easier to put together and are taken less seriously anyway, as any potential investor will expect you to paint an overly-rosy picture.

The Competition

When discussing your current or potential competition, focus on answering these two questions:

• How easy would it be for competitors to enter the market?
• How easy is it for customers to switch from your product to your competitors’?

The Secret Sauce

The secret sauce is the one thing that will give you staying power against your competition: the “unfair advantage” you have over others, and what your competitive edge is based on.

Resist the urge to dwell on this. Say it with confidence and move on, keeping in mind your target’s short attention span.

3. Offering the Deal

Describe to your target what benefits she can expect when she does business with you. Tell her what you will deliver, when, and how. Explain any roles and responsibilities she will take on.

4. Creating Hot Cognitions by Stacking Frames

To finish strong, and leave your target emotionally connected to your pitch, wrap up your presentation by running through the following four frames in quick succession. This is called “frame stacking.”

Earlier, we discussed how you can use these frames during your pitch as a response to various oppositional frames from your target. At this point in your pitch, you will proactively adopt these frames in order to drive the presentation.

• Frame 1: Intrigue
• Frame 2: Prize
• Frame 3: Time
• Frame 4: Moral Authority

Frame 1: Intrigue

Start your frame-stacking by grabbing your target’s attention with an intrigue frame. You can tell a quick, short story, as discussed earlier, or you can dangle something irresistible in front of them: something they’ll want but cannot have right now. For example, maybe you have an eccentric and interesting partner who’ll be brought in once the deal is finalized, or some other perk of the deal that will materialize later.

Frame 2: Prize

As discussed earlier, the prize frame positions you as the reward in your deal, instead of the other party. As you wrap up your pitch, hit this theme again, leaving your target with a lasting impression of you as the prize.

• Paint yourself as a hot commodity, in demand in the market. “I’ve got three other firms begging me for this deal, but if you work hard and play your cards right, you can earn your way in.”
• Make it clear you’re choosy about who you work with. Hint that you want to work with her, but need to know more before making a decision. Ask her for some materials to prove herself, or ask her what previous business partners have said about her.

Frame 3: Time

Proactively impose your own time constraint, increasing tension and adding stakes to your pitch. Our croc brains have a built-in scarcity bias and a fear of missing out on opportunities.

For example, you might say: “Folks, I’d love to give you a month to think about it, but the market’s not going to let me do that. If you don’t want the deal, don’t do it, naturally. There’s no pressure. But we’re going to need to know by the 15th whether you’re in or out.”

Frame 4: Moral Authority

The moral authority frame is one in which you claim the higher ground for reasons of professionalism, ethics, and fairness.

Our croc brains instinctively recognize a moral code that sets us apart from the animal world. Reminding your target of this code positions you as an enforcer of rules, and we know that her croc brain recognizes that those who set the rules are in control.

Painting yourself as the enforcer of moral code also plays on her croc brain’s sensitivity to peer pressure and its craving for acceptance. By invoking the rules of “the group,” you implicitly threaten her exclusion from it, and position yourself as a leader of it.

Highlight your impeccable professionalism as a person who holds their business partners to the highest standards: “We care very much about our reputation, as well as the reputation of our partners. We don’t play games, and we do things right. We give you a fair price, and expect a clean deal. Are you able to play by these rules?”

Putting It All Together

There are three principle insights into how you can win over your target’s croc brain.

1. Package your ideas correctly. Speak about them in ways that generate hot cognitions and avoid cold analysis. Create desire, with a sprinkle of tension.
2. Be alert for oppositional power frames. Win the resulting frame collisions.
3. Use humor, and have fun. Even while under the surface you are fiercely fighting for dominance, you must do it all lightheartedly.