How to Pitch Your Idea

We are cruising through the final lap of summer and it is Thursday all over again! Welcome back to my weekly newsletter, this week featuring advice from the founder of stage32.com, RB Botto! This is also your day-of reminder that there is an interview today with the author of Rogue Waves, Jonathan Brill, who will be talking about how we can adapt to exponential change. It airs live today at 12 pm EDT/9 am PT/5 pm GMT, and you can add a calendar reminder for later today by clicking here.

If you can’t make today’s interview, there’s no need to worry, because we always upload these weekly interviews to my YouTube page. If you’d like to be notified when the newest episode is available, subscribe to my channel and you’ll receive a notification.

Richard “RB” Botto is the founder of the entertainment business social networking site stage32.com. As a producer, entrepreneur, and author, he has been on both sides of the desk when it comes to making your pitch. Whether it’s for a job, project, or your newest blockbuster script, RB reminded us throughout the interview that the success of a pitch is heavily influenced by the connection that we make. If you would like to hear our conversation in its entirety, you can check that out here. Here are a couple of concepts RB suggests you keep in mind for your next pitch:

Your pitch is not about you:

“A lot of people think ‘I'm going into a pitch, so my only job is to convince you on either myself or the project I'm trying to launch.’ The reality of the situation is, you’re sitting across from another human being. That human being probably has somebody that they have to answer to as well. If you come in from a place of selflessness, which begins with knowing whom you're pitching to, knowing about them, what they've accomplished in the past, you could ask them questions at first: Why did you start this? Why did you do this? Tell me a little bit more about the company. I think that all great pitches no matter what you're doing, everything has to do with that human connection.”

Do your research:

“We can interview, I'm not even kidding, 40 or 50 people for a spot, and maybe two or three have done their homework. You need to do the homework. If you want to get inside my head, it's very easy. If I'm interviewing you, it's very, very easy to go online. Google me and see what I've done. You can know exactly how we operate, what our mission is, and how we're trying to help people. If you learn that before you get on the job interview, before you get on the call, or if it's in person, if you do that, I'm telling you, it sounds so simple, but you will have a competitive advantage over most people because people just aren't putting in the time right now.

The rule of three:

“I have a rule of three. I offer three times before I ever ask for anything when I meet somebody. It's worked really, really well for me, because people see that I care and that I'm looking to build a relationship. I don't care how high up the chain that person is either. I will still offer. There is always something you can give somebody. Even if it's thanking them for sharing content or sharing something with them or asking them how they're doing. There is always some value you can bring to somebody, especially a person that's being pitched to all the time, because they're not looked at as human, they're looked at as robots, right? It's all about being visible, being active, creating value for other people, and knowing when to ask. Give first, and always remember to come from a place of empathy. It matters. Especially in this day and age right now.”

Thank you for reading my newsletter! For more information about RB, check out his website richardbotto.com. On August 26th, I’ll be talking with the authors of Humor, Seriously, Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas! The three of us will talk about how to use humor in business. For a calendar reminder, click here.

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Wishing you health and success - 

Dorie