Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal

Pitching is highly valued today. It is an ‘art form’ requiring knowledge of human nature, how the brain receives information, communication skills, courage and a lot of practice. Pitching is essential to leadership in all aspects of life – motivating others to act, gaining traction for an idea, raising capital, landing the job or promotion you seek, raising children, and reaching consensus on key issues with your spouse. Pitching for me is integral to my work which is creating new companies in health care. Primary tasks include developing a core value proposition, creating a team – executive team, board of directors, advisors – and raising capital. I know the value of effective pitching firsthand and have had many great teachers – Charan, Gallo, Duarte, Weissman – who have helped me shape my pitching style. I can now add Oren Klaff and his “Pitch Anything” to the list. Klaff who is the Director of Capital Markets at Intersection Capital has written a gem of a book on pitching. “Pitch Anything” from my point of view is a must-have for novices and those seeking to improve their “pitching method.” Its’ subtitle, “An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal,” describes perfectly what you will gain from this book. I have learned in my work with start-ups that many entrepreneurs and inventors build their pitch around what they want their audience to know, rather than what the audience needs to make a decision. There is a big disconnect between the way the pitch is given and the way it is received by the “target”. Entrepreneurs and inventors have incredible knowledge about their subject and make the most important points clearly, but despite being well organized and passionate, their pitch is not convincing and they lose an opportunity. First impressions are lasting. The book begins with an overview of Klaff’s preferred and proven six-step method for pitching, STRONG. 1. Set the frame 2. Tell the story 3. Reveal the intrigue 4. Offer the prize 5. Nail the hook point 6. Get the deal He has used this six step method to raise tens of millions of dollars for his clients. He continues with two excellent chapters on the importance of frame control (who owns the frame/power) and of status. Understanding and managing these contextual issues will influence the receptivity of your audience. ' Frame control - Everyone brings a frame to his or her social encounters. Only one frame will dominate and it will crowd out the weaker frame. This happens below the surface in every business meeting, every sales call and in every person-to person business communication. If your frame wins, you will enjoy frame control. ' Status - How others view you is critical to your ability to establish the dominant frame, and then to hold onto power you gained after taking control. Status is not earned by being polite. It is not earned through small talk. Neither according to Klaff will serve you well as they only reduce your status. Klaff shows how to create situational status so you can positively alter the way people think about you. Klaff then outlines a good pitch and uses a case study to underscore each of the keys to success. Several key takeaways include: • Let the audience know how much time you will take to put the “target” at ease. Why? They do not know how long they are going to be stuck listening to a stranger. This will help in keeping their attention. • Introduce your idea in one minute without details. The idea introduction pattern – “for _____(target customers who are dissatisfied with the current offerings in the market)…my _____is a _______(new idea or product category) that provides _______(key problem/solution features). Unlike _______(the competing product), my idea/product is ______(describe key features).” Then let them in on the “secret sauce” and the budget. • Make sure they know that the most important deliverable is you. • Use frame-stacking and hot cognitions (a whole chapter is dedicated to this) to lead them to a positive decision. Most major decisions are not made by cold cognitive processes such as evaluation analysis, but instead by hot cognition. Data is generally used to justify decisions only after the fact. This is only a snapshot of what Klatch describes. You will find much more detail with ‘how to” guides that are extremely helpful in crafting and delivering a successful pitch. Another key subject area that is covered in the book is ‘neediness’. Pitching or selling does not come without rejection no matter how skilled you are in the art form. The disturbing thing about rejection is that you really never get used to it. It’s natural and unavoidable to become disappointed when you get a “no”. You are human. If you let it, though, it will lead to validation-seeking behavior which is the number one deal killer. Klaff provides several key sources of neediness that come from within. We fall into validation-seeking behaviors when: 1. We want something that only the target can give us 2. We need cooperation from the target and can’t get it 3. We firmly believe that the target can make us feel good by accepting our pitch 4. The target seems uninterested in our pitch, begins to withdraw, or shift his or her attention to something else. The formula for thwarting this deal-killing behavior follows the rules of Tao: 1. I want nothing – eliminate your desires 2. Focus only on the things you do well – be excellent in the presence of others 3. Announce your intention to leave the social encounter – withdraw at crucial moment when they are expecting you to come after them. Success here will make them come after you. Those who pitch MUST consider that the brain has limited focus and capacity. For most, 90% of the message will be discarded. “Pitch Anything” provides a guide to pitching so you can get and keep the attention needed to own the room, drive emotions, and “hook ‘em” to the conclusion you seek.

I read this book in one day. Couldn't put it down. It is engaging, fun to read and practical. I found it viscerally satisfying and fulfilling. If you've been involved in copywriting, advertising, or selling, you're already familiar with the adage "first aim for the heart, then go for the mind" or "people buy for emotional reasons and then justify their purchase rationally". The interesting information bits that Oren shares from neuroscience about how the brain processes incoming information fit like beautiful pieces of a puzzle. Oren begins by pointing out how when we prepare pitches we are creating them in neocortex, whereas the listener is first processing the message through his reptilian or, as the Oren calls it, croc brain. While neocortex processes complex information and is involved in problem solving, the croc brain deals with the basics of survival. It just wants to know whether what we are facing is good for us, or a threat to us - should we eat it or mate with it. Oren then delves into frames. A frame is a perspective from which you look at the situation. As you change the way you look at something, different solutions become possible and when you communicate with others, different frames enable you to engage people in different ways, from different positions. Oren explores power frames, time frames, analysis frames, intrigue frames, and morality frames. You learn how to play with frames - how to create or bust them, how to deframe and reframe them, and how to collide and stack them. The more skilled you become with flipping frames, the better you are able to create conditions that are conducive to obtaining your desired outcomes. Near the end of the book, Oren gives suggestions for practicing frame games so that you can become a frame master. After you've set the stage with frames, Oren shares ideas on controlling different elements of the pitch - how to create and maintain the attention of your listeners, how to elicit just the right balance between desire and tension to hold one's attention; how to change your situational status, and how to construct your pitch - from the point of introducing yourself and the big idea, explaining the budget and the secret sauce, offering the deal, and then stacking frames for hot cognition. He points out what to do to make it all easier on yourself and to get faster results. Throughout the book, Oren illustrates the points he is making with many instructive and entertaining stories. Oren uses the acronym STRONG to sum up his formula: setting the frame; telling the story; revealing the intrigue, offering the prize, getting a decision. As he guides you through each stages, he points out the most likely places where you may stumble or trip yourself, and tells you what to do to recover, so that you can create the perfect pitch.

Entertaining, but poorly organized. The chapters are a MESS. There's not even a specific chapter allocated to (or so much as named after) each of the items in his acronym: STRONG. They're strewn across and mixed up between chapters. He never designates what category each item falls under, and frequently goes back to previous ideas which are also used in later ideas. It begins to feel like a mess of concepts and ideas which you use more fluidly, less of a step-by-step system. Other issues...: -He makes repeated promises throughout the story to "come back to that" and never does. -He actually never tells you how to "Nail the hookpoint" or even commits any substantial time to this. From what I can gather... it just happens after you "frame stack" on people? More on that in the next bullet...: -Many of the examples he uses are ridiculously extreme. For instance, in discussing stacking frames, he talks about the "Moral Frame." Now, from re-reading multiple vague sections, this is a required tactic for the hookpoint (I think? he never actually says if its an option or a requirement). His two examples of a moral frame are: 1) Mother Theresa, and 2) guilt tripping a $100 million con-artist. Yeah. Super useful, I'm sure I'm bound to meet Mother Theresa or a professional con-artist. Overall, the author repeatedly pitches you on the book, but then when you stop and think back, you realize that you got very few examples of how to implement except for ridiculous, grandiose, single-story case studies. The book would've benefitted from less bravado and more specifics. The single case-study extreme examples seem more of "oh I succeeded, lets try to guess what it is and then give it a name" than some tried and true system. Four stars because it was educational, interesting, and gave me a lot of helpful info. It simply isn't something that will truly give me many advantages in a pitch outside of trying to raise VC money for a tech company.

"THE best way to conduct business, hands down." "Sun Tzu Channeled into Business" This review may sound like I was paid to do this, but that's because the results of Oren's approach have paid me back in spades. This is simply my honest impression. You may be reading this because you are considering buying Oren's book, maybe you find yourself selling a product, looking to secure orders, or pitching a deal of some kind, real estate, venture capital, what have you... and you've come to the right place! God's honest truth, this book made me realize I've been doing business backwards, literally, for years. You're concerns probably run along the lines of impressing buyers, and informing investors, running them over with a school bus full of numbers charts and graphs. More than likely, you find yourself calling people who never call back, asking for contracts, and thats why you need to get into pitch anything, so you can cut all that out, and get on the right track. In hip-hop, this is called "flipping the script" and that's exactly what Oren's done with this book. Not too long ago I was there in your shoes, trying to bring investors into a deal that carried a large risk/reward basis, and I came to Oren's writing through a long hunt for material on selling that wasn't the same tired methods, which typically break down to brow beating a buyer till they submit. From the material in this book I was able to create a pitch that highlighted the innovation of the investment, and as such, investors were more interested in being a part of what we were doing, than the ROI. This paid off for them, and my company at the time. What sets Oren and his methods apart, and for me is the most critical point of the book that may escape you on the first read, is integrity. I know it isn't as sexy as talking about frame busting methods, or closing huge deals, but for me, it's most important. As Oren points out, selling or investing happens "from the gut" for your clients, and as such eradicating "neediness" is key. This eradication of neediness is a natural steroid for confidence, and as such, will build up your self esteem in the process of getting that check, and he will also make you realize that the check isn't 100% of your goal, rather, your priority in any deal is to find the best client, investor, or customer, and as such build a relationship. This integrity factor is what stands out the most for me since in most scenarios I've been in, the person making the offer becomes the supplicant, and the investor/buyer the dominant. By injecting this integrity into the structure of what we do making deals happen, as well as in our everyday lives, we can become better purveyors of our services, treat clients better, and create an opportunity to grow that is smooth, and lacks the trials and tribulations of buyer's remorse. Once you apply Oren's methods, you will find yourself more confident, better performing, and more efficient, and no this is not a Viagra commercial, it's the truth, he doesn't want to make you confident, but he will anyway. This is presenting and business as it should be, I don't know how else to say it. And I haven't even scratched the surface in terms of the STRONG process itself, its efficiency and clarity are unmatched. Suffice to say that we need to recognize the value exchange in every situation as Oren explains. Though frame control is critical to the process, the value delivered is just as critical in my experience, stuff all the value you can into everything, making your sales process or presentation border on an education for your clients and customers, and it will be returned to you. I'm the type of person who reads everything, you know all that small print at the bottom, I've read it. As such I've read many, many books on selling, creating, developing, and Oren's book hits the nail on the head in a way that is unique to the man himself. If you can even imagine a story better than the Airport presentation, I would challenge you to send it to me personally for verification, I'm trying myself ;) Bottom line is that if you do any business that deals with sales, investments, presenting of any kind, you need to read this, and while you're at it, get yourself a seat in Pitch Mastery, and get schooled on these techniques, because honestly, until you do you are losing money. Oh and did I mention that Oren's the real deal, not some motivational speaker guru guy, this man is closing deals daily, and this book is how you can take notes!

Full disclosure - I've met Oren on two difference occasions and he has participated in a profitable venture I am involved with. Part of the reason for that venture was because of how much I loved the book. The idea of "pitching" - and yes, pitching "anything" scares me. I'm not good at sales - yet do it in my business as what I probably would have called a "necessary evil" until having read this book. Actually, back in full disclosure, this has been my second time through the book in a few months. This book is not only worth all the hype - but actually worth, in my opinion, more. Unlike other books I've read this year with the theme of "nothing really changes, here's how technology plays into what's been happening for a long time" - this book is about how this new age and new time has, simply, changed the nature of the pitch. You pitch old school, and it doesn't work anymore. You probably knew that already - but what is the answer to this new age? Enter "Pitch Anything." A word of encouragement from Oren: "We are hardwired to be bad at pitching. It is caused by the way our brains evolved." The hard reality the books deals with: "We assume that our audience will do what we want them to do if our idea is good, if we didn't stumble through the pitch, and if we showed a winning personality. Turns out, it doesn't work that way." We all kinda knew that, didn't we ;-) The big idea of the book is FRAMES. You frame the pitch, the environment of the pitch, the psychology of the pitch, etc. inside of proven techniques that give you every advantage. The cool thing is, isn't is a book of funky mind tricks with elements of psychological warfare, it's a text about having the right story, having something worth "pitching," not wasting anyone's time during the pitching process and more. These are the things I can get behind. It's about understanding that very "attention" the social media types love to talk on and on about. In the top level, a great read, with some great stories (turns out he once worked with one of my old bosses). On a deeper level, this is my text book for the next pitch I make. When I make that next pitch - I'm gonna bet 2 things 1 - I'll do much better than I have in the past. 2 - I will have read this thing a few more times between now and then. One of my new years declarations was that I'd read a book every week. Join me on this journey? [...]

I originally bought this book because, while I'm not in sales, I'm constantly having to sell myself and/or my ideas to my bosses and I find I spend a tremendous amount of time qualifying everything to them. I bought this book with the added audio narrative because of the way I learn; I like to listen to the lecture and make note for later reference. So I listen to the book during my commutes and I like the way the author reads his books because it's as if he's speaking to you directly. I also have the digital book so that I can refer back to points made as well as notes I've made. That said, I'm hesitant to give this book a great review because I don't want that many people having the same advantage that I now have! This book will not only give you better tactics and strategy on how to pitch ideas, products, or services, but it will (or at least with me it has) change the way you think. I find myself thinking about and looking for frames. Listening to others, I catch myself thinking how I would have framed their dialogue. I'm constantly looking for beta traps and thinking how to get around them...and this is when I'm NOT trying to pitch anything. I also quite enjoy playfully re-framing some of my boss's comments to put him a bit back on his heels. This really is an outstanding book. It's well written. It offers tips and strategies along with anecdotes to show how it's applied. It's not very difficult concept to learn and employ, but it's not as easy as the author makes it out to be (but then again doesn't success require work and effort?). I'm very pleased with the amount of knowledge I've gained and been able to implement within a short period of time.

The ideas in this book are definitely innovative and they propose an interesting approach to the traditional sales model. Framing, prizing and hot cognitions are great concepts, and also the explanation of the different brain levels you are exposed to when addressing a potential customer. It’s too bad that at some point (around halfway through the book) it all starts to sound like a movie script where the author is the star and beats every major character with impressive moves. The reality is that the author probably started having success with this method right after he got some status and recognition himself, which of course opened a lot of doors for him. He never mentions, for example, how he got the opportunity to pitch into all those potential deals in the first place (AKA putting the first step through the door), which is the biggest challenge most people find when trying to make a sell. All in all, the book is entertaining to read and at least gives you a fresh perspective on the world of sales.

Great book. Highly recommend reading this book before starting to pitch. It's not about polishing pitch decks and numbers; the techniques taught here are confidence-building skills that prepare you for a conventional pitch. I enjoyed it very much.

This book is a powerful pitch, itself. Once you start to read, you never can stop or take break. When I complete reading with landing after 6 hours flight, I became a "croc brain" negotiator instead of "one of those guy". Thank you Oren!

Estava muito ansioso por esse livro e chegou bem antes do previsto.

If you are looking for some help with presenting any sort of information to an audience with the idea of getting a response, this book is for you. The author explains how the brain works when processing information on the side of the information sender and the information receiver. He lays out the concept of framing and status and how everyone's perspective influences how your information or presentation is received. He provides various solutions on how to breach those perspectives to convey your point and achieve the desired outcome. The book is very well written and thus easy to read. It does pick up scientific concepts here and there but does not go into a lot of detail on those. If this is what you are looking for, then you should look for another book. This book is more focused on getting the point across and references research and personal experience along the way. The author does a great job at summarising main points and referring back to them throughout the book which makes it easy to follow and retain. It also helps to find the right spot to re-read paragraphs. Main points are illustrated with stories from the author's life and he pauses every once in a while to highlight the points the example is referring to. The stories are interesting and helpful. They made me want to read "one more page" constantly. If this review was helpful, please click the button below.

Das Buch habe ich eher per Zufall gekauft, weil mich der Titel angesprochen hat. Dann habe ich das angefangen zu lesen und innerhalb von 3 Tagen durchgearbeitet, nicht nur durchgelesen. Das Buch ist für viele wahrscheinlich zu schwierig zu lesen, weil es extrem viel Verbindungen, Verknüpfungen und Vorwissen benötigt. Das Buch von Oren Klaff hat extrem viel wertvolle Informationen, die aber im Buch verstreut sind und eine literarische Schnitzeljagd verlangen. Und wer das rockt, wird viele coole Aha-Momente erfahren.

El mejor libro de mi año hasta ahora