Pitching - With Sasha Damjanovski

Quick notes:

• Bringing the audience in at the beginning, the hook that is used to reel them in plays a major part in setting the tone for my pitch. It can be a statistic.

• Give them goosebumps.

• Create an emotional connection (and not think of it as just a sale). Then justify that connection with facts and details.

• Limbic brain - does it have a connection with cosmic connections?

• Hook: what got me interested into this in the first place? (Is it Baby G? Tweety? Star Signs?)

• Define your audience. Know who you are pitching to as well as knowing who are you pitching about.

• Don't lie. Don't bullshit. Don't mislead.

• Pitch process:

1. What is it? What am I talking about? Is it clear?

2. What is special? What's the USP/ESP? Could relate to the hook.

3. What proof do I have? Data, stats, evidence, a commendation?

4. What do I have? Budget, prototype, team, plan, strategy.

5. What do I need/want? Office, money, people etc.

6. What do they get? What would they get in return? What would be useful to them?

• Know your project/your idea. This is your baby.

• Three acts in the structure: Intro (25%), Main (50%), Conclusion (25%)

• What is the call to action?

• I use post-its for notes and a whiteboard to make sense of the big picture. I need to see it visually but in words.

• It would be interesting to have twists and turns in the presentation - like a Hollywood movie.

• Put all my ideas in one place, use my post its, make it exciting.

• Know your project, but be ready for change.

• Practice pitching to others (this is what I don't do)

• SHOWTIME

• What they're asking you:

• Neo Cortex - Is it worth it? Is it what they're looking for? Syncing your tribe.

• Limbic Brain - Are you sane? What kind of person do I come across as? They will be judging me.

• Authenticity: I live by heart upon my sleeve. However, I tend to get carried away by the 'proper way' of doing things, and it's been a ride trying to do things the way I do things.

• Survival: Friend or foe? How do we react to each other? Words make me feel very welcomed.

• Confidence vs arrogance. Also look into ID, Ego, and Super Ego.

• Find my tribe.

• Authenticity: Eye contact is intimate. You are crossing a boundary. It shakes things up, builds trust, challenge, and the audience tend to pay attention and notice details.

• Captivating: Be present and react to the audience. Be confidence - People love watching someone do something really well. Think about why we watch sports.

• The audience is judging you. Help them judge you well.

• Don't forget you're dealing with real humans. Don't change who you are.

• Not all pitches will go well. It's like Neil Gaiman said; “A freelance life, a life in the arts, is sometimes like putting messages in bottles, on a desert island, and hoping that someone will find one of your bottles and open it and read it, and put something in a bottle that will wash its way back to you: appreciation, or a commision, or money, or love. And you have to accept that you may put out a hundred things for every bottle that winds up coming back.”

• In summary: twists and turns, rhythm, eye contact, body language, know when to use humour, keep to the point.

• Finally, is it like going through a boring wedding album or did you make your audience jump off a plane?