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Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal Kindle Edition
Gold Medal Winner--Tops Sales World's Best Sales and Marketing Book
“Fast, fun and immensely practical.”
—JOE SULLIVAN, Founder, Flextronics
“Move over Neil Strauss and game theory. Pitch Anything reveals the next big thing in social dynamics: game for business.”
—JOSH WHITFORD, Founder, Echelon Media
“What do supermodels and venture capitalists have in common?They hear hundreds of pitches a year. Pitch Anything makes sure you get the nod (or wink) you deserve.”
—RALPH CRAM, Investor
“Pitch Anything offers a new method that will differentiate you from the rest of the pack.”
—JASON JONES, Senior Vice President, Jones Lang LaSalle
“If you want to pitch a product, raise money, or close a deal, read Pitch Anything and put its principles to work.”
—STEVEN WALDMAN, Principal and Founder, Spectrum Capital
“Pitch Anything opened my eyes to what I had been missing in my presentations and business interactions.”
—LOUIE UCCIFERRI, President, Regent Capital Group
“I use Oren’s unique strategies to sell deals, raise money, and handle tough situations.”
—TAYLOR GARRETT, Vice President, White Cap
“A counter-intuitive method that works.”
—JAY GOYAL, CEO, SumOpti
About the Book:
When it comes to delivering a pitch, Oren Klaff has unparalleled credentials. Over the past 13 years, he has used his one-of-a- kind method to raise more than $400 million—and now, for the fi rst time, he describes his formula to help you deliver a winning pitch in any business situation.
Whether you’re selling ideas to investors, pitching a client for new business, or even negotiating for a higher salary, Pitch Anything will transform the way you position your ideas.
According to Klaff, creating and presenting a great pitch isn’t an art—it’s a simple science. Applying the latest findings in the field of neuroeconomics, while sharing eye-opening stories of his method in action, Klaff describes how the brain makes decisions and responds to pitches. With this information, you’ll remain in complete control of every stage of the pitch process.
Pitch Anything introduces the exclusive STRONG method of pitching, which can be put to use immediately:
Setting the Frame
Telling the Story
Revealing the Intrigue
Offering the Prize
Nailing the Hookpoint
Getting a Decision
One truly great pitch can improve your career, make you a lot of money—and even change your life. Success is dependent on the method you use, not how hard you try. “Better method, more money,” Klaff says. “Much better method, much more money.” Klaff is the best in the business because his method is much better than anyone else’s. And now it’s yours.
Apply the tactics and strategies outlined inPitch Anything to engage and persuade your audience—and you’ll have more funding and support than you ever thought possible.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherMcGraw Hill
- Publication dateFebruary 18, 2011
- File size592 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Using the S.T.R.O.N.G. Method, you will discover that PITCH ANYTHING gives you a common vocabulary in identifying hurdles that might keep you from getting your next deal. You will learn how to read subtle (but obvious) shifts in power during meetings; how to own the room by creating local star-power and capture the alpha position; you will learn when to press forward and when to pause. Once you realize you have control over the agenda and the flow, you’ll always stay composed, get the high-status position, own the frame, and get to the hook point. Then, closing is easy.
PITCH ANYTHING is a fast-paced narrative packed with crystal clear examples illustrating the unique S.T.R.O.N.G. Method, which takes advantage of how the brain really works by Setting the Frame; Telling the Story; Revealing the Intrigue; Offering the Prize; Nailing the Hookpoint; and Getting a Decision. These are methods to get frame control, a way of making your perspective the dominant one in social encounters. Each of these tactics can get you closer to closing a deal. Used together, they give you complete control over the pitch process.
IF YOU’RE THE FRONT MAN, THE PERSON WHO HAS TO PITCH THE DEAL OR SELL SOMETHING, THEN TODAY YOU HAVE TO RISE TO A NEW LEVEL. Your marketplace is more crowded than ever. Socially,with people’s attention splintered over half dozen devices, and the speed of life increasing, the attention of your target is growing more and more scarce. If you can’t get and keep your target’s attention, then it doesn’t matter how well you present the information about your product or deal. And getting attention isn’t a technical or business skill; it’s become social skill.
From the Publisher
Oren Klaff is Director of Capital Markets for the investment bank Intersection Capital, where he raises tens of millions of dollars from investors and institutions. Intersection Capital has grown to $250 million of assets under management by using Klaff’s pioneering approaches to raising capital and incorporating neuroscience into its capital markets programs. He is a specialist in financial modeling and the codeveloper of Velocity, a capital markets product that has raised more than $100 million of private equity and venture capital.
From the Back Cover
"Fast, fun and immensely practical."
--JOE SULLIVAN, Founder, Flextronics
"Move over Neil Strauss and game theory. Pitch Anything reveals the next big thing in social dynamics: game for business."
--JOSH WHITFORD, Founder, Echelon Media
"What do supermodels and venture capitalists have in common? They hear hundreds of pitches a year. Pitch Anything makes sure you get the nod (or wink) you deserve."
--RALPH CRAM, Investor
"Pitch Anything offers a new method that will differentiate you from the rest of the pack."
--JASON JONES, Senior Vice President, Jones Lang LaSalle
"If you want to pitch a product, raise money, or close a deal, read Pitch Anything and put its principles to work."
--STEVEN WALDMAN, Principal and Founder, Spectrum Capital
"Pitch Anything opened my eyes to what I had been missing in my presentations and business interactions."
--LOUIE UCCIFERRI, President, Regent Capital Group
"I use Oren's unique strategies to sell deals, raise money, and handle tough situations."
--TAYLOR GARRETT, Vice President, White Cap
"A counter-intuitive method that works."
--JAY GOYAL, CEO, SumOpti
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
PITCH ANYTHING
An Innovative Method for PRESENTING, PERSUADING, AND WINNING THE DEALBy OREN KLAFFMcGraw-Hill
Copyright © 2011 Oren KlaffAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-07-175285-5
Contents
Chapter One
The MethodHere's the "big idea" in 76 words: There is a fundamental disconnect between the way we pitch anything and the way it is received by our audience. As a result, at the crucial moment, when it is most important to be convincing, nine out of ten times we are not. Our most important messages have a surprisingly low chance of getting through.
You need to understand why this disconnect occurs in order to overcome it, succeed, and profit. This book tells you how.
I Am Not a Natural
I pitch deals for a living. My job is to raise capital for businesses looking to expand rapidly or go public. I am good at it. When companies need money, I get it for them. I have raised millions for deals involving Marriott, Hershey's, Citigroup, and many other household names—and I continue to do so at a rate of about $2 million per week. From the outside, the reasons for my success seem simple: I offer wealthy investors profitable deals that involve Wall Street banks. But others do that, too. Yet I raise a lot more money than they do. They compete in the same market. Do the same types of deals. Pitch the same kinds of facts and figures. But the numbers show I am consistently one of the best. The difference isn't luck. It is not a special gift. And I have no background in sales. What I do have is a good method.
As it turns out, pitching is one of those business skills that depends heavily on the method you use and not how hard you try. Better method, more money. Much better method, much more money. It's no different for you. The better you are at advocating your position, the more successful you will be. Maybe you want to sell an idea to investors, convince a client to choose you over the other guy, or even explain to your boss why you should be paid more. I can help you get better at it using the five methods in this book.
Pitching a Master of the Universe
Over the years, I've pitched to—and closed deals with—some of the iconic businesspeople of our time, including founding members of Yahoo!, Google, and Qualcomm. But the story of what I can offer you cannot really be told without my explaining the day I went to pitch one of the guys Tom Wolfe would describe as a "master of the universe."
"Jonathan" (never Johnny or even John) is an investment banker who controls vast sums of capital. He gets between 600 and 800 pitches a year; that's three to four every business day. He often makes multimillion-dollar investment decisions based on no more information than a few e-mails on his BlackBerry.
As a dealmaker, this guy—and I have absolutely no intention of giving you his name; he sues everyone and anyone at a moment's notice—is the real deal.
There are three things you must know about Jonathan. First, he's a math phenom who can calculate yield curves in his head. He doesn't need spreadsheets. He can instantly analyze what you are pitching him. Second, he's seen more than 10,000 deals and can detect any kind of flaw or BS no matter how well hidden. Third, he's tough talking and, at the same time, witty and charismatic. The upshot: When he's pitching you, his chances are good. When you're pitching him, yours aren't. Yet, if you want to be taken seriously in venture capital, you need to have done a deal with this guy. And so, some years ago, when I was working to raise money for a software company, I arranged to pitch Jonathan and his investment team. Given their reputation, I knew if I got them on board, it would be a lot easier to raise money from other investors who were still undecided. They'd say, "Hey, if Jonathan signed off on this, then I'm in too." But Jonathan knew the power of his endorsement—and he wasn't going to give me an easy win.
As my pitch got underway, he made things difficult. Maybe it was for sport. Maybe he was having a bad day. But it was clear he wanted to take—and keep—control of the whole presentation. I didn't realize this at the start, however, so, I began, as I always do, by framing (frames create context and relevance; as we will see, the person who owns the frame owns the conversation). I explained exactly what I would—and would not—be talking about, and Jonathan immediately started giving me a type of resistance called deframing, which is exactly like it sounds.
For example, when I said, "We expect revenues to be $10 million next year," he cut me off and changed the frame with, "Who cares about your made-up revenue projections. Tell me what your expenses are going to be."
A minute later, I was explaining, "Our secret sauce is such-and-such advanced technology."
And he said, "No, that's not a secret sauce. That's just ketchup."
I knew not to react to these comments. I pressed on.
"We have a Fortune 50 company as our largest customer."
He interrupted with, "Look, I'm done here in nine minutes, so can you get to the point?"
He was really making it difficult. You can imagine how hard it was to use all the right techniques: setting the frame, telling the story, revealing the intrigue, offering the prize, nailing the hookpoint, and getting the decision.
Collectively, I call these the STRONG method (you will learn about these soon).
Some 12 minutes after I began, what I had hoped was going to be my best pitch ever instead showed all the signs of being my one of my worst.
Put yourself in my situation. After just 12 minutes of your presentation, you've been told that your secret sauce is ketchup. Told that your projections are made-up numbers. And that you have nine minutes left to actually make a point.
I was faced with the presenter's problem: You can have incredible knowledge about your subject. You can make your most important points clearly, even with passion, and you can be very well organized. You can do all those things as well as they can be done—and still not be convincing. That's because a great pitch is not about procedure. It's about getting and keeping attention. And that means you have to own the room with frame control, drive emotions with intrigue pings, and get to a hookpoint fairly quickly. (Details on those last two in a second.)
I reminded myself of these steps in the face of Jonathan's interruptions. Then I swallowed hard and hoped my nervousness wasn't showing. I went back to my pitch, concentrating on my three objectives. I was determined. When he deframed, I reframed. When he looked disinterested, I delivered an intrigue ping (this is a short but provocative piece of information that arouses curiosity): "By the way, an NFL quarterback is also an investor." And finally, I got him to the hookpoint, the place in the presentation where your listeners become emotionally engaged. Instead of you giving them information, they are asking you for more on their own. At the hookpoint, they go beyond interested to being involved and then committed.
At the end of the 21 minutes, my pitch was complete. I knew Jonathan was in. He leaned forward and whispered, "Forget the deal for a moment. What in the hell was that? Nobody pitches like that but me."
I tried to show no emotion as I told him, "That, in general terms, is called neurofinance, an idea that combines neuroscience—how the brain works—with economics. I have taken it a step further and have broken it down into five parts" (the method we talked about above).
Now, even though Jonathan has MENSA-level intelligence, he doesn't have much interest in concepts like neuroscience. He—maybe like you—had always believed that the ability to pitch was a natural talent. But given what he had just seen me do in 21 minutes—it changed his mind. It was clear my pitching was a learned skill and not naked, natural talent like his.
"You can do that all the time?" he asked.
"Yes," I said. "It's based on research about how the brain receives new ideas. And I'm raising a lot of money with it."
Jonathan hears a lot of big claims. When you listen to three or four pitches a day, your "BS detector" becomes finely tuned. So he asked, "How many hours do you have working on this neuro-whatever-it's-called?"
He was sure my answer was going to be 20 hours. Maybe 50.
I shocked him when I said, "Over 10,000 hours."
He looked at me with a wry half-smile. Giving up all pretense of being disinterested, he said, "I need you on my team. Come do this for my deals, and you'll make a lot of money."
I had never been more flattered. Not only had Jonathan, a guy who had been on magazine covers, offered me a partnership, he had given me an even higher compliment—validation that my method worked in high-stakes situations.
I turned him down. He had a reputation for being difficult to work for, and no amount of money is worth that. But his reaction persuaded me to try my approach as part of an investment company. I joined Geyser Holdings in Beverly Hills, the most profitable venture firm you have never heard of. Even as the economy cooled down (and then frosted over), I helped take Geyser from $100 million to $400 million in about four years. How I did that can serve as your blueprint for success. As you will see, it's possible to use the PITCH method in any presentation where you need to be truly convincing. What worked for me will work for you—no matter what you do for a living.
The Need for a New Method
If ever there is a time to learn to pitch effectively, it is now. Funding is tight. Competition is more aggressive. On a good day, your customers are distracted by text messages, e-mails, and phone calls, and on a bad day, they are impossible to reach. If you've been in business for more than 10 minutes, you have figured this much out: The better you are at keeping someone's attention, the more likely that person will be to go for your idea.
But what kind of advice is this really? Telling someone, "Keep the audience's attention" is like telling someone learning to play tennis to "hit the ball with topspin when it comes." They know that! What they don't know is how to do it. But it's worth figuring out. If you have to sell anything as part of your job—a product, a service, an idea, and we all do at some point—you know how the right pitch can make a project go forward and the wrong pitch can kill it. You also understand how difficult it can be to pitch to a skeptical audience that is paying attention to you one minute and distracted by a phone call the next. But we all have to go through this because we all have to pitch if we need something. And though most of us spend less than 1 percent of our time doing it, pitching may be the most important thing we do. When we have to raise money, or sell a complicated idea, or get a promotion, we have to do it. And yet we do it incredibly badly.
One reason is that we are our own worst coach. We know way too much about our own subject to be able to understand how another person will experience it in our pitch, so we tend to overwhelm that person. (We will deal with this in Chapter 4.) But the biggest reason we fail is not our fault. As you will see in the pages that follow, we don't pitch well because there is an evolutionary flaw in our brain—a wiring kluge in our hardware—that we must understand and learn to deal with if we are ever going to pitch successfully.
Dealing with the Crocodile Brain
A brief history of how the brain developed will show
1. How the kluge got there.
2. Why pitching is so much more complicated than we first thought.
3. Why, as with any high-order skill, such as physics, mathematics, or medicine, pitching must be learned.
The three basic parts of the brain are shown in Figure 1.1.
First, the history. Recent breakthroughs in neuroscience show that our brain developed in three separate stages. First came the old brain, or "crocodile brain"—we'll call it the "croc brain" for short. It's responsible for the initial filtering of all incoming messages, it generates most survival fight-or-flight responses, and it produces strong, basic emotions, too. But when it comes to decision making, the croc brain's reasoning power is ... well, primitive. It simply doesn't have a lot of capacity, and most of what it does have is devoted primarily to the things it takes to keep us alive. When I am referring to the croc brain, I am referring to this level.
The midbrain, which came next, determines the meaning of things and social situations. And finally, the neocortex evolved with a problem-solving ability and is able to think about complex issues and produce answers using reason.
The Disconnect Between Message and Receiver
I learned from molecular biologist Craig Smucker that when we pitch something—an idea, product, deal, or whatever—the highest level of our brain, the neocortex, is doing the work. It's the neocortex that is forming ideas, putting them into language, and presenting them. This is fairly intuitive.
Three Brains Working Independently and Together
You can actually sense how the three parts of your brain work separately from each other.
When you are walking to your car and are surprised by someone shouting, you will first act reflexively with some fear. (This is the old crocodile/survival brain at work.)
Then, you will try to make meaning from the situation by identifying the person doing the yelling and placing him or her in a social context. This is your midbrain trying to determine if it is a friendly coworker, an angry parking attendant, or something worse.
Finally, you will process the situation in the neocortex, the problem-solving brain (which figures it out: "It's okay. It's just some guy yelling out to his buddy across the street.")
Our thought process exactly matches our evolution: First, survival. Then, social relationships. Finally, problem solving.
Pitching anything means explaining abstract concepts—so it didn't surprise me that ideas would be formed by the most modern, problem-solving part of the brain.
But this is exactly where my thinking—and probably yours—went off track. I assumed that if my idea-making abilities were located in the neocortex (as they are), then that's where the people listening to my pitch were processing what I had to say.
It's not.
Messages that are composed and sent by your young neocortex are received and processed by the other person's old crocodile brain.
You may be where I was about 10 years ago. Back then, I subscribed to "the brain is like a computer" metaphor. With a computer, if I send you an Excel spreadsheet file, you open it and read it in Excel. This is how I thought the brain worked. If I created a message in my smart neocortex and "sent" it over to you (by telling you about it), I figured that you'd be opening that message in your neocortex.
But no pitch or message is going to get to the logic center of the other person's brain without passing through the survival filters of the crocodile brain system first. And because of the way we evolved, those filters make pitching anything extremely difficult.
So instead of communicating with people, my best ideas were bouncing off their croc brains and crashing back into my face in the form of objections, disruptive behaviors, and lack of interest.
Ultimately, if they are successful, your pitches do work their way up to their neocortex eventually. And certainly by the time the other person is ready to say "Yes, we have a deal," he is dealing with the information at the highest logic center of his brain. But that is not where the other person initially hears what you have to say.
Let me explain further. Because we are a soft, weak, slow species compared with just about everything else out there, we survived for millions of years by viewing everything in the universe as potentially dangerous. And because very few situations we faced back then were safe, we learned to err on the side of extreme caution. And that continues (unconsciously) to this day every time we encounter something new. It happens whenever we encounter a pitch from someone who wants us to do something.
We are hardwired to be bad at pitching. It is caused by the way our brains have evolved.
The fact that you are pitching your idea from the neocortex but it is being received by the other person's croc brain is a serious problem.
It's the kluge we talked about earlier. The gap between the lower and upper brain is not measured in the two inches that separate them physically. It must be measured in millions of years (the five million years or so that it took for the neocortex to evolve, to be more precise). Why? Because while you are talking about "profit potential," "project synergy," "return on investment," and "why we should move forward now"—concepts your upper brain is comfortable with—the brain of the person on the other side of the desk isn't reacting to any of those highly evolved, relatively complicated ideas. It is reacting exactly as it should. It is trying to determine whether the information coming in is a threat to the person's immediate survival and, if it isn't, whether it can be ignored without consequence.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from PITCH ANYTHINGby OREN KLAFF Copyright © 2011 by Oren Klaff. Excerpted by permission of McGraw-Hill. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Product details
- ASIN : B004H4XL7E
- Publisher : McGraw Hill; 1st edition (February 18, 2011)
- Publication date : February 18, 2011
- Language : English
- File size : 592 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Up to 4 simultaneous devices, per publisher limits
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 242 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 0071752854
- Best Sellers Rank: #50,748 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Oren Klaff is a seasoned capital markets professional with over 20 years of experience in the private financial markets, structuring private debt and equity offerings, exceeding 10 figures. As the founder of Intersection Capital, Mr. Klaff has assisted in multiple capital markets transactions, and led engagements for assumption-driven financial modeling. He currently serves as the CEO of Intersection Capital, and serves as interim management and on the board of OK Stone Engineering.
Oren has spoken to audiences at Google, Publicis, Xerox, INC Magazine, Advertising Age, Symantec, Veritas, XPrize, Fund Launch and many more. With 20+ years of experience as an investment banker, he is focused on raising capital, and structuring complex sell-side deals.
Customer reviews
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To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book easy to read and providing valuable insights into how the human brain processes information. They describe it as a refreshing look at sales and consider it worth the hype. Readers appreciate the narratives and storytelling that showcase the method in action. The pacing is professional, with good meeting strategies provided. Many customers find the concept of frame control interesting and helpful for laying out frames. However, opinions differ on the effectiveness of the strategies presented.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book concise and easy to read. They appreciate the practical examples and frameworks for pitching ideas. The author clearly explains new methods for presenting ideas with examples that make them understandable. Overall, readers find the book an outstanding resource for improving communication skills.
"Pitching is highly valued today. It is an ‘art form’ requiring knowledge of human nature, how the brain receives information, communication skills,..." Read more
"...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..." Read more
"...I think it truly challenges conventional sales practices. It’s a must read. I’m surprised I hadn’t heard about it before." Read more
"...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...." Read more
Customers find the book provides valuable insights into how the human brain processes information. They appreciate the case studies and the boiled-down concepts that work. The book helps them understand framing and pitch ideas better.
"...an ‘art form’ requiring knowledge of human nature, how the brain receives information, communication skills, courage and a lot of practice...." Read more
"...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,..." Read more
"It’s revelational from a salesperson perspective. I think it truly challenges conventional sales practices. It’s a must read...." Read more
"...You frame the pitch, the environment of the pitch, the psychology of the pitch, etc...." Read more
Customers find the book provides a refreshing look at sales. They say it's worth the hype and provides insights when pitching expensive products. Readers also mention it's one of their best books on raising money and working with social dynamics. Overall, they describe it as a great book that feels like 21st-century sales.
"...This book is not only worth all the hype - but actually worth, in my opinion, more...." Read more
"...me understand and refine framing, as well as give insights when pitching expensive products." Read more
"...One truly great pitch can improve your career, make you a lot of money--and even change your life...." Read more
"...This incident, by the way, is worth the price of admission for the book...." Read more
Customers enjoy the narratives and examples in the book. They find the author's ability to describe complex ideas and concepts in a useful way. The book is described as an engaging read for storytellers and pitchers. It provides a convincing framework with vocabulary and systems to describe everyday human interactions.
"...tricks with elements of psychological warfare, it's a text about having the right story, having something worth "pitching," not wasting anyone's..." Read more
"Great read with frameworks and practical examples for pitching ideas. Great for those who strive to influence." Read more
"...The narrative is in the first person and idea snippets of his long career to share lessons he learned and highlight key physiological research that..." Read more
"Oren has the ability to tell stories...." Read more
Customers find the book's pacing good. They say it provides good meeting strategies and is easy to read. The book offers a refreshingly different look at selling and is thought-provoking.
"...critical point of the book that may escape you on the first read, is integrity...." Read more
"...As he displays in this entertaining and illuminating look at how we pitch deals --ideas, projects or even ourselves --he can parse for general..." Read more
"...It's not about deception, embellishment, lies, being something your'e not, badgering your target. If you want that go somewhere else...." Read more
"...The rest is standard sales. It’s ballsy, borderline manipulative and just feels wrong." Read more
Customers find the book helpful for understanding frame control. They appreciate the explanation and how it helps them lay out frames when pitching ideas. The concept of frames is interesting and the book introduces ideas for developing presentations and provides creative ways to pitch.
"...He continues with two excellent chapters on the importance of frame control (who owns the frame/power) and of status...." Read more
"...The book helps you lay out frames and have the other person or company want you or your product...." Read more
"...Really goes through the levels of the pitch, whilst embellishing details on Frame control, and other underlying constructs which allow you to..." Read more
"...has some outstanding ideas on how to understand and master frames when pitching ideas...." Read more
Customers have different views on the book's effectiveness. Some find it clear and straightforward, with a logical and doable strategy that anyone can learn. They also mention it challenges every method they've learned in the last 20 years in sales. However, others feel the strong method is not fully explained and lacks intellectual depth. There are also complaints about overly complicated strategies and quality control issues.
"...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..." Read more
"...The rest is standard sales. It’s ballsy, borderline manipulative and just feels wrong." Read more
"...having the right story, having something worth "pitching," not wasting anyone's time during the pitching process and more...." Read more
"...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)..." Read more
Customers have varying opinions about the book. Some find it satisfying and fulfilling, with a blend of information and real-world experience. They mention it's an enjoyable and informative guide that makes them feel more relaxed. Others find it uncomfortable, manipulative, and nauseating.
"...It is engaging, fun to read and practical. I found it viscerally satisfying and fulfilling...." Read more
"...I think that makes using them a lot more effective and feel more natural...." Read more
"...It’s ballsy, borderline manipulative and just feels wrong." Read more
"...Oren clearly and succinctly presents the mechanics, the psychological reasons, of why this method works...." Read more
Reviews with images
Transform Your Pitching Game with Oren Klaff's "Pitch Anything"
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on August 28, 2016Pitching 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.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2014"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!
Top reviews from other countries
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Joachim A.Reviewed in Germany on November 18, 2024
5.0 out of 5 stars Eines der wertvollsten Bücher
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.
- Luca DellannaReviewed in Italy on July 22, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Useful
The author is a bit too full of himself but does deliver a lot of useful advice, especially on how to structure a pitch. I took some great notes.
- luisitovikReviewed in Spain on June 13, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars A neuroscience perspective to improve pitching
Really useful a fresh point of view on how to improve pitch opportunities, also interesting for profesional firms
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Ivan DavidReviewed in Mexico on February 21, 2018
5.0 out of 5 stars Espectacular
La cantidad de conocimiento avanzado que reunió Oren para crear este libro y que tú puedas cerrar tus tratos es BESTIAL, tienes que leerlo SÍ O SÍ si quieres alcanzar tu máximo potencial independientemente de lo que te dediques.
- Cliente AmazonReviewed in Brazil on May 2, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome
awesome! It's not a sales book. It's a guide on how to influence people and how to be good at social interactions