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

1. The Method
a. There is a fundamental disconnect between the way we pitch anything and the
way it is received by our audience. As a result, when it is important to be
convincing, nine out of ten times we are not. Our most important messages have a
low chance of getting through
b. Traits of a Skilled Investor
i. Quick to calculate yield curves and instantly analyze whats being pitched
ii. Detect flaws or BS no matter how well hidden
iii. Tough talking, but at the same time, witty and charismatic
c. Pitch Method Steps
i. Set the frame. Frames create context and relevance, and the person who
owns the frame owns the conversation.
ii. Telling the story
iii. Revealing the intrigue
iv. Offering the prize
v. Nailing the hookpoint
vi. Getting the decision
d. Presenters problem: can make your most important points clearly, with passion,
and be well organized, and still not be convincing. Thats because a great pitch is
not about procedure. Its about getting and keeping attention. That means you
have to own the room with frame control, drive emotions with intrigue pings, and
get to a hookpoint fairly quickly.
e. 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.
f. Dealing with Crocodile Brain
i. The brain developed in three separate stages. First came the old brain, or
croc brain, that is responsible for initial filtering of all incoming
messages. Generates most survival fight-or-flight responses of all
incoming messages. However, the croc brains reasoning power is
primitive because it doesnt have a lot of capacity.
ii. The midbrain, determines the meaning of things and social situations
iii. The neocortex evolved with a problem-solving ability and is able to think
about complex issues and produce answers using reason.
iv. Our thought process exactly matches our evolution: first survival, then
social relationships, finally problem solving.
v. Pitching means explaining abstract concepts, but messages that are
composed and sent by your young neocortex are received and processed
by the other persons old crocodile brain. We are hardwired to be bad at
pitching. It is caused by the way our brains have evolved.
vi. Its 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 withthe brain of the person on
the other side of the desk isnt 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 persons
immediate survival and, if it isnt, whether it can be ignored without
consequence.
1. If its not dangerous, ignore it.
2. If its not new and exciting, ignore it.
3. If it is new, summarize it as quickly as possibleand forget about
the details.
4. Do not send anything up to the neocortex for problem solving
unless you have a situation that is really unexpected and out of the
ordinary.
vii. If your pitch is complicatedif it contains abstract language and lacks
visual cuesthen it is perceived as a threat. Not a threat in the sense that
the person listening to your pitch fears he is going to be attacked, but a
threat because without cues and context, the croc brain concludes that your
pitch has the potential to absorb massive amounts of brain power to
comprehend. And that is a major threat because there just isnt enough
brain power to handle survival needs, the problems of day-to-day life, and
existing work problems plus whatever unclear thing you are asking it to
do. Presented with this kind of situation, a circuit breaker in your brain is
tripped. The result? A neurotoxin gets attached to the potentially
threatening message (your pitch). This is like a FedEx tracking number,
which, in turn, routes your message to the amygdala for processingand
destruction.
viii. We assume that our audience will do what we want them to do if our idea
is good, if we didnt stumble through the pitch, and if we showed a
winning personality. Turns out, it doesnt work that way. What is vitally
important is making sure your message fulfills two objectives: First, you
dont want your message to trigger fear alarms. And second, you want to
make sure it gets recognized as something positive, unexpected, and out of
the ordinarya pleasant novelty.
ix. The croc brain is picky and a cognitive miser whose primary interest is
survival. It doesnt like to do a lot of work and is high maintenance when
it is forced to perform. It requires concrete evidencepresented simply in

black and whiteto make a decision. Minor points of differentiation dont

interest it. And this is the brain to which you are pitching.
x. I had made the crocodile brain feel safe; I was feeding it short vignettes of
clear, visual, and novel information; and I wasnt making it do much work.
2. Frame Control
a. Look, I only want to know two things from you. What are monthly expenses, and
how much are you paying yourself?
b. Imagine for a moment that there is some kind of powerful energy field that
surrounds all of us, silently transmitting from the depths of our subconscious. This
invisible defense shield is genetically designed to protect our conscious minds
from sudden intrusion by ideas and perspectives that are not our own. When that
energy field is overwhelmed, however, it collapses. Our mental defenses fail, and
we become subject to another persons ideas, desires, and commands. That person
can impose his will. No one really knows whether there are human energy fields
or not, but perhaps this is the best way to think about the mental structures that
shape the way we see the world, which I call frames. And in a moment, you will
begin to understand what happened when Toms frame came into contact with
and collapsed underBill Belzbergs power frame.
c. There are millions of people in the business world, and each brings a frame to his
or her social encounters. Whenever two or more people come together to
communicate in a business setting, their frames square off and then come into
contact, but not in a cooperative or friendly manner.
d. Frames are extremely competitiveremember, they are rooted in our survival
instinctsand they seek to sustain dominance.
e. When frames come together, the first thing they do is collide. And this isnt a
friendly competitionits a death match. Frames dont merge. They dont blend.
And they dont intermingle. They collide, and the stronger frame absorbs the
weaker. Only one frame will dominate after the exchange, and the other frames
will be subordinate to the winner. This is what happens below the surface of every
business meeting you attend, every sales call you make, and every person-toperson business communication you have.
3. The lesson of the cop frame is an essential one: If you have to explain your authority,
power, position, leverage, and advantage, you do not hold the stronger frame. Rational
appeals to higher order, logical thinking never win frame collisions or gain frame control.
Notice, the officer does not need to pitch you on why he is going to issue you a citation.
He does not need to rationalize with you. He doesnt have to explain his power, he
doesnt need to rest a hand on his gun, and he doesnt need to describe to you what will
happen if you decide to resist. He feels no need to explain how critical it is that you
remain calm and obedient. He doesnt suggest that you have fear and anxiety. Your croc
brain instantly and naturally has these reactions to the cop frame. You are reacting; your
croc brain is in control. Your actions are automatic, primal, and beyond your grasp.

4. I think of these things before I take a meeting: What are the basic primal attitudes and
emotions that will be at play? Then I make simple decisions about the kind of frame I
want to go in with. For many years, I used just four frames that would cover every
business situation. For example, if I know the person Im meeting is a hard-charging, type
A personality, I will go in with a power-busting frame. If that person is an analytical,
dollars-and-cents type, I will choose an intrigue frame. If Im outnumbered and
outgunned and the deck is stacked against me, time frames and prize frames are essential.
5. Going into most business situations, there are three major types of opposing frames that
you will encounter:
a. Power frame
b. Time frame
c. Analyst frame
6. You have three major response frame types that you can use to meet these oncoming
frames, win the initial collision, and control the agenda:
a. Power-busting frame
b. Time constraining frame
c. Intrigue frame
7. There is a fourth frame you can deploy. Its useful against all three of the opposing
frames and many others you will encounter:
a. Prize frame