Mike Moyer - Pitch Ninja: Persuasive Pitching and Presenting

This is a book about giving formal presentations. A formal presentation is planned, rehearsed and performed in front of a live audience.

Most of the presentations people give are informal . They are not planned or rehearsed and may or may not take place in front of a live audience. An informal presentation usually consists of a bunch of people sitting around a conference table or in a coffee shop talking about something. Sure, there may be an agenda or a report to go over, but the structure and flow of the presentation isnt really planned and rarely, if ever, do people rehearse what they are going to say or do during the meeting.

Formal presentations are importantvery important. A formal presentation allows a relationship to move forward whereas an informal presentation may not. A formal meeting redefines a relationship. You cant more forward unless you occasionally redefine the relationship. Moving from prospect to customer, for instance, is a redefined business relationship.

Think about a couple dating. They may go on any number of informal dates. They go out, have fun and enjoy each others company; all the while they are getting to know each other more deeply and intimately. Their relationship is defined as a dating couple and the content of that relationship is based on the nature of their activities together.

Eventually, one of them (usually the guy in our man/woman dating scenario) decides he wants to ask her to marry him. This means he must give a formal presentation. He will plan the interaction and rehearse what he will say. He will plan where the event will take place and even what his body will do. For instance, he may go down on one knee or he may stand up so he will appear on the megascreen at a sporting event. He may invite friends, buy a new shirt and plan a nice meal. This meeting is most likely going to happen in person. This formal meeting will, without a doubt, redefine the relationship.

If she says yes, they will cease being a dating couple and will now be an engaged couple. If she says no, they will be forced to have a serious discussion about the future, which will also redefine the relationship. If she says, Hell no, their relationship will be redefined as single again. Lets pretend she said yes.

Now the couple is engaged. Their relationship moves from happy-go-lucky dating to being focused on the transition to being married. They become a unit and now must redefine their relationship with those around them, including friends, family and even the government. So, they will plan and rehearse yet another formal meeting that they will perform in front of a live audience. The wedding will redefine their relationship with the world and each other, no matter what the outcome.

This happens in business all time. Informal meetings define the business relationship whereas formal business meetings will redefine the business relationship. Consider an employee annual review. This is a formal meeting that must be planned and rehearsedespecially if the news is bad. After the meeting, the relationship will be redefined. This is a small example. The more formal the presentation, the more profound the redefinition of the relationship.

So, if you want to move your relationship to the next level, you have to redefine it under the terms of the new level. The problem is that most formal presentations suck.

Bad Presentations

Ive seen a lot of presentations in my career and most of them are pretty bad. In fact, most of them are completely horrible and outright embarrassing for the presenter. Just the other night I was an investor panelist at a business pitch night and all of the presenters looked more like they were delivering eulogies rather than business ideas.

Think about it: here were people who are on a journey to fulfill their lifes dream and they showed no passion whatsoever . Its depressing. This kind of presentation is so common, however, that we may not even realize how bad it is. That is, until we see something better.