Barker Jeff - Perfecting your pitch how to succeed in business and in life by finding words that work

Praise for Perfecting Your Pitch

Perfecting Your Pitch covers a staggering array of life situations, from salary negotiations to personal relationships, in which a wrong word or an inept phrase could mean the difference between success and failure. Sometimes you only get one chance to ask for what you want or express how you feeland this book is the perfect guide to help you make the most of those opportunities.

Daniel H. Pink, author of To Sell Is Human and Drive

Advice from Ron Shapiro is money in the bank. If you want to learn how to deal with life and business communication challenges, then Perfecting Your Pitch is a must-read.

Ann Curry, NBC News national and international correspondent and anchor at large

Perfecting Your Pitch is filled with powerful insights about effective communication for leaders, parents, friends, spouses, managers, and consumers. Ron Shapiro, a world-renowned negotiation expert, sports agent, and lawyer, shares rich examples and practical wisdom accumulated through decades of experience. The book takes readers behind the scenes of major sports deals, business negotiations, and family challenges, revealing how Shapiro has achieved extraordinary success and helped others follow in his footstepsall while maintaining impeccable integrity.

Adam Grant, Wharton professor and bestselling author of Give and Take

Rons years of experience as a master negotiator, mediator, and coach shine through in this entertaining and useful book. A must-read for anyone facing challenging negotiations and conversations where feelings and identity are in play.

Robert C. Bordone, Thaddeus R. Beal Clinical Professor of Law and director of the Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program, Harvard Law School

Effective, strategic communication is important for success in everything we do. Ron Shapiro is a proven negotiator and renowned communicator, who provides practical advice on how to build individual confidence and deliver hard messages with skill, forcefulness, and empathy. His easily adaptable approach and practical lessons in this great book will help anyone communicate better and more effectively in every walk of life.

John Harbaugh, head coach of the Super Bowl XLVII champion Baltimore Ravens

Nothing makes communication more effective than detailed preparation and persuasive delivery. In Perfecting Your Pitch, Ron Shapiro provides a commonsense framework to help even the most intuitive communicator improve his or her odds of success.

Brian C. Rogers, chairman, T. Rowe Price Group

Ron Shapiros extremely practical and prescriptive book, Perfecting Your Pitch, will empower every reader to have greater control in their lives. In seminary I was taught to script and deliver a sermon: never thought to apply principles of Perfecting Your Pitch to every other aspect of my lifehusband, father, businessman, and coach. While reading the book I helped my son prepare for a job interview, hired an administrator, and wrote a script for maintaining price integrity of my services while building a relationship with a client. Thank you, RonPerfecting Your Pitch is a grand slam!

Joe Ehrmann, author of InSideOut Coaching and president of Coach for America

As a psychiatrist, I have had my share of difficult communications with patients, their families, colleagues, department chairs, and many others. Using Ron Shapiros method of the three Ds, I have learned how to prepare a script to help my delivery and also prepare for contingencies.

J. Raymond DePaulo Jr., M.D., chairman, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Three cheers for Shapiros three Ds. His commentaries on preparation and scripting provide the essential guide to navigating lifes delicate situations, ones we all encounter.

Kurt Schmoke, general counsel, Howard University; former mayor, Baltimore, Maryland

This book drips with common sense and rationality. I wish I had this kind of advice when I started my career.

Warren Green, former president and chief executive officer, LifeBridge Health

Sales performance by our team has grown with the implementation of the preparation and principles set out in Perfecting Your Pitch. This book is a must for any sales organization.

John Scanniello, director of Sales Force Effectiveness, Sherwin-Williams Company

HUDSON STREET PRESS

Published by the Penguin Group

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First published by Hudson Street Press,
a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 2013

Copyright 2013 by Ronald M. Shapiro

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ISBN 978-1-59463-201-3

ISBN 978-0-698-13713-4 (eBook)

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To those who have entrusted their challenges to me and given me the opportunity to help perfect their pitch