Mike Figliuolo - The Elegant Pitch

Mike Figliuolo has delivered a practical approach that leaders at any level can use to hone their persuasive communication skills and get buy-in for ideas. The ability to exude executive presence often determines whether or not your career advances. So many people receive ambiguous feedback that they have to improve their executive presence but are left to figure out for themselves what that means. A core aspect of true executive presence is the ability to share your thoughts in a simple, persuasive way. The Elegant Pitch provides a proven method for demonstrating this elusive skill. Weve used these concepts to groom our high-potential leaders at Cardinal Health and received great feedback on the techniques. Mikes Structured Thought & Communications training improved their confidence, strengthened their executive presence, and enabled them to deliver a strong message with impact. I highly recommend this book.

Lisa George,
formerly Vice President, Global Talent Management,
Cardinal Health; now Vice President,
International Talent, Walmart

One of the most important skills needed in the workplace today is the ability to tell a story to gain support for your idea. But this is a skill that few seem to have or are able to hone. Mike Figliuolos latest book, The Elegant Pitch, provides you with the mechanics of the perfect pitch and offers creative techniques for delivering it. And as always, Mike writes with wit and humor. This is that one book that you will read, re-read, and recommend to others. I know what book my department book club will be reading next!

Andrea Procaccino,
Chief Learning Officer,
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

If you need to frame up situations, challenges, and decision paths or youre looking for support, budget, and headcount for your ideas, youll want to read this book twice. The first pass will be an entertaining read where you see yourself in the stories Mike tells. In the second read youll see how his approach can get you the support youre seeking for your ideas. Heres to mastery of the Elegant Pitch. Well done, Mike.

Suzie Reider,
Managing Director, Brand Solutions,
YouTube/Google

Mike Figliuolo has created another must read for the business world with his latest book, The Elegant Pitch. Based on his Structured Thought & Communications course, Mike provides a practical roadmap and tools to improve your persuasive communications and increase your influencing capabilities. If you want to get to better decisions faster, have fewer and more productive meetings, and drive greater alignment, read this book and apply the methods it contains.

Mark Naidicz,
Vice President, Human Resources,
AbbVie

The Elegant Pitch outlines a commonsenseyet rarely followedapproach that can help anyone in business increase their impact and be more influential. This book takes the successful methods used by management consultants and applies them to everyday business situations. The outcome is a method that can lead to outstanding results. I would recommend The Elegant Pitch to any of my business leaders or mentees.

Katie Liebel,
Senior Vice President, Transformation,
Nationwide

The Elegant Pitch

Create a Compelling Recommendation,

Build Broad Support,

And Get It Approved

MIKE FIGLIUOLO
coauthor of Lead Inside the Box

Copyright 2016 by Mike Figliuolo

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.

THE ELEGANT PITCH
EDITED BY LAUREN MANOY
TYPESET BY KARA KUMPEL
Cover design by Jeff Piasky
Pen photo: koosen/shutterstock
Printed in the U.S.A.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

CIP Data Available Upon Request.

Im writing this book for all those I havent thanked in my prior works. Your love, support, friendship, guidance, patience, and understanding make everything I do possible. Thank you. For everything.

Danielle, Michael, and Alexandra, thank you for the continued smiles. But not the gray hairs. Those suck. That said, you know Ill always be there for you. No matter what. Even at 3 A.M. on a Friday night.

Mom and Dad, your love and support mean more than youll ever know.

Gina, Im sorry. Youre fine. Youre fine. Please dont tell Mom.

Nana, Pop, Grandma, and Grandpa, I miss you guys. Thanks for all the wonderful gifts you gave me when you were with us.

Giles Anderson, for your expertise at peeling me off the ceiling as needed.

Adam Schwartz and the Career Press team, thanks for giving me another chance to share my ideas with the world.

My McKinsey colleagues, for teaching me how to communicate and influence others. Without you, this book and my business arent possible.

Cecilia Frew, first, for teaching me how to do this stuff, and second, for giving me my first chance to make a living at it.

Paul Zamecnik, for encouraging me to teach this method and recognizing it as a gift I could give to others.

Everyone whos participated in my courses, thank you for making teaching a joy. For engaging with the content. For getting me invited back. Its a pleasure working with each and every one of you.

One of the most challenging tasks any professional faces is getting a recommendation approved. People pitch ideas every day. You would think theyd get good at it after all that practice. The puzzling part is, they dont. The reason all their practice doesnt improve their communication skills is theyre not practicing their communication skills. All too often theyre practicing their analysis skills. Most of their effort is spent on running numbers, creating complex graphs, and churning out massive presentations designed to impress their audience with how rigorous theyve been. That approach is broken. Audiences dont have the time or the patience to wade through ponderous reports. They want an answer, and they want it now!

Add to this challenge the complexity of the matrixed environments people operate in where competing agendas are the norm. No matter whats being recommended, someone will be upset about it. Its difficult to build support across stakeholders, let alone do so in an efficient way.

When the pitch bores the audience and causes conflict among stakeholders, decisions never get made and approval is never granted. The cycle repeats itself as the person making the pitch rushes off to complete more analysis to satisfy all the issues that emerged during the meeting. Unfortunately, that extra analysis never seems to satisfy everyones concerns and the cycle continues unbroken.