Ten Tips to Get a YES

Preparing for an important meeting, negotiation or pitch? These ten tips can help you quickly get across the value of what you're proposing to increase the likelihood of a YES.

1.Say something in the first 60 seconds that gets cell phones down and eyebrows up.?A series of “Did you know?” questions that introduce startling statistics, recent/relevant research, a contrarian trend or?late-breaking news is a great way to pull people out of preoccupation and?earn?their attention. Bypass predictable openings and introduce something provocative to prove you're worth their valuable time and mind.

2. The purpose of a pitch is NOT to get a deal; it’s to get a follow-up meeting.?It is?idealistic to think people will give you a contract or?hand over?money after a 10 minute pitch. It is?realistic to sufficiently impress them so they say"Tell me more" which means you got your offering in their mental door.?

3. Turn listeners into word-of-mouth advertisers by crafting a "phrase-that-pays" they can repeat, word for word, after hearing it once.?The best way to craft an AIR-tight sound-bite is to use Alliteration, Iambic Meter and Rhyme.?For example, “Click it or ticket” is better than the?clunky?“Buckle Up for Safety.”?I helped a team at an MIT event I was keynoting come up with “Any plug, anytime, anywhere” as a tagline for their electric car. Why do rhythm and rhyme work so well??When you put it in a beat, you make it easy to repeat. (More here on how to be repeatable and retweetable.) ?

4. Introduce a "60 Second Success Story" about how?people?have already benefited from your?idea so decision-makers have context (not just content) and connect with you on an emotional and?logical level.?As the former Pitch Coach for Springboard Enterprises (which has helped women entrepreneurs generate $26.2 billion (yes, that’s a “b”) in funding/valuation, I helped Lauren Williams of Movie Hatch craft a 60 second success story about a client who went from having his film collecting dust on a closet shelf - to winning the Jackson Hole Film Festival.?Her story not only?intrigued everyone in the room, it provided proof of concept which demonstrated her idea wasn't speculative or pie-in-the-sky,?it had already delivered real-world results.?

5. Your confidence is perceived by the volume and pace?of your voice. If people can’t hear you, they won't respect you.?If you rush and blush,?decision-makers conclude you don't have the clout to carry off your venture.?I once saw a Fortune 500 executive lose a high-level audience in the first 2 minutes because she had a little-girl voice that ended with upward inflection. A tentative, "small" voice makes you seem unsure of yourself and approval-seeking.?How can people to have confidence in you if it?appears you don't have confidence in yourself???Project your voice to the back?row so?every person?can?hear every word.?End sentences with downward inflection and?... pause before pivotal?points, so people trust you know what you're talking about.??

6. Your business, presentation or product name is a deal-maker or deal-breaker. Do people “get” it the first time they hear it? If they don’t, they may tune out because confused people don't say yes and they don't keep listening.?Zappos, Google and Yahoo are all fun to say. Difficult-to-pronounce names or l-o-n-g book titles make people go “huh?”?You’ve spent months (years?) developing your book or business. Invest in its success by giving it a strategic name people like and remember.?My book POP! has dozens of ways to do that.

7. PROPS! It is always?more intriguing?to SHOW than TELL?I was a judge for a pitch contest called The Dolphin Tank. I reviewed the business plan of an entrepreneur who was requesting funding for her invention - a hook you put in your car to hang your purse on.?Really?!?Cari Carter was so smart though.?She lugged a full size car seat into the Long Beach Convention Center, started her pitch with her hands on an imaginary driving wheel and asked, "Have you ever been driving along, had to stop all of a sudden, your purse and cell phone slid off the seat, and you're rummaging around trying to find them while driving with the other hand??Imagine never having to do that again."?A man in the audience stood up and said, "I'll take two!"??Cari went from "Really?!" to "I'll take two!" in 30 seconds because she put us in the scene of the problem her product solved and asked "Have you ever?" questions.?Everyone was thinking, "Been there, done that."?We wanted what she was offering because?she didn't tell and sell,?she showed and asked.?

8. Tower, don’t cower. Your leadership is perceived by the power of your posture. A fig-leaf position makes you look like?you have something to hide. Hunched shoulders and a tucked-down head are signs of insecurity. Instead, s ee pitching as a sport Adopt an athletic stance, feet shoulder-width apart, so you look and feel grounded.?Standing with your feet together keeps you off-balance and makes you look like you're a pushover.?Roll your shoulders back, stand tall, hold your head high and make direct eye contact with decision-makers.?When?you don't look people in the eye,?you look evasive, shifty-eyed.?Instead of gripping the lectern or clasping your hands together, (which makes you look like you're "holding on for dear life"), hold your hands about10 inches apart, as if you're holding a basketball.?This frees you up?to gesture organically and illustrate your ideas with your hands.

9. The two most powerful words in a pitch? “For example.” Back up each claim (which can come across as an unsubstantiated opinion) with a real-life example?featuring names and numbers so decision-makers?know you're not "making this up." Sweeping generalizations are suspect.?Don't just say you worked in Pharma. What was your position, the name of the company, what size budget did you oversee, how many people did you manage? If you're asking for money, talk money. Provide specific metrics and measurable evidence of how you've successfully handled/made/saved money (i.e., 30% increase in sales, 20% reduction in turnover, took company public with a $10 million profit, grew an organization from 60 to 300 employees) so investors know you’ve delivered bottom-line results before and can be trusted to do so again ... for them.?

10. End with an action-producing close. Do you know how most people end their pitch??"Thank you for your time." Talk about leaving money on the table!?That's way too passive.?Instead, repeat your name and make a visual reference to yourself so people remember you?on sight.?For example, “I’m Chris, in the green jacket, with CleanerGreenerNow. I’ll be (point) in the lobby at the next break at 2:30."?Or, "I'll be in my office from 1- 4 pm on Monday," or "I'll be back in Silicon Valley the first week of May." Then plant three action seeds, all of which might be of interest/value to decision-makers to increase the likelihood they'll want to continue to conversation. "If you'd like a product demonstration, to find out more about our financial projections, or to talk to our CMO about how we’re scaling visibility in the next 3 months, please come visit our booth in the lobby.?Once again, I'm Chris in the green jacket.?I look forward to connecting with you."

So, when will you be asking people for their time, mind and dime??If you want to earn their attention, trust, respect, support, and get a YES - use these ten tips. Good luck!

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Sam Horn, CEO of the Intrigue Agency, 3x TEDx speaker, author of 9 books is on a mission to help people craft one-of-a-kind project that scale their impact - for good. SXSW brought her in to teach "How to Open Doors and Close Deals with a Winning Pitch" and she has been hired by TED Fellows, Richard Branson's New Now Leaders, NASA, Cisco, Oracle, EO to teach their leaders how to clearly, concisely, quickly describe their projects.