How to Use Story to Make Your Pitches More Effective
Written by Joanne Tombrakos
We all pitch. Every day. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we pitch our ideas internally and externally to our organizations in both formal and informal presentations, in job interviews, when trying to get our five-year-old to eat broccoli or our significant other to order pizza instead of sushi for dinner. Every time we try to convince someone of something we deliver a pitch. The first challenge is getting the attention of our audience, the second is maintaining it. That’s easier said than done in a world in which we are competing with mobile devices and social media to be heard. The most effective way to do that is to use story.?
Story engages us
There is growing evidence that shows that storytelling literally changes our brain chemistry, releasing oxytocin, often called the love hormone that helps us create bonds with others. Story connects us. It allows us to see the world through someone else’s eyes. It taps into our emotions.? It doesn’t push our messages, it pulls us in. Good story shows us, instead of telling us. Using story in business is using story with purpose.
However, like most things in marketing these days the word is overused, and the process misunderstood. Two effective ways to use story in pitches is to incorporate the story arc into your presentation and to use anecdotal story to drive home key points.
The story arc
Good story has a clear beginning, middle and end that starts with a hook, something that engages from the opening line or opening scene and continues with setting the stage for what’s to come. This leads up to an inciting event - something that piques and maintains our interest and continues with the unraveling of the story to a point of resolution.
That may make sense if writing the great American novel, but how does that apply to pitching a business idea?
The hook
Whether it’s a novel or a new series streaming on Netflix, what happens in the first page or the opening scenes determines whether you’ve got our interest. The point of the hook is to get your audience to sit up in their chairs and pay attention. Boring does not work in a world in which we are competing with TikTok videos. What does work is a quote, a question, a single visual or a personal anecdote that piques our interest and gives us an indication that what is to follow is worth our time.
Setting the stage
Good story sets the stage for what is to come. In a pitch this is where you restate the problem you are about to solve and establish the current situation as you know it. It is where you demonstrate you have done your homework and highlight the insights you have learned from your research that leads to the solution that you will soon reveal. The data by itself means nothing without the story the data infers.
The inciting event
Good story rises to the point of the inciting event, something that sets the world off balance. In the case of a pitch this is where you unveil your big, brilliant idea that solves the problem your pitch is addressing. It should have a name and be stated in one concise sentence that gives us just enough to maintain our interest and want to know more.
The unraveling of the story
This is where the details of how this idea will work are introduced and unfortunately where many promising pitches can go south. The challenge is to take your audience on a journey that explains how your solution works and why it matters without making us have to think too hard. If you confuse, you lose.
A satisfying conclusion
A good story leaves us satisfied yet still wanting to know more. You began your pitch telling your audience what you were going to tell them, you told them and now you need to tell them again. This where you summarize the key features of your idea and why each one solves the problem you’ve addressed.
The credits
A good story acknowledges all involved. In a pitch this is the appendix, where all the references, charts, graphs and excel sheets that look awful on a slide and do not add to the telling of your story reside.?
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Using story to make a point within a pitch
Anecdotal stories can be used to drive home a key point within a pitch. For example, if I want to highlight our growing addiction to our mobile devices and how it competes for our attention, I could say exactly that. No one is going to disagree. I could even back it up with several pieces of data.
The other option is that I could begin telling the story of how when I got into the elevator to come to the meeting there was one other person on it, who did not look up from her phone when I got on and never lifted her eyes from her precious device, walking off with her face still glued to the screen. I could have been holding a six-inch knife in my hand and she would not have noticed.?
My anecdote is much more likely to get and keep my audience’s attention than me merely stating the point I wanted to make.?
It’s not enough to have a good story to pitch, you have to own it
Two different people can be given the same pitch to present and it’s possible that only one can engage their audience. Ultimately, the effectiveness of the pitch is not just in creating a good story to deliver your message, it is in the storyteller themselves. Without preparation, enthusiasm and a belief in the pitch, the best story in the world can fall flat.?
Still, whether it’s a new business pitch, an internal pitch to your organization or a lecture to a room full of graduate students, using story to convey your message remains your best chance to get and maintain the interest of your audience in a world full of distractions.
Joanne Tombrakos has been calling herself a Storyteller since before it was the trendy thing to do. She uses story to help build brands, to persuade and convince, to teach and to write. A Digital-First Marketing and Business Strategist, Adjunct Assistant Professor for the?Integrated Marketing & Communications Department ?in the Division of Programs in Business at NYU School of Professional Studies , and above all a writer, she is considered a SME in content marketing, social media, pitch-perfecting and personal branding.
She is the author of three books, including the workbook, Getting Your Personal Brand Story Straight and the host of a weekly podcast - Marketing, Mindfulness and Martinis .
A New Curriculum for the CMO and CCO?and their teams is needed?that is both Human-Centered and Data-Driven, balancing the?spreadsheet?and the?story, or the?poetry?and the?plumbing, or the?math?and the?meaning?of an integrated approach to marketing and communications.?And this education needs to be rooted in a sense of personal and professional purpose and authenticity and founded on a platform of lifelong learning. At NYU’s School of Professional Studies, we have recently recommitted ourselves to some guiding principles about the role that a globally-recognized academic institution and an applied professional education can deliver:
We believe the best programs are designed to meet?continuously changing market needs—to help executives lead business transformation, drive innovation and achieve?long-term, sustainable growth.
In Spring 2023, NYU’s School of Professional Studies will welcome the first cohort in its?Executive Master's in Marketing and Strategic Communications ?designed to address the needs of professionals in marketing and PR on the path to C-Suite leadership.?Leading marketers like Antonio Lucio, the former Global CMO of Facebook, and public relations and corporate relations professionals like Kathryn Metcalfe, CCO at CVS Health have already been moved to praise the effort.?
We are delighted to be pioneering a new form of education and engagement for our industry, next spring.
To learn more about the program, please visit?sps.nyu.edu/execms .
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