Son Of A Pitch

"Let me give you my pitch." ??

"How's your elevator pitch?" ??

"I need to work on these PowerPoint slides—it's my pitch deck! ??

You've just gotta have a pitch deck. You've got a pitch deck, RIGHT?!?!"

A REAL SON OF A PITCH ?

I'll admit it. I'm scared of that @#$%@#$ ball. ??

Do you see all that padding catchers wear behind home plate? ??? It's like medieval armor. ?? For good reason.

Have you ever been hit by a pitch? I have; it hurts. ????

Every time one approaches a potential employer, a group of investors, an innocent bystander on an elevator, or whoever with a "pitch"… it's like putting them in the crosshairs of a fastball. ????

No wonder they're all running away. ??♂???

DITCH THE PITCH ????

Instead of making a "pitch," what if you instead focused on making a "catch"? ??

Instead of practicing an "elevator pitch," what would an "elevator catch" look like? ????

Instead of perfecting a "pitch deck," how could you perfect a "catch deck"? ????

In other words, instead of talking about your agenda, your ideas, your goals—what if you instead focused on hearing their agenda, their ideas, their goals? ?????

HOME RUN ???

Supercoach Nancy Kline says that, "the quality of our attention determines the quality of other people's thinking," and she's right. ????

When we pitch, they take cover; when we catch, they're presented with a world of possibilities. ???

The next time you go to a networking event, see if you can get through the whole thing without saying a word about yourself. ????

I've done this and it's surprisingly easy and incredibly effective. ???

Let others pitch to you because the more they do, the greater chance you'll catch something you can turn into a grand slam ??? for them, for you, for everybody.

Keep Catching, Eric