Here’s that day (or one day soon), you’ve come up with a brilliant idea for a particular job that you want to be a bigger part of and you feel let’s say, very passionate about.
This is an important skill you have to learn, because we all want to be heard right? You can be very confident about your idea that it would be a good fit for the company and its audience. But let’s not ruin this chance that you have about your great new idea. Most of the times either your boss will think it’s a bad idea or a good one. So let’s not be in between and definitely not a ‘bad idea’.
The truth is, pitching even the most well-thought-out ideas to a skeptical superior can be intimidating. But have no fear. Here are the best tips and tricks for getting your boss to listen to your big idea. Check out our five favorites here:
1. Make your pitch as long as a tweet
Make your pitch as long as a tweet, which is a 140-character summary of your pitch. Now you think this won’t be long enough, but it should be long enough to make someone question the following questions: What is your idea? What problem does it solve? Who is your audience? Sure, it’s tough, but it condensing your message will help you get to the heart of your idea and pitch presentation quickly.
2. Ask a good provocative question
Telling your idea without asking first a provocative question, will lead often to a ‘bad idea’. 1 if you ask a provocative question, your boss will try anything to come up with a good answer. So if he makes a good point, then you got the answer to your idea. But if he does not know how to answer, or takes too long, that’s when you can tell he will listen to your idea which is a solution/answer to the question. This technique works most of the time because they can’t resist at least thinking about a question even if they can resist answering it vocally. They definitely will answer it in their heads.”
3. Start and end your pitch with a beautiful visual
Always use visuals when you can, start with it and end with it. Use a beautiful photograph that shows the problem your business idea solves. Leave everything else for later, the numbers, etc that will come later. Make it dramatic. We want the facts and numbers of course, but we’re going to evaluate your pitch on whether or not we believe, not what your numbers say.
4. Be interested, not just interesting
Believe it or not, pitching is almost as much about the feedback you receive as it is about your actual pitch. It’s critical to really listen to what your boss has to say about your idea and then act on it. Hear the issues they have and work to address them in the room, or commit to coming back to them in a time frame, e.g.: COB today or tomorrow by 9 a.m., This shows the ability to follow up and deliver and can set the tone for other conversations.
5. Keep it super super simple
If your grandma understands it without you breaking script and teenagers think it isn’t boring, you are well prepared for success.”
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