Speaking with Confidence

Assignment 6: The Two Minute Pitch

Download the PDF of "A Two Minute Pitch about Two Minute Pitches" 

A TWO MINUTE PITCH about TWO MINUTE PITCHES

§    The Two-Minute pitch is the best way to get the essence of an idea, a project, a product, or a person (like you) across to an important individual, such as a buyer, a financier, or a boss.

§    Traditionally, people have attempted to get the attention of important people by conducting impromptu pitches, in which they fumbled with words, looked unsure of themselves, and even forgot fundamental details of their idea.  Indeed, pitch-men and women who adopted such extemporaneous styles effectively demonstrated a lack of respect for their listener, and for his or her valuable time.

§    The result is that many able, competent people have experienced, in response to their important pitches, indifference, rejection, and even rudeness, all due to a lack of preparation, focus, and concise, efficient use of words.

§    In contrast,  the Two-Minute pitch delivers amazing results… the precision of exact, well-thought-out scripting, the focus of a time-tested template to which investors and administrators are now accustomed, and a tight, concise format that says what you need to say in a time-period that does not impose on the listener.

§    The Two-Minute pitch is considered now to be the state-of-the-art manner in which professionals convey to one another ideas about themselves and their products.  Two-Minute pitches are even considered, by CEOs, to be an irresistible artform to which they are compelled, in amusement, to pay attention, if the delivery is competent.

§    I want you to pay careful attention to this artform, to take it seriously, and to invest your time, in the coming week, in perfecting this skill.