The following is something I wrote for the writers program at the University of British Columbia when I visited them as a guest speaker. The students all took turns pitching (or selling) me one of their projects. I wrote down some thoughts for them about going out into the world as a professional, and turning your pitch meetings into a positive experience, and avoiding some of the potential pitfalls. So here they are:
THE ART OF CONVERSATION
I got an opportunity to work on my pitching early in my career with a woman named Jan Miller. If you ever get the chance to consult with her take it! I was all prepared with my pitch. We greeted each other. Exchanged the usual niceties. Then she said okay go ahead. Start pitching.
I started talking. I was feeling good. I spoke for a while, then stopped, allowing for some breathing room. She didn’t say anything during these pauses, so I kept talking. Finally I got to a point where I thought I’d given her a good overview of the project and the team. I waited expectantly for her feedback. She furrowed her brow, looked at her watch, and said, “Do you realize you’ve been talking for 11 minutes and 46 seconds?” I had no idea how to respond to that. Except to say – “No… I actually hadn’t realized that”. If I had I would have shut up a lot sooner!
I realized there and then that when you’re pitching, and the adrenaline’s flowing, the time just seems to melt away. I found out the pauses that I thought I had left in order for her to interject; which felt like an eternity to me, were in fact from her perspective non-existent. A moment of silence that actually consisted of fractions of a second, felt so uncomfortable, because I was so focused on whether she was liking what I was saying or not, I just kept barreling along.
The art of a good pitch isn’t talking at people for the entire meeting…its having a conversation with them. If you’ve done your job and engaged them, they are going to have questions for you. A pitch is not verbally vomiting every fine point and beat of your story on someone!
START WITH THE BIG PICTURE AND MOVE INWARDS
Yes we don’t always have the luxury of time when we’re pitching, (sometimes all you get is 3 minutes during a speed pitching session), but if you do have time, be conscious of how you are communicating.
When you start a pitch meeting you’re giving your hook, and an overview of what it’s all about. Then you’re giving the person you’re pitching a moment to digest what you’ve told them. You’re allowing them to say, “That sounds interesting. Can you tell me more about that character?”…or, “I’m not fully grasping the premise. Can you go into a bit more detail?” Most importantly you are allowing them to engage in a conversation. When someone is engaged, they are invested in what you are talking about. They become curious and they want to know more. Being talked at for an extended period of time causes people to lose interest and start tuning you out.
We’ve all had one of those horrible friends that likes to talk and talk and talk. They think they’re having a conversation with you, but they either cut you off, or don’t be quiet long enough for you to get a word in edgewise. (I don’t know why people like this are always prone to saying, “Boy you’re so easy to talk to”). They’re not a heck of a lot of fun to spend time with. Eventually you start having conversations with yourself in your mind, because you can’t stand another minute of feeling like you might as well be a decapitated head propped up on the table! Your presence isn’t necessary. Remember that it’s the same with the person you are pitching. They are a human being. Let them get involved and be present. People like it a lot better that way!
LEARN TO STOP THINKING ABOUT PEOPLE IN TERMS OF THE TITLE BESIDE THEIR NAME
When you’re headed to your meeting imagine you are going to meet Bob, or Susan – not the “Executive in Charge of Development, Production, Financing, and the all-around Grand Poobah”. Learn to think about the people you are pitching in terms of being another person. Not a title.
It’s kind of like the same crazy way people get around famous actors. Individuals moving up in the industry do the same around broadcast executives, big named producers etc. (heck I used to do it…and probably still do it once in a while now). I’d get awe struck, start to sweat, stammer a bit when I introduced myself. I’d feel really awkward. I’d fidget, all the while thinking, “I hope they like me. What if they don’t like me.” I couldn’t relax. I sat on the edge of my chair scared to breathe or move…just in case they decided to banish me from their presence and the kingdom of television forever.
People can sense when you’re not at ease with them. It makes for an awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere. These are people with families, mortgages, and more than likely screaming kids at home who just finger-painted the living room with ketchup. They have their own insecurities and worries in life. I was reminded of this fact recently when I attended a market, and the head of programming for an international broadcaster was speaking. She entered the room, let out a sigh of relief, and told everyone she was happy we had turned up to hear her talk. There were multiple seminars going on at one time, and she had actually thought no one was going to be interested in what she had to say. She couldn’t have been happier to see a capacity crowd, and thanked everyone repeatedly for coming.
We’re always assuming the person we are going to meet is the picture of self-confidence. Maybe they feel just as awkward as you do. Remember the people you are pitching, despite their authority, are flesh and blood too.
ARE YOU PRONE TO HYPERVENTILATING?
When you’re pitching your baby to someone, everything becomes highly personal. It feels like it’s the most important thing in the world: a case of life or death. After you’ve worked on something for so long, and so hard, it’s no wonder the pitching process stirs up so many feelings.
We all desperately want to hear the word YES. For some people being emotionally invested in their work turns into passion and drive – for some it turns into neurotic, bumbling behaviour. I call it the babbling idiot syndrome. If you are one of those people who are prone to losing it, (I recently came back from Kidscreen, where I had to listen to a woman re-enact every last painful moment of a pitch gone bad. Ever the optimist, her take on the ill-fated incident was maybe she didn’t get a commitment on her project – hell she didn’t even get around to explaining what her project was about – but at least the broadcaster now knew who she was. Trust me, that’s not a good thing!).
Anyway…if you believe you are one of these individuals, try playing a little mental game with yourself. Imagine taking off your writer or “creator” hat, and putting on a “producer” hat. And not just any producer – a producing god! And it’s not your project you’re pitching. It’s someone else’s. That’s the key. It’s not yours. It allows you to get a bit of distance and feel less emotionally charged by the whole experience of leading your child out into the world to potentially be mauled by wild animals! (a little overly dramatic, but sometimes having someone say they hate the thing you love can feel like a pack of marauding squirrels has had at you!)
BE PREPARED WITH A BACK UP PLAN
There’s nothing worse than getting three minutes into a pitch meeting and having someone say, “We already have something like that in development.” Or even worse, “No I don’t like that at all.” At those moments, you need to be prepared for the next inevitable question – “What else have you got?” The last thing you want is to be sitting there like an idiot because you don’t have anything else. It will be the shortest meeting in history. Always have something else in your back pocket. Some people can work on the fly. (I once worked with a producer who didn’t have anything…so he made something up on the spot. The broadcaster loved it so much he gave him a development commitment right there at the table.) Most of us aren’t very good at flubbing it, so I highly recommend always having a second or third project you can pull out in case of emergency!
Next month will be part two of this saga, which includes “Knowing the Person/Company/Broadcaster you are Pitching”, “The Rendezvous”, “Do they hate your idea or are they suffering from gas?”, “Pitch what you love”, and “Just Be”.