Presentation Skills HQ

At HPPG we focus on Pitching, Presenting and Performance. We have just posted a series on performance by looking at Heart Rate Variability, we are now going to have a look at the Pitch.

According to the Etymology Dictionary  (2018) Pitch can be described as to “work vigorously” from the year 1847; “plunging head first” from the year 1762 and even scorching heat or hell, from the year 1200. All these are fairly apt at different times however the one that is more appropriate is “hit the mark” from the year 1300.

To “hit the mark” requires a lot of practice. Think of a professional cricketer, baseball player (pitcher) tennis player who would practice endless hours to get the ball in the right spot. But as we know the professional sports player is far more strategic about their training so that they don’t over train or under train, can peak at the right time and manage their performance throughout the season.

In business we also can be strategic in our pitching so that we can “hit the mark” without the “scorching heat”.  In the following posts we are going to look at a strategy that you can follow to make your pitch successful. Namely:

• Understanding who you are pitching to
• Being clear about what you are trying to achieve by the pitch
• Understanding what the target of your pitch cares about the most – WIIFM
• Having enough evidence to back up what you are proposing
• Understanding the best order in which to present the information
• Knowing how to present the information graphically
• Conducting an audit of your performance

The piece that’s missing of course is how do we deliver the pitch.  That will be the subject of the next series of posts.

pitch | Origin and meaning of pitch by Online Etymology Dictionary,  2018, viewed <https://www.etymonline.com/word/pitch>.