S4E11 | How To Be A Good Pitcher | Hasita Krishna And Subha Chandrasekaran | Pitching Ideas

You may not judge a book by its cover. But you will judge it by the book blurb – the short description at the back of the book. Similarly, your pitch is your own blurb. It is your first impression of the world. Make it your best version.

Discussion Topics: How to be a good Pitcher

• What to pitch 
• Your 10-second story
• Disappointment of a wrong pitch
• Make your pitches catchy 
• Pitch according to place
• Pitch according to time 
• Pitch according to the audience 
• Practice your pitch

Transcript: How to be a good Pitcher

Subha: Welcome to another episode of Small Talk with Rainkraft! Hasita, I noticed a new little hashtag on your LinkedIn bio. Did I?

Hasita: Did you?

Subha: It’s made its appearance after quite some time, I must say.

Hasita: Which one is this though?

Subha: I heard you’re a podcaster.

Hasita: Oh, God, I’m the only person I don’t know. Yeah, but it took me a while, I think, to just accept that part of the identity because I didn’t see myself as a podcast host at all. I saw myself as a person who does podcasts. I think those two things are so different, and therefore the struggle, and sometimes I think today, there are these three things tomorrow, there’ll be three other things at least I know that much about myself. So what do I say who am I? And it’s not an easy. So when someone says, tell me about yourself, what do you do? My immediate reaction is, oh, I’m a Marketing Consultant. And then they say, Oh, can you take a look at my website, and can you just quickly suggest some fixes, and it breaks my little heart because I mean, I would want to do that at some point. But that’s not the only thing I do.

Subha: And you want that to be a small part of what you do.

Hasita: Very small, tiniest.

Subha: So I think there’s a lot for us personally, for both of us it’s been like you said, it’s work in progress, and we’re still getting there. And it’s going to take a while to just figure out what that quick pitch or intro to ourselves is because sometimes we are working on ourselves too much and things are changing.

Hasita: Seriously, is that like, some kind of infliction that we suffer from? Like we are forever reinventing ourselves I feel, and therefore not knowing what to say.

Subha: So recently, I had some kind of stage for some event. And there were a lot of young folks in the room. And I actually heard myself saying that, you know, you could call me a leadership coach, or career growth coach and executive coach etc. etc. coach but net-net I coach. Like, even I tried enough to explain what I do.

Hasita: Yeah, but that’s the funny thing, the more abstract the role becomes, the harder it is to explain to people what we do. And very often, we have very little of their attention spans. Because we are probably one of 10 people pitching something, or we are pitching in a context where they’re not expecting to be pitched to. It’s like finding a celebrity in an elevator and asking for a role in the next movie. So that’s the kind of time that people often have. So then if I don’t have my 10 second story, my 15 second story, then it’s really difficult. And I keep thinking, Oh, but I’ve lived this entire life, and I have all these different things that I want people to know about me, so which one do I prioritise really.

Subha: I think let’s spend a little time on it. Because we have to break it down for ourselves. Because God knows our pitches could always use a little bit of help and revision, if I may call it.

Hasita: Yes, how to pitch.

Subha: Like you said, it’s about that 30 seconds, one minute or a couple of minutes that you get with somebody new or a friend says, Hey, meet Hasita, and you want to just say the right things in the next few seconds. But it’s not that easy. And I think there’s no harm in admitting that it’s something each of us have to constantly prepare in our minds. Because there’s always this notion that it’s about me. And of course, I know me and what I do, and so I’ll wing it each time.

Hasita: Yes, and therefore in doing that, sometimes, you’re losing the important data points, because the brain is automatically assuming that the other person knows x about me, and therefore but quite often, I mean, literally, they probably just met us.

Subha: Many times over the past, especially outside of a corporate career, I’ve found myself very disappointed with the way I have introduced myself because either you’re trying to say too much, or you finish and you realise hey I hardly conveyed the depth or breadth of what I do.

Hasita: Well, call me evil. But I’ve also resented the way other people have introduced themselves so well, that’s the truth.

Subha: I think the first step is really saying, Okay, this is an overview of me, and reading the room and the context.

Hasita: So true. So true. I think sometimes also, even when we have prepared and when we have a good story, and we have all these slides, and we want to present, sometimes you enter the room and you know that it’s already not going to work. You need to pull something else out of that. And maybe that’s where preparing two, three alternative versions and knowing what I’m saying to whom really does make a difference, I guess.

Subha: And I think also trying to find a personal way to connect with that audience, something that’s relevant to that group. And that may not be part of your intro somewhere else. Like for coaching, I find that when it’s a young group or even young to middle management, when you talk about the fact that, hey, a lot of the icons that you see today, be it sporting icons, you know, people who excel in their field, they all have a coach. So why don’t you?

Hasita: That’s interesting, I’d actually never thought of that.

Subha: And that resonates with a lot of folks. But you need to think about the audience and its context and what’s the worldview that they have and then arrive at some of the things, like, in a room of CEOs, or high potential people, I really can’t say, Hey, I sense deep childhood trauma, and how can I help you.

Hasita: Imagine, if you ever do that, please send me a video. Actually, this should be a social experiment.

Subha: But that’s how like you said, being on the other side of some pitches, that’s how I feel sometimes, like they’re accosted me. And they are dumping something on me, which I have absolutely no interest in.

Hasita: I mean, let’s be honest, why do we have internal KPIs on how many conferences we will attend in a quarter? Let’s be very honest. Like we do one, and then we never do it again. So, I think now that I’m more into the sustainability conversation and discovery phase, and I’m like, save the whales, if the oceans all that is happening, by the way I don’t know if it’s well received all the time. Like, sometimes I feel like you’re forcing the other person to feel guilty, rather than empowering them.

Subha: So, confessions of somebody who’s been made to feel guilty by the sustainability tribe very often, especially in stalls that have been set up and somebody rushes up to me and starts gushing about composting. And it’s just not in my headspace, or I don’t know what it involves, I don’t know what it means. And then I’ve kind of say, no, not yet there.

Hasita: But you know, the funny thing is, knowing what I know about you, if I told you Hey, you composting it will firstly, not stink, and secondly, you can grow more plants, so I think you would have fallen for that.

Subha: Correct. If you said it’s, there’s a convenient way to do it. Like I’m not digging a hole in a backyard that I don’t have. Because that’s my view of something. But if you tell me that hey, what I’m really selling is an easy way to do this, or do it in your home balcony, etc., etc. I’d fall for it quite easily.

Hasita: And also in a professional context, I think there are two very clear places where pitching becomes a life and death kind of scenario, or let’s just say this, stuff gets real. And one of them is when you’re interviewed for a role or a job or even a contract for that matter. And I think the other one, which is probably an even bigger use case is when you have to get funded. And we all know that these can sometimes be endless loops of repeating the same stories about yourself over and over again, but I’m just thinking, can I be more prepared for these things?

Subha: No, I think a large part of the interview prep/coaching that I do is really about reminding people or making them understand that, hey, this needs a lot of preparation, because again, when you’re interviewing for a job, many people go in with the notion that, hey, there’s a resume. It’s about my life and my work, and I’m going to answer it very easily. But at the very first, tell me about yourself, they really fumble. And that sometimes sets the tone.

See, what are we really trying to achieve in that response it’s one, give a very nice overview of the person sitting in that chair to who are you today, what are those threads that tie your various life and career decisions that have brought you to where you are today, what gives me credibility for this role or opportunity or this funding opportunity that I’m kind of asking for, what’s my area of expertise because in that kind of range of things that I could have potentially done, I might be really good at one or two things, which are more relevant to what I’m applying for or asking for.

And what’s my area of interest now like what’s exciting me now, what do I want to be doing and why am I here looking at this opportunity with you versus x, other opportunities out there. So that is a lot to pack in, let’s say a minute or two. But if you prepare for it, it can be done very nicely. And it can be done in a way that holds the other person’s interest. But many times I find people that, and this is in the preparatory sessions that I’ve having with somebody they’ve not thought it through.

So they immediately fall back to, okay, I was born in a small town. And then my parents did this and this, hey this job is not for your parents, like this is Prime Air Time, in the first few seconds of your interaction. And I went to so and so school and you know, they just kind of dig that hole a little deeper and deeper, till they actually come to the core of what they do and who they are and what’s their area of interest or why. So you’re right it needs preparation.

Hasita: Quite a lot of it as it would seem, because I’m assuming it’s different for different contexts as well. So it can’t be that I have this narrative. And also, we as people change, somewhere that has to reflect as well, it can’t be that the same story that sustained me five years ago, is no longer the story of my life today. And so maybe constant revision iteration, and it’s not an easy question to answer finally.

Subha: Not at all. I honestly still struggle with it. There’s like multiple versions floating in my head, and you’re trying to figure out which is the one.

Hasita: And I literally look at the other person and decide what this brings to me.

Subha: So for me, I realise I’m trying to pack in multiple things that I want the other person to know that, hey, there was a career that I had in a certain space. And then I made a transition. Even after I made the transition, I was doing two, three things. And then now I’m doing more and more of one or two things. But this is the thread that ties it all together that my deep interest is in people development at the workplace. And my interest is in working with professionals too, so that they can be just a little bit better today. But to tie that thread, you have to show them how you yourself got there.

Hasita: Yeah. And also exactly right, the thread that I’m noticing, there is you saying it took me a while, I figured this out as well. And I think there is something of value there because you’re saying as a coach, I’m always going to be supportive of that journey, essentially. Because I’ve been in that space.

Subha: Correct. So, you’re right, like sometimes when the same conversation is with, let’s say, somebody from a corporate, and I am pitching my coaching services for a group of their leaders, so this same introduction has to say that hey I bring in a lot of business expertise. And I bring in a lot of empathy into what really happens in corporates and the struggles and challenges that middle to senior level folks may be facing. But it’s important to put that in, because that’s why I’m there. And that adds to my credibility and my expertise. And that’s what I want to be doing.

Hasita: So what’s your pitch as a podcast host, then?

Subha: Ouch, you put me on this pod.

Hasita: Or rather, I sprung it on you before you could spring it on me.

Subha: I see that, I see that. No, so what I’ve learned to do, and that’s why while I was making fun of you adding hashtags podcaster, it took me a while to add that to and to remind myself, and so now, I’m getting better at it, most of my introductions, I’m able to end with say, I also enjoy listening to a lot of podcasts, and I run and co-host to in the space of coaching and marketing. I mean, I say it a little better, honestly. But now I’ve learned to put that in at the end and add that to the entire kind of story that I’m telling. But we sometimes forget what all we do and what interests us.

Hasita: Totally depends on our mood, right?

Subha: Correct. And many times, you assume that, hey, why would they be interested in the podcast piece or the writing that I do somewhere or the volunteer work that I do somewhere else, but hey, if that’s you just say it.

Hasita: True. I mean, at least it’ll make you a more nuanced individual, I suppose.

Subha: Yeah. I mean, yeah, I do save the whales.

Hasita: Yeah, I mean, I’d like to. That’s the idea.

Subha: Correct. So, let’s just like, own it and say it. But I think in a way what we want you listeners to take away is when you do get airtime in any kind of forum, you know that the very stereotypical stuck in the lift with your CEO, kind of 60 seconds, you know, even rooms that you enter, and there are two, three new faces in that room, or you get onto a conference call with a new client, just do prepare for these situations which you know, are likely in your life.

Hasita: Fair enough. And yeah, I do want to be noticed, I want my work to be noticed. And I want to be recognized as XYZ. And if that’s going to take a certain amount of practice in front of the mirror, then that’s what it’s going to take and practise with my dog or whatever you know, finally.

Subha: Correct. Even the nuances of our language matters so much I was working with a young individual and helping him for certain college interviews for higher education. And it helps to point out that quite a few of the words that he was using would not really immediately connect with somebody sitting in the US on a college interview panel. Words, like, instead of hometown, when you say native, or you say vernacular, these are words that immediately don’t have that same meaning that they have for us. So remembering who the audience is and practising for that audience is so important.

Hasita: So true, especially in today’s connected world I think it’s, and it goes both ways I think that cultural appreciation is a two-way street. So something to be mindful of for sure.

Subha: So I think there is a lot that we can talk about in terms of pitching, especially investor pitches, I think that’s a whole other ballgame, where you’re trying to get somebody else’s money. But the simple takeaway for today is that there are so many situations where you find yourself meeting new people. And you know that broadly, these are the three four kinds of buckets that they’ll fall into, and these are the three four kinds of audiences that you typically meet, you know, social, school groups, alumni groups, parent groups, work groups, and different kinds of work groups, etc., etc.

Maybe have a few versions ready that you’ve not really rehearsed and kind of memorised, but you have a few versions ready with those bullet points of what you want to cover in that, and what’s the flow and structure that will be useful for that audience, and definitely, it leaves people with a much better idea of who you are and it leads to I find more meaningful conversation after that.

Hasita: Yeah. And it’s okay. I mean, we’re all human. We all have those pitches, which have absolutely no impact on the other person, which is fine.

Subha: Which is fine. Just shake it off and move on to the next one.

Hasita: Yes.

Subha: Okay, that’s it from us, guys. See you soon with a lot more Small Talk and career-lifting conversations. Bye.