How to Pitch an Idea

Excerpted from The Myths of Innovation (O'Reilly Media)

By Scott Berkun

Pitching is for the powerless. You don’t pitch unless you need something from someone else, whether it’s money for a start-up or permission to go out on a date. If you put yourself into a position where you need to pitch to get what you want, don’t mess it up by pretending you are in control. You’re not. You are asking, and if you want to get what you are asking for, you must prepare. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for someone to say yes, and that doesn’t happen all on its own.

In my experience, the skill most deficient among people with good ideas is the ability to persuade others on the merits of those ideas. In what follows, I’ll provide you with a simple way to think about pitching that will dramatically improve your chances.

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