Son Of A Pitch

"Let me give you my pitch." 🎤

"How's your elevator pitch?" 🛗

"I need to work on these PowerPoint slides—it's my pitch deck! 📊

You've just gotta have a pitch deck. You've got a pitch deck, RIGHT?!?!"

A REAL SON OF A PITCH ⚾

I'll admit it. I'm scared of that @#$%@#$ ball. 😱

Do you see all that padding catchers wear behind home plate? 🛡️ It's like medieval armor. 🏰 For good reason.

Have you ever been hit by a pitch? I have; it hurts. 😵‍💫

Every time one approaches a potential employer, a group of investors, an innocent bystander on an elevator, or whoever with a "pitch"… it's like putting them in the crosshairs of a fastball. 🎯💨

No wonder they're all running away. 🏃‍♂️💨

DITCH THE PITCH 🚫🎤

Instead of making a "pitch," what if you instead focused on making a "catch"? 🤲

Instead of practicing an "elevator pitch," what would an "elevator catch" look like? 🛗🤝

Instead of perfecting a "pitch deck," how could you perfect a "catch deck"? 🎯📋

In other words, instead of talking about your agenda, your ideas, your goals—what if you instead focused on hearing their agenda, their ideas, their goals? 🎧🗣️

HOME RUN 🏅⚾

Supercoach Nancy Kline says that, "the quality of our attention determines the quality of other people's thinking," and she's right. 💡💬

When we pitch, they take cover; when we catch, they're presented with a world of possibilities. 🌍⚾

The next time you go to a networking event, see if you can get through the whole thing without saying a word about yourself. 🤐💬

I've done this and it's surprisingly easy and incredibly effective. ✅💪

Let others pitch to you because the more they do, the greater chance you'll catch something you can turn into a grand slam 🏆⚾ for them, for you, for everybody.