The LookUP List: Avoiding Pitch Panic

5 things to read, watch or do to help you get ahead of a crisis

Oct 02, 2024

This month we’ve been focusing on the ubiquitous art of pitching.

Pitching is unavoidable for pretty much all of us, whether we are looking for a new client, investment, or some kind of partnership. It’s high stakes, and it doesn't take much for panic to set in.

We’ve looked at the different kinds of Pitch Panic, and how to spot them, and what to do about them.

And we’ve given you a mini-framework for Pitch Rescue, when the clock is ticking and there is mayhem all around.

But as with other areas of life, the best way to deal with panic is to get ahead of it, and make sure it doesn’t happen in the first place!

For our latest LookUP List, we are sharing 5 different ways to get the team dynamic right from the outset…and steer clear of pitch panic altogether…

1. Build your team vibe from the start here

It’s pretty usual for pitch teams to feel a real sense of togetherness afterwards, and it’s pretty common for that to lead to some kind of celebration (win, lose, or ‘waiting’.)

But without wishing to dampen the celebrations, wouldn’t it be better to feel that sense of togetherness before the pitch, rather than after it?

Some smart teams get really organised, ensuring that in the last couple of days before the final presentation, there’s time to spend low-pressure time together.

Elite-level teams understand that it’s even better to do that right at the beginning!

Before a period of intense focus on a specific task, it’s great to spend some time together doing something totally different. It could be a lunch, a sport, a walk - anything that enables you to become closer as people before you enter the valley of a thousand outputs.

For creative types, you might want to consider a gallery visit. The Turner Prize is perfect brain fodder - controversial, accessible, and no Powerpoint in sight.

2. To think ‘right to left’, read this

It’s amazing how often a big pitch lurches into action by getting as many horses running as possible, as quickly as possible.

On any complex project, we need to stop thinking today-forwards, and start thinking from our desired impact back. This is particularly essential when it comes to timelines.

That doesn’t mean saving everything for a big, final reveal at the end. That’s a source of Pitch Panic! It means looking at all the touchpoints through a process, and making sure there is a brilliant iteration of relevant thinking at each key moment.

With that in mind, a re-recommendation, for the brilliant How Big Things Get Done.

3. To get a team synchronised, share this

Good team pitches require an army of different roles, some of them highly visible, some less so.

If you’ve never seen it, it’s worth watching Nyad on Netflix, or at the very least watching the video of Diana Nyad arriving at the end of her 111-mile swim from Cuba to Florida.

There may be one person centre-stage here, but even in her wild post-swim state, Nyad is quick to celebrate her team. In her case, she has people deterring sharks, supporting her in training, and at the end surrounding her to make sure she doesn’t accidentally touch anyone and invalidate her journey!

Pitch roles aren’t quite the same, but it’s essential that everyone knows that everyone’s role matters.

4. To understand the role of editor, watch this…

Any good story needs a good editor. And it’s the role most often missing, or misplayed, in a pitch team.

The tendency is that this role matches with seniority - and it often involves the most senior executive involved coming in at the last minute, ripping up impatiently, and cramming in additional material that has worked before.

The best pitch editor is working with the team throughout, coaching the story to fruition, and encouraging brave decisions about removing material throughout.

If you want some inspiration on the hidden power of editing, hear Lupita Nyongo’o thank her editor here…

5. Learn how to build your Clan like this…

One of the most common LookUP project requests is to help people build the depth of their pitch teams. A point we will always raise at the outset is that this can’t just be about numbers. Pitch teams need diversity.

That’s not just diversity on dimensions of identity - though certainly that does matter. You also need different styles, different capabilities, different mindsets.

That doesn’t just enrich the end product, and your ability to build chemistry - it deeply enriches the process.

LookUP readers may vary in your familiarity with 1990s hiphop legends the Wu-Tang Clan. If you want to go deep, there is a great long read here, but if you want to a big part of their appeal is summarise by Steve Huey here…

"Some were outsized, theatrical personalities, others were cerebral storytellers and lyrical technicians, but each had his own distinctive style. Every track on Enter the Wu-Tang is packed with fresh, inventive rhymes, which are filled with martial arts metaphors, pop culture references (everything from Voltron to Lucky Charms cereal commercials to Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were"), and a truly twisted sense of humor."