Идеальный питч. Революционный метод заключения крупных сделок

by Oren Klaff, Орен Клафф

После того, как Орен Клафф привлек более 400 миллионов долларов для своей компании и провел около 10 000 часов исследований, он пришел к поразительному выводу: в тот самый решающий момент, когда нам просто необходимо быть убедительными, в девяти случаях из десяти, мы не справляемся с этой задачей. Наши важные идеи имеют на удивление низкую вероятность достучаться до адресата.

Если вы пытаетесь продать свою идею инвестору, предлагаете клиенту новую услугу или даже ведете переговоры о повышении зарплаты, методика, описанная в этой книге, изменит ваш взгляд на то, как нужно преподносить свои идеи.

Автор утверждает, что идеальный питч (презентация какой-либо идеи обычно с целью получения финансирования) — вовсе не искусство, а скорее наука. Используя результаты новейших исследований в области нейропсихологии и приводя нетривиальные примеры из собственной практики, Клафф объясняет, как наш мозг на самом деле принимает решения и реагирует на попытки что-то ему «продать». Вооружившись этими знаниями, вы получите полный контроль над процессом проведения вашей презентации.

Авторский метод питчинга под названием STRONG учитывает то, как работает наш мозг и позволяет вам в любой ситуации получить фрейминговый контроль, т. е. сделать вашу точку зрения доминирующей во время общения с другими людьми.

Прочитав эту книгу, вы узнаете
* Как завоевать авторитет и привлечь к себе внимание аудитории с первых минут презентации.
* Как упаковать свою идею так, чтобы она пробила стену равнодушия и заинтересовала ваших собеседников.
* Как полностью контролировать процесс презентации, даже если вам задают неудобные вопросы и пытаются перехватить инициативу.

Для кого эта книга

Для всех, кто хочет стать более убедительным.

Фишка книги

Уникальная методика STRONG, основанная на исследованиях и подтвержденная результатами, которых смог добиться автор.

От автора

Если вы занимаетесь бизнесом дольше десяти минут, то наверняка уже поняли: чем лучше вам удается удерживать чье-то внимание, тем больше вероятность, что человек проникнется вашей идеей.

Но что это на деле за совет? Говорить кому-либо: «Удерживайте внимание аудитории» — все равно, что, обучая игре в теннис, говорить: «А теперь давай крученый». Человек и так всё знает! Но он не знает, как надо сделать правильно.

А этому можно научиться. Если вам по работе приходится продавать что-нибудь — продукт, услугу, идею, то вам известно, как хорошая презентация может способствовать развитию проекта, а плохая — загубить его. А также вы наверняка хорошо знаете, как сложно бывает проводить питч для скептически настроенной аудитории, когда вам уделяют внимание одну минуту, а в следующую уже болтают по телефону. Но всем нам приходится сталкиваться с такой ситуацией. И хотя большинство из нас тратит на это менее одного процента своего времени, презентация может стать самым важным нашим занятием. Когда нужно привлечь деньги, продать готовую идею или получить продвижение, нам приходится так делать. И получается неважно.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Psychology, Communication, Self Help, Entrepreneurship, Leadership

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 26, 2011

About the author

As Director of Capital Markets for investment bank Intersection Capital, www.intersectioncapital.com, Oren Klaff is responsible for managing the firm’s capital raising platform which includes both direct capital raising and deal syndication. Oren oversees business development and product development and is responsible for the firm’s flagship product, Velocity. He also sits on the investment committee at Geyser Holdings where he has been a principal since 2006. During its growth he was responsible for, marketing, product development, and business development. In the previous five years in the securities markets, Oren has supervised and assisted in the placement of over $400 million of investor capital. Previously, Oren was a venture analyst and partner at several mid-sized investment funds. He attended the University of Delaware for Mechanical Engineering, and lives in Los Angeles, CA.

Reviews

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked Pitch Anything. and thought posting my notes here might be useful for some people. There's more detail in the book, but this will give you a good idea of what you're getting into.

Basics:
-Good pitching depends on method. It can be learned.
-Pitches are sent from the modern – and smart – part of the brain, the neocortex. But they are received by the old “croc brain.”
-This is not numbered based selling or being pushy. Both sides should leave happy and not feel like they were used or tricked.
-Keep it fun. Once the power shifts take control and direct conversations where you want. Give and take power. Let the game be fun for both sides. It should be mutually exciting not dominating.
-Selling makes you supplicate, make rational appeals to the neocortex and ask invasive questions.
-When explaining your track record of success people remember the average of your achievements not the sum. A few good strong stories are better than many weaker ones.
-Hot cognitions are unavoidable - you can control the expression of emotions but not having them.
-Don’t create like or analysis, create want.

You must set the frame. Create novelty and intrigue. The STRONG method:
Setting the frame
Telling the story
Revealing the intrigue
Offering the prize
Nailing the hookpoint
Getting a decision

Framing:
-Your point of view is your frame (perspective). The stronger frame absorbs the weaker frame, when frames collide the winner has frame control and his/her ideas are accepted.
-When you are responding ineffectively to things that the other person is saying and doing, that person owns the frame, and you are being frame-controlled.
-If you have to explain your authority, pwer, position, leverage and advantage, you do not have frame control.
-Strong frames activate basic desires.

Frame collision – instigate a mildly shocking but not unfriendly act. Use defiance or a small denial and light humor. This captures attention and elevates your status by giving you “local star power

Types of Frames:
Power Frame – Comes from ego and status. Shows arrogance and lack of interest.
-avoid falling into this frame by reacting to it. Don’t strengthen it. Basic power rituals in business settings (small talk, letting ourself be told what to do) enforce the other party’s power frame. Abiding by rituals of power instead of establishing your own reinforce it.

Prize Frame – when yo own the frame others react to you. Reframe everything your audience does/say as if they are trying to win you over. Even when you’re selling, the question is “why do I want to do business with you?”

101: Make your buyer qualify. Withdraw if buyer tries to change time, location, attendees, etc..
201: trial closes are crude and ineffective. Don’t ask questions and seek validation. Make target perform a task to earn the deal. Remember, money can’t do anything without you, the money needs you.

Example open: ‘’I’m glad I could find the time to meet with you today. And I have another meeting right after this so let’s get started.”

Time Frame – When the room is cooling down don’t wait for them to set the end time, that leaves you reacting. Running long or beyond the point of attention shows weakness, neediness, and desperation. Talking faster and forcing more information leads to less retention.

Intrigue Frame – focus on relationships, you know the numbers will work out. Most intelligent people take great pleasure in being confronted with something new, novel and intriguing. Once audience memebers solve the puzzle they check out. When analyst frames are taking power, break through with a story, but only tell part of the story:
Intrigue Story:
1. Be brief. The subject should be relevant to the pitch.
2. You are at the center of the story.
3. Time pressure – the clock is ticking and there are consequences if it runs out.
4. Have risk, danger and uncertainty.
5. Have tension – you’re trying to do something but are being blocked by some force.
6. Failure will be bad!

Frame Stacking:
Creates hot cognition, they like the idea/you before they fully understand the facts.
-Intrigue-> prize-> time-> moral authority-> hookpoint

Intrigue – stories about interexting and eccentric people. Witnesseing is brtoing, forced into action and overcoming something is better. Create a short and strong narrative that introduces characters who overcome real-world obstacle.
-Put a man in the hungle, have the beasts attack him, get him to the edge of the jungle, will he get to safety?

Prize – I have one of the better deals on the market; I am choosy about who I work with; it seems like I could work with you, but really, I need to know morel please start giving me some materials on yourself; I still need to figure out if we would work well together and be good partners; what did your last business partner say about you; when things go sidewatys in a deal how do you deal with it; my existing partners are choosy.

Time – scarcity bias. Don’t be avert or aggressive with pressure, there is a real time constrain, bring it up and recognize it.

Beta Traps:
Watch out for situations that will put you in the beta role, they’re everywhere. To break out you need to do something that is mildly shocking but not unfriendly, this causes frame collision. Then quickly grab status, shrink the focus of the information being discussed to something that you specialize in, then pull away. Set a hookpoint then pull away again. Momentum is key during this process.

Seizing Situational Status:
Politely ignore power rituals. Avoid beta traos.
Be unaffected by cutstomer’s global status.
Look for opportunitis to perpetrate small denials and defienaces that trengthen your frame and elevate your status.
As soon as you gain power switch discussion into an area where you are the domain expert.
Apply prize frame for decisions.
Confirm alpha status by making customers qualify your status (light hearted/interesting).
How the Brain Works:
Croc Brain Filtering:
1. If it’s not dangerous, ignore it.
2. If it’s not new and exciting, ignore it.
3. If it’s new, summarize it as quickly as possible and forget the details
4. Do not send anything to the neocortex for problem solving unless you have a situation that is really unexpected and out of the ordinary.

Movement:
The brain detects movement. Don’t show before and after, try to show the progress but do so without threatening the croc brain.
-The brain reacts to social and physical threats the same way.
-Put them at easy, tell them it’s going to be a short and easy 20 minute pitch.
-Tell them your track record of success.
-Explain the market window.
-Paint a picture of the idea moving out of the old market and into a new one.

Tension and Desire Lead to Attention:
-Desire comes when you offer a reward, tensions arises when you take something away.
Desire: anticipation of a reward. Violate target’s expectations in a pleasant way.
- People are curious about things they can not explain but that seem explainable.
- At the point of satiation the pitch is over.
- You need to have tension as well for the person to remain alert.
Tension introduces real consequences to the social encounter
- Don’t manipulate the person, just keep them alert.
- Push and pull, but not too much of either.

Prizing:
We chase that which moves away from us.
We want what we can’t have.
We only place value on things that are hard to obtain.
Hot and Cold Cognition:
Problem solving and calculations are cold cognitions. You can’t have and cold cognitions at the same time. Hot cognitions lead to want, desire and excitement.

Showing neediness is bad for frame control, erodes status, freezes hot cognition, and topples frame stacks. It’s a weakness and a threat to the other person.
-Want nothing, focus only on things you do well, announce your intentions to leave the encounter.

Theory of Mind:
Simplicity can actually be scary. You want to tune your message to the mind of the recipient. A strong “theory of mind:” means you are able to understand how thoughts, desires and interest of others cause them to act.
-All important information must fit into the person’s attention span – usually about 20 minutes.
-It doesn’t matter how much information you give, but instead your theory of mind. Tune your info to the other person’s way of thinking.

[Will Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

To be honest, this book was nothing but the author bragging about how good he is at pitching companies for funding. All of his anecdotes surrounded his field of venture capitalism so this book doesn't generalize well to other fields.

The book is also poorly organized - in the beginning, Klaff makes mention of a system he uses but the book does not relate his advice back to the system he outlined for the reader.

The most annoying part for me was his take on "Frames" - i.e. the mental attitude / role you play during a meeting. He brags in nearly every chapter how he can see what frame another person is and how he has developed a way to counter every frame. Klaff mentions how he and his mentor used to practice using and "countering" with different frames. As if persuasion was all about acting in the right way and defeating other people.

Persuasion isn't about beating someone with a trick - it's about using well-informed arguments and developing a compromise or consensus.

Klaff's arrogance and the lack of (well-developed) structure made this book a chore to finish.

[David Rubenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't really know what to expect from this book; it is a how-to book about making a presentation, giving a pitch and persuading someone to your point of view. Obviously, it is tilted toward sales people. And, it is not completely intuitive. For example, politeness during a presentation is NOT required. The first portion of the book is called "setting the frame", and a bit of defiance bordering on rudeness is needed. The book is full of examples, and they show just how far one should go in setting the frame.

The book is full of anecdotes and concrete examples. The second-to-last chapter describes the author's "airport deal" in detail. He shows how he beat the two stronger competitors, by going far beyond the numbers game. He comes out sounding very similar to the "Don Draper" character in "Mad Men". He demonstrates why, in this particular case, the project is much more that just making money--it is about history and legacy.

This book is short enough that you can read it in a couple of hours. If your business is selling to people, then this book is definitely for you. It is entertaining, and at times downright surprising.

[Jesse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oren Klaff is in desperate need of A) an editor, and B) whatever is the opposite of an ego boost. He's one of the most unlikeable authors I've ever read, and that's on top of the fact that he can't write.

That said, the book does indeed contain helpful concepts for people who find pitching difficult to master. He presents (made-up) terminology to help categorize different types of social dynamics during pitches, and then discusses how to thrive in each of them.

To bring this book up to even 4 stars, Klaff needs to use his self-lauded pitching skills to convince an editor that this book is worth the effort. Pitch Anything needs some severe reorgnization. The concepts are strewn throughout the book unsystematically, and there's no reference or glossary to which readers can refer when they can't remember what, say, "four-frame hot cognition stacking" (an actual term he invented) refers to. Oh, and I'm hoping that one of the first changes the editor suggests is that female pronouns be used for more than just secretaries and assistants. Yuck.

[Mario Tomic · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time I read this book and it made a lot more sense then when I read it for the first time a year ago. I've been through a lot of books of sales and Pitch Anything is definitely one of the best. Even if you're not in sales I would highly recommend you to read this book, it will not be boring and the techniques presented in the book will help you understand the way people communicate on a much deeper level. Overall I'm glad I decided to read this book again and I'm sure it's not gonna be the last time.

[Laurel · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is so poorly organized it's hard to get through. It's more anecdotal than instructional. But most of all it's self-congratulatory. The author is a big fan of...the author.

[Gisela Hausmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Pitch Anything" is a highly entertaining read but does it deliver what it promises?... Not quite...

While the title "Pitch Anything" suggests that this is a book for everbody pitching anything, nothing could be further from the truth. I was expecting a system, which would be so good that it would teach how to pitch tooth picks or clay flower pots. Obviously there are sales people, who have to sell such items too. Or, how about pitching to your grandmother that she should leave a certain ring to you and not your sister...

Oren Klaff details his technique:
1) setting the frame,
2) telling the story,
3) revealing the intrigue,
4) offering the prize,
5) nailing the hookpoint, and
6) getting the decision.

If you read Klaff's book throughly you will see that his book is written in the same system:

1) He sets the frame by bragging in a ridiculous way. (Buying this ebook is not the equivalent of a 100 million dollar deal).
e.g. "But the numbers show I am consistently one of the best..."
"Even as the economy cooled down (and then frosted over), I helped take Geyser from $ 100 million to $ 400 million in about four years. How I did that can serve as your blueprint for success...."

2) He tells lots of extremely entertaining stories...
3) He uses the word "intrigue" 59 times...

....you get the idea. At least this author does what he preaches. The question is, how many of this book's readers are actually involved in deals like the described... I just cannot imagine that the described method would work if a local landscaping business owner would "pitch" his work for any local project in any community in the Southern states of the United States.

While there is a lot of useful information and interesting stories I absolutely resented some of the writing/tone:
e.g. "...this guy-- and I have absolutely no intention of giving you his name..."
Surely, this sentence could have been phrased nicer... Where was the editor, or had Klaff succeeded in pitching to the editor that this was indeed the best way to communicate with readers? (This is besides the fact that if I was "the guy, Jonathan, an investment banker, who controls vast sums of capital" I would be pretty offended that I was described as "this guy" instead of "this gentleman".)

In short, "Pitch anything" is an interesting read about hundreds of million dollar deals for a rainy Saturday afternoon. However, readers should not expect to find a system to "Pitch Anything".

Gisela Hausmann - author & blogger

[Anna Lundberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blog post!

When I was growing up, I was very stubborn. I used to get incredibly frustrated when someone didn’t understand what I was saying. When my dad said no (he was also stubborn) without even listening to my very logical rationale. When my sister wouldn’t lend me her dungarees. When my teacher told me off. I knew I was right, so why weren’t they convinced?

So much has been written about effective communication. There is the statistic that your words only account for 7% while tone of voice contributes 38% and body language 55%. Stephen Covey would say that you should seek first to understand, then to be understood. Amazon is full of books on techniques for presenting and training, persuading and selling.

Effective communication is paramount both at home and at work. I give a lot of training sessions and workshops and making them engaging and effective requires a great deal of planning; I need to know who my audience is, to be confident in my material, to be clear on the key messages I want to get across. Now that I work as a consultant rather than being employed full time, I also need to write effective proposals to get new clients, to come across well in interviews, and to showcase the value I’m adding to the business. Not to mention each and every encounter I have with peers and senior directors, each one an opportunity to give my ‘elevator pitch’ on the great work I’m doing.

In a way, it’s all selling: persuading someone, convincing them, winning them over, getting support. The concept of sales, though, has such a negative connotation. It’s sleazy and disreputable; you picture a used car salesman who’s trying to fob off a pile of junk. And it’s uncomfortable: you want your amazing work to speak for itself, you hope that you’ll be rewarded simply for doing a good job. I’ve come to realise, though, that selling is central to a lot of what we do, and we’d do well to listen to what the best salesmen have to say about landing that big deal.

To this end, one of the books I’ve just finished reading is Pitch Anything by Oren Klaff. (Actually, I bought and listened to the audio book for the journey to and from my sister’s for this bank holiday weekend. Genius.)

Klaff is convinced that the answer to effective pitching – getting and holding your audience’s attention, managing the power balance, closing the deal – can be found in cognitive science and neuroscience. And of course, as you would expect, he does a pretty good job of convincing the listener that his approach works.

The fundamental premise on which it is all based is that your audience’s state of being is different to yours. The fact that you’re enthusiastic doesn’t mean that the target will be. The fact that you’re rationally outlining the detailed analysis behind your argument doesn’t mean that your listener is following. As Klaff explains it, you as the presenter are engaging with your neo-cortex, the most evolved part of your brain that deals with conscious thought, reasoning, and language; while your audience is actually responding with their “croc brain” as he calls it. The croc brain is much less evolved and will respond very quickly to any new information by being bored, scared, or confused.

So you have just a few minutes to capture attention – even Seinfeld says he has just three minutes before the audience loses interest – and 20 minutes, the length of the average human attention span, for your whole pitch. What’s your big idea? What’s your ‘secret sauce’? What action do you need the target to take? What do need them to feel?

Klaff offers a number of techniques to reframe the situation when there is an imbalance of power, to tell a story that breaks the analytical mindset, to keep your target intrigued and interested in what you have to say, to win respect so that they want you rather than the other way around, to get them emotionally engaged, and to get the deal at the end of your meeting. While it’s all focused around a business pitch setting, you can apply a lot of the same principles in other professional and personal encounters.

So it’s not enough to be smart, or even to be right. In the end, what matters is how you get your point across to the other person. And there is a lot more to it than you think…

[Etiene Dalcol · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dragged myself to finish. There are some really good insights in this book but the narrative is just unbearable. It is filled with pick up artistry jargon applied to the world of sales. Not only I have no interest in being "the alpha" or participate in ridiculous dick measuring contests, it is hard to absorb anything of substance from a perspective that thinks the world should revolve around them. One could say "this is just how pitching works", but that is wrong. I have read other great books on pitching that lay down some of the same strategies, but without reeking of testosterone. Many of the ideas presented in this book seem like they would only work with white cis men and would have a HUGE chance of backfiring with everyone else. I also did not appreaciate that half of the book is just the author patting himself.

[sevdah]

The author of this almost insufferable book is the kind of guy that wants to impress the waiter at the restaurant by getting the most expensive wine on the list, and never realizes that the poor guy could not care less even if he specifically tried. The author is the kind of guy that, when asked "Can I help you" by a secretary, answers "I don't need help! Just tell me where the office of This and such is", because he thinks it makes him appear more powerful.

I mean. Wow. Some serious need to come face to face with childhood trauma here. But anyhow, if you can ignore all those awful anecdotes and all the moments he's bragging about how successful/ powerful/ brilliant he is, and if you can bear all the pseudo-science, you'll find buried deep in here a good step-by-step guide on how to give a 20 minute pitch and presentation of your idea. Could have, should have, been an article.

[Richard Pickett · Rating 2 out of 5]

So I've gone through this book twice now. I read it exactly two years ago and thought I'd dust it off to get a refresher on selling without falling into the analysis trap. I'm a numbers guy, highly analytical, and I need the extra focus on talking away from that expertise.

First, Oren is a little high on himself. And when you go to pitchanything.com (mildly referenced in the book) you can see this book is part sales letter to bring in more business.

There are two main takeaways:

1. People make decisions with their "croc brain" (affective) more than they do with their pre-frontal cortex (cognitive). And to talk to the "croc brain" you avoid anything that would kick in cognition, and you use techniques like intrigue to keep their attention. When your audience asks cognition-based questions, you have pre-fabed answers you use to address their question and redirect them back toward your affective-based pitch.

2. You can understand sales conversations within a "framework" of framing. Frames are challenge/response contexts that determine the viewpoint of the conversation. For example, you visit a customer for a 30 min meeting and they say "Sorry, I need another 15 minutes, can you wait?" (this time frame reduces your importance) and you respond with something like "Well, I've got another customer that has been pressuring me to meet them as soon as possible today, so how about we just reschedule? Can you drop by my office, say, next Thursday at 10?" This response is a stronger time frame because the customer was cutting from 30 min to 15 and you just told him you're not even waiting around, reducing it to 0. And on top of your more powerful time frame you stacked a prize frame (where you're the prize) by having the customer come by your office.

You can see that this won't work in every business context. Some markets won't tolerate a sales guy saying "I'm not going to wait for you, you have to come to me now." It may be appropriate more in the high-finance setting where investors are just as hungry for deals that give them good returns as the pitch-man is hungry to give them the deals.

Once you memorize a couple examples of each frame type, you can make up response frames on the fly for others who frame you in conversation.

Two other items to note about Oren that he brings up in the book.

1. He's framed himself. His mindset is so frame-oriented that he turns a simple "what would you like to drink?" question from a waiter into an all-night sparing match where he (Oren) loses at every turn. It's sad to see someone turn a waiter's service into a me-vs-you "frame" when the waiter who is serving you asks you what you'd like to drink (good service), waiting to recommend a wine for the table until after the food was chosen (good pairing skills), complementing your guests on their wine skills (making your guests feel valued), and then giving you a check that you think is reasonable.

2. He's a bit of a rogue and undependable. At one point in the book he's pitched the same deal to multiple financiers, and they've all turned him down. He goes to one of his old bosses, who then tells him he was undependable when he worked there and just when he was about to make partner he jetted. In Oren's retelling of the story he self-admits that he did/said nothing to defend himself. And as the narator of the story he also doesn't defend himself to his readers ("Well, I didn't want to get into an argument with my old boss since I was asking him for help, but the truth is he's only telling half the story..."). You can also see this "burnout" that pitch-men must face and a bit of that lack of dependability when he's telling the last story in the book (which is almost all a pitch to you the reader and it's about what must be his highest achievement, pitching a $1B deal) and he's "ran away" to a desert hotel, turned his phone off, etc.

If you can suck the juice of the different frame types and how to communicate more effectively by avoiding overwhelming your audience with analysis, and throw away the rind of Oren's ego and all the unusable parts in the book that don't apply to non-finance markets, then this lemon may be for you.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this book 3.5 stars. The methods are for 'alpha dog' situations - have the stronger position and don't show weakness. This is probably common (and necessary) when pitching multi-million dollar deals to investors. However for some people, I imagine this a turnoff and these methods probably wouldn't work with individuals whose focus is on negotiation versus competition. The author recounts a time when he had a power struggle with a French waiter. The author was trying to impress his guests; the waiter was putting him in his place. It wasn't even a situation that required winning. The author made it into a competition when the waiter exposed the author's lack of knowledge on wines.

[Jurgen Appelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stories and challenging insights, brought with a refreshing dose of cheeky arrogance.

[Gohnar23 (hiatus but still reading) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned many key insights and theories on how to like sales pitch eh, the STONG METHOD and the 3 frames that the sales pitcher must combat in the everyday pitching of your product is helpful but limiting to the different amounts of wants and needs of other people. And also a step by step guide on pitching an idea in just 20 mins being categorized 5-10-2-3 and technical terms such as neurofinance and how 'crocodile brained' people are.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although i do a fair amount of pitching, I've never really listened to others' pitches or spent any time in sales training. Mr. Klaff's philosophy makes sense to me and helps me recognize some things I can do better in my pitch storylines, but it also makes me grateful that I work in nonprofit industries and operate within real and ongoing friendly relationships in my business.
One thing i found somewhat off-putting is that the author seems to position the human interest and altruistic pitch elements as a means to an end rather than a genuine motivating driver of deals.
But, I did finish the book so I give him good marks for capturing attention and keeping interest up even if getting through it required some patience to tease out the practical take-aways from the author's boastful opinion of his method and abilities.

[Ryzal Yusoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This is my first impression that I had when I first started reading the book and also the same impression I being left with when I finished the book. First of all, this book by Oren Klaff isn’t about some old business cliches or conventional sales techniques. Instead, he explains the revolutionary way of pitching by the method/instrument/attitude/term called “Frame”.

These are the example of frames:
# Power-busting frame
# Time constraining frame
# Intrigue frame
# Prize frame

Most part of the books are filed with the author real-life experiences where he uses these frames to win over his audience’s attention and the deals. I don’t understand how some people labelling his experiences in this book as “bragging” though. To me, he genuinely includes these relevant experience and examples to simply shows that his methods were validated. And not just some theories and techniques like what most conventional books out there. Indeed, he also devoted one chapter (Chapter 7) to tell his one big experience on how he uses his techniques that he teaches in this book to win over a deal worth 1 billion dollar. This proves that he isn’t just talk and talk but also has proves that his techniques really work!

He also points out the basic science behind how human’s brain works when they listen to pitch. And from this basics that he actually develops the techniques and methods that were mentioned in this book. In brief:

# There are 3 parts of the brain namely: Neocortex, Mid-brain & Crocodile Brain.
# Croc brains responsible for initial filtering of all incoming messages, it generates most survival fight-or-flight responses, and it produces strong, basic emotion, too. The Mid-brain determines the meaning of things and social situations. And neocortex evolved with a problem-solving ability and is able to think about complex issues and produces answers using reason.
# As you’re pitching your idea, the croc brain of the person sitting across from you isn’t “listening” and thinking “Hmmm, is this a good deal or not?” Its reaction to your pitch basically goes like this:
“Since this is not an emergency, how can I ignore this or spend the least amount of time possible on it?”
# This filtering system of the crocodile brain has a very short-sighted view of the world. Anything that is not a crisis it tries to mark as “spam”.
# And the croc’ brain’s filtering will look something like this:
> If it’s not dangerous, ignore it.
> If it’s not new and exciting, ignore it.
> If it is new, summarise it as quickly as possible— and forget about the details.
> And finally there is this specific instruction: Do not send anything up to the neocortex for problem solving unless you have a situation that is really unexpected and out of the ordinary.

Fun! No wonder pitching is so difficult. But luckily with this book, Oren Klaff will guides you on how to tackle this problem and say no more, if you want to know, you should read it!

Lastly, I would like to say that this is indeed a very useful, well-organized book which I really enjoyed every chapters of it. Here are the other key points that I think are useful from this book:

1. Prepare a story before you pitch. You don’t necessarily use them, but if you had to, then use it.

2. In decision making, we don’t do much analysis, if any at all. We go with our gut
People do not become friends with each other, choose one career over another, or choose what sport to watch on the weekend based on detailed cognitive analysis of the pros and cons of each situation. If we stop thinking about it, most major decisions are not made by cold cognitive processes such as evaluation and analysis but instead by “hot cognition”.
Most of the time, the data we have collected about choices and alternatives and options aren’t used to make a decision anyway. They are used to justify decisions after the fact.

3.It’s no use telling anyone, “I’m a good person”. That’s a useless analytical fact that has no narrative to support it. People want to know how you faced obstacles and overcome them.

4. How to Stack Frames:
Hot cognition1: Intrigue frame (this will avoid target brain to be in paradigmatic & analytical thinking mode)

Use narrative pattern
-(this will make your story less boring).
-Use this structure: Put a man in the jungle (difficult situation). Have beast attack him (conflict & tension). Will he get to safety?

When we listen to your narrative, it’s not what happens to you that makes you interesting, but it’s what you do about the situation you are in.


5. Basic formula to eradicate neediness:
# Eliminate your desires. It’s not necessary to want things. Sometimes you have to let them come to you
# Be excellent in the presence of others. Show people one thing that you are very good at
# Withdraw. At a crucial moment, when people are expecting you to come after them, pull away.


6. Showing signs of neediness is about the worst thing you can do to your pitch. Its incredibly bad for frame control. It erodes status. It freezes your hot cognitions. It topples your frame stacks.

7. When pitches work well, we tend to believe that it was our great idea that impressed the target. Or that our sublime explanation of the big idea was impressive and convincing. However, when pitches fail, we see it through a different lens. In such cases, we believe that the problem lies with the target, not us.

8. Big idea of introduction pattern:
#### Opportunity to gain social reward, such as becoming “hero” is even more enticing than making money
# Idea of social rewards
# Idea of becoming a “hero”
# Idea of making a lot of money

9. Traditional pitches often start out “We worked really hard to come up with a great plan…..”.
But my approach takes two steps back and then goes out there in the market [and the normal approach isn’t going to work], and it ends up by saying, “There is a better way that is different from the others,” and “It’s different because it isn’t just cold, hard numbers. It has a human story to it”.


10. Closing a pitch:
# The right way:
“But we are not going to do this for you. We will have to do it together with you. When you feel that the time is right, I encourage you to come to our office and talk over how we can make that happen. “
# The wrong way (Beta trapped!)
“So we would be proud to work on this prestigious project and will eagerly wait to hear you decision.”

[Mad Hab · Rating 5 out of 5]

You need to read this and start rewatching Mad Men.
That is all you need.

[Jade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book from Goodreads

Pitch Anything is not like any other book about pitching, selling or negotiating. Oren Klaff in this book outlines the basic core principles of human social interaction and how to analyze and take advantage of the basic instincts of other humans. It provides methods for tuning your language and information delivery to maximize impact by stirring peoples core emotions. Within the first few chapters I found myself analyzing my everyday social interactions and using terms defined in the book to create logical and predictable time lines that I would later use for sales and negotiating strategies. It is a fascinating take on social situations and it really shows things from a different perspective than we are used to. The formula doesn't stop working in the conference room or the office either, these techniques can be used in recruiting, defusing hostile situations and even the dating scene. I think the greatest thing this book did for me is reaffirm my belief that the majority of people I deal with are reptiles.

[Alberto Quizon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A useful audiobook with some compelling presentation techniques. Once you ignore the terrible pop-science (hearing the phrase 'croc-brain' instead of 'reptilian brain' feels like nails on a chalk board every time he says it) it actually contains some great tools for pitching new ideas to clients. Unfortunately the badly interpreted neurology and psychology can be very distracting and really takes away from the credibility of the author. The author's professional experience would have been enough to keep me interested in the book's techniques. Instead I felt I had to wade through long stretches of cringe-worthy pseudo-science just to get to the useful presentation heuristics.

[Gloria · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. I think many people will enjoy it because he works through the material with his own personal experiences.

Have to say that his referencing is pretty weak, and he is clearly influenced by many of the other current, hot writers (Gladwell, etc).

If you are not already familiar with the idea, the most valuable thing is his application of framing and his specific application of framing (and countering frames) when making a 20 minute pitch.

Book needs to be edited and reviewed by the publisher for typos, errors in layout, etc.

[Simon Eskildsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pitch anything is a book on techniques for delivering killer pitches. The author averages out at raising 2 million per week on average, while the book transcends into the ego of the author too much here and there, the stories are mostly helpful and make for a storyline. The organization of the book isn't the most predictable, but this is also biased by the fact I listened to the audio book (although I took notes as I was listening).

Pitching matters. It matters how much they like you, and how you fit into the social context. In a perfect world that wasn’t true, but this is the real world: You have to lure them in with chocolate (intrigue) and give them the kale (numbers) later.

The most paramount insight of the book is the order we process information in, which is equal to the stages the brain developed in: 1) reptile, 2) social, 3) problem-solving. There’s a fundamental disconnect between the way we form information and how it’s received. Thoughts are shaped in the problem-solving brain (what Daniel Kahnemann of “Thinking Fast & Slow” would call the slow brain): they’re abstract, involve metaphors and leverage complex language. However, to make it to the receiver they have to make it through the primitive parts of the brain. The “croc brain” favours surprise and simplicity, and quickly starts discarding complex and threatening information. This is a powerful mental model for why structural, simple information will appeal to an audience the most.

The other point the books keeps coming back to is that of frames. If you walk into a room with a person, in an instant your frames collide—the person who comes out on top owns the room, the conversation and the ultimate outcome. How do you make that you? The book lists a number of different frames:

* Power frame. Arrogance, large ego, bad at listening, expect you to be absorbed.
* Analyst frame. Rational, numbers, logical.
* Moral frame. Often used to counter logic with ethics.
* Time frame. Limiting the interaction by time to place pressure on the other person’s frame. Often used in tandem with the power frame.
* Intrigue frame. Focusing on the high level and the impact.
* Prizing frame. Become the prize instead of chasing it.

These frames can be stacked and they can be countered by other frames, for example, the analyst frame can be countered with a moral frame or an intrigue frame. A power frame can be countered by stacking a number of other frames, and regaining the power—usually by light-hearted humour to gain an even stronger power frame.

However, frame control is not all about inhabiting the social context—crushing someone’s frame can come at a cost, as it can make the other person feel threatened. Nobody liked to be owned. It’s simply a way to make people beg for your attention. You have to commit to your frame, often only at the point when you’re just about to give up is when it’ll win.

Keeping intrigue and surprise as you progress your pitch is important. When people hear a speech and confirm that the answer is what they expected, they instantly check out mentally—what more can you teach them? This is why people drift as your talk goes on; it becomes too predictable. However, if you make it too difficult to follow the croc brain will filter information to the point where the audience falls asleep. This is what makes the intrigue frame powerful for pitching, stacked with a prizing frame: Money is a commodity, it can do nothing with you. One of the most important discoveries of the 20th century was the DNA helix: Explained in 5 minutes. Your pitch does not need to be 45. When introducing yourself, highlight only your greatest achievements. People average them out, they don’t sum them.

People love fresh ideas, what makes the time right for it today? The “Why Now” frame: Economic, Social, Technological and Historic context add up to the credibility of why the idea shines today and not yesterday. An airport today works because of a new regulation, a change in movement and competitor conflict of interest—all adding up to a perfect opportunity. Make it dynamic and novel through demos, animations, metaphors and stories. People respond much better to this than the static. Don’t delve into details before your idea is warm, your analyst frame needs to follow the intrigue frame or the croc brain is going to drop it all on the floor. The author argues that brutal simplicity does not work. There’s a middleground that provides enough details to make it credible and easy to understand, but not enough to make it boring. Another method is providing a mental model, this can be an amazing shortcut. When giving the pitch you need to balance desire and tension, this is the most effective neurological kick you can trigger: Push and pull the target constantly. When the audience gets what they expect dopamine remains unchanged, when they don’t get what they expect it’s a negative respond—when you exceed it, cocaine my friend. 

Be on the lookout for beta traps that are set in place to demote your frame: waiting in a lobby, listening to smalltalk between coworkers on topics you have no chance on engaging in or being late are all examples. Respond appropriately to avoid your frame from crumbling. Your global status (wealth, occupation, reputation, frame) cannot be easily altered, but your domain knowledge can. This is how a waiter can completely own a table from the host.

In short: Spot beta frames, recognize frames, counter them, use humour, have fun.

[Lukas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Puh

[Felly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started it slowly but the narrative is built up after half of the book. I can see why this book is very popular for entrepreneur and businessman/woman. Oren has his own way and methods to make a perfect pitch with storytelling. It is a good theory for all of us but not for Oren who has done this for more 10 years.

[Dmitry · Rating 2 out of 5]

(The English review is placed beneath the Russian one)

Перечитывая книгу, я в очередной раз пересматриваю своё отношение и к автору и к его книге. Теперь автор мне видится неким таким продавцом автомобилей. Такой тип людей часто можно увидеть в старых американских фильмах. Это такой тип людей, которых мы моментально узнаём по стилю их общения, т.к. это агрессивный тип продавца, который постоянно давит на клиентов с целью вызвать у них эмоции, которые бы затмили рациональные доводы рассудка (страх потерять выгодную сделку, радость от удачно совершённой сделки и т.д.). Не знаю как остальным читателям, но я никогда не покупаю у таких продавцов. Я могу выслушать такого продавца и даже согласиться с ним, но я никогда не совершаю покупку у такого представителя компании. Лично мне, просто неприятен такой человек. Однако автор этой книги предлагает вам стать именно таким человек, т.е. использовать агрессивный стиль поведения при проведении презентаций.
Я не знаю как остальные, но что-то мне подсказывает, что вести подобным образом и быть при этом успешным, не многие могут. Ментально плюнуть в клиента, показать, какое он ничтожество, что он просто ребёнок, с которым приходится общаться взрослому (продавцу), а потом нехотя взять протянутые клиентом деньги, делая как бы одолжение ему. Вот это редко кто реально может сделать. Возможно, я немного ушёл в крайности, но когда я читал про то, как автор книги выбивал деньги у некого человека, у меня сложился именно такой образ. И это образ, точная копия персонажа типичного голливудского блокбастера. Или вот возьмём пример с официантом, которого описывает автор, т.е. его личный случай в каком-то ресторане. Официант изображён в виде эстета и управляющего, который как бы снисходит до того, чтобы обслужить гостя. Такой образ более характерен для французской комедии, но не для реальной ситуации. Трудно сказать, какая ситуация была в реальности, но я воспринял описываемый автором случай именно так. В любом случаи, первая половина книги будет посвящена описанию именно такого стиля поведения. С одной стороны, это в определённой ситуации может сработать, ибо основа такой стратегии - вы становитесь тем человеком, который контролирует ситуацию, вы ведёте человека, а не он вас. Такая позиция действительно может позволить быть более убедительным и продавливать нужную для вас повестку. Основным словом является «продавливать», ибо я повторюсь, вы в такой ситуации именно что давите на человека, вы пытаетесь сломать его сопротивление с целью подчинить его волю своей. Как правильно заметил один читатель, такую стратегию можно использовать лишь для однократного взаимодействия, т.е. что вы продадите ему товар/услугу или получите от него то, что вам необходимо и больше никогда его не увидите. В таком случаи подобная стратегия может принести успех и быть уместной. Но вот если ситуация подразумевает многократное совершение сделок, т.е. клиент будет на протяжении несколько лет обращаться к вам, то вот тогда подобное поведение, скорее всего, будет контрпродуктивным. Ведь когда переговоры закончатся, он сможет обдумать сложившуюся ситуацию в более спокойной обстановке, а значит придёт к выводу, что по отношению к нему были применены неэтические приёмы и, следовательно, больше он к вашим услугам не обратится. В любом случаи, как я уже сказал, людей, которые смогут использовать метод предлагаемый автором, не так и много. Тут нужно иметь очень специфическое строение личности, очень сильную харизму. Ну, или нужно иметь такую способность, которая позволила бы ломать чужие шаблоны поведения, беря тем самым людей врасплох.
Всё вышесказанное относится к первой половине книги. Что касается оставшейся половины, то она показалась мне невероятно скучной и добавленной только ради увеличения объёма книги. Можно даже сказать, что книга сама по себе на 80% состоит из примеров и пустых фраз. Более того, автор использует неприятную тактику, которая призвана придать книге научность. В самом начале он пишет про строение мозга и про самую древнюю его часть и пр. Честно сказать, я не увидел в этом особую необходимость, ибо с моей точки зрения, весь метод автора строится на захвате инициативы, т.е. как в том примере с доктором, который может приказывать даже такому всесильному человеку как Барак Обама (когда тот был президентом США). Жаль, что это упрощённая модель не говорит, что даже в таком случаи человек может всё же отказаться выполнять приказы врача. И более того, вся власть доктора построена на том, что он обладает теми знаниями, которыми не обладает пациент и плюс, ставкой в такой ситуации является жизнь. Часто ли в переговорах продавец обладает такими знаниями и ставкой является чьё-то здоровье? Я так не думаю. Так что остаётся перехват инициативы. Но опять же, успешно реализовать это очень и очень сложно обычному человеку. Я уж молчу про то, что люди могут найти такой способ переговоров крайне неприятным.

Rereading the book.
I reconsider my attitude towards both the author and his book. Now I regard the author as some kind of a car salesman. This type of person can be seen in old American films. It's such type of people that we instantly recognize by their style of communication because it's an aggressive type of seller who always presses on clients in order to evoke emotions that would overshadow the rational arguments of the mind (fear of losing a profitable deal, the joy of a successful one, etc.). I don't know about other readers, but I never buy from such sellers. I can listen to such a seller and even agree with him, but I am never buying from such a company representative. I don't like such a guy. However, the author of this book offers you to become such a person, i.e., to use an aggressive style when making presentations.
I don't know about other readers, but something tells me that not many people can behave in such a way and be successful. Mentally spit in the client, to show that he is nothing, that he is just a child with whom an adult (seller) has to communicate, and then reluctantly take the money extended by the client, doing him a kind of favor. Rarely, anyone can really do this. Maybe I went a little to extremes, but when I read about how the author of the book has collected a debt from a person, I had this very image. And this image is an exact copy of a character from a typical Hollywood blockbuster. Or take the example of the waiter described by the author, i.e., his case in some restaurant. The waiter is depicted as an aesthete and manager, who as if descends to serve a guest. This image is more typical for French comedy, but not for the real situation. It is hard to say what situation was in reality, but I took the case described by the author in this way.
So, the first half of the book is devoted to the description of this particular style of behavior. On the one hand, it can work in some situations, because the basis of such a strategy is: you become the person who controls the situation, you lead the person. Such a position can indeed allow you to be more persuasive and to push through the agenda you need. The basic word is " push," because, I repeat, in such a situation, you are putting pressure on the person, you are trying to break his resistance in order to subordinate his will to yours. As one reader correctly noted, such a strategy can be used only for a single interaction, i.e., that you sell him a product/service or get from him what you need and will never see him again. In such cases, such a strategy may be successful and appropriate. But if the situation involves multiple transactions, i.e., the client will deal with you throughout several years, then this behavior is likely to be counterproductive. After all, when the negotiations are over, he will be able to think about the situation in a more relaxed atmosphere, which means that he will come to the conclusion that unethical methods have been used. Therefore, he will no longer appeal to your services. In any case, as I said, there are not many people who can use the method proposed by the author. You have to have a specific personality and a powerful charisma. Well, or you should have the ability to break other people's behavior patterns, thus taking people by surprise.
All the above is related to the first half of the book. As for the remaining half, it seemed to be incredibly dull and was added only to increase the volume of the book. We can even say: the book itself consists of 80% examples and empty phrases. Moreover, the author uses an unpleasant tactic, which is designed to give the text a scientific look. At the very beginning, he writes about the structure of the brain and the oldest part of it, etc. Frankly speaking, I did not see a special need in this, because, from my point of view, the whole method of the author is based on capturing the initiative, i.e. like in an example with a doctor who can order even such a powerful man like Barack Obama (when he was president of the United States). It is a pity that this simplified model does not say that even in such situations a person can still refuse to follow the orders of a doctor. Besides, all the power of the doctor is based on the fact that he has the knowledge which the patient does not have, and plus, the stake in such a situation is life. How often in negotiations does the seller have this knowledge, and the stake is someone's health? I do not think so. So it remains to seize the initiative. But then again, it is very, very difficult for an ordinary person to implement it successfully. Not to mention the fact that people can find this way of negotiation extremely unpleasant.

[Mark Manderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has some great referencing of how to control several frames. Here are my takeaways:

The thought process focuses first on survival, then social relationships, then problem solving.
* All pitches go to the crocodile brain first which is survival. Its goal is to eliminate the information and react.
STRONG ACRONYM
Set the frame
Tell the story.
Reveal intrigue.
Offer the prize.
Nail the hook.
Get the deal.
Power frame: They have ego. Your goal is to play


* Meet them with the same frame
* Control the frame in something irrelevant example of a hand drawing. And now I had Steve complete attention to me.
* When negotiating with this type of person either act out of defiance or denial quickly.
* Ex: either let them sneak a peek at something and take it away and playfully say not yet until I say you can, or if they tell you only have 10 minutes tell him it's okay because you only have eight and smile.
Prize frame:
* If they throw a surprise, such as start the meeting without the main guy, say "I can let you prepare for 15 minutes and then will have to be in my way." You must own the frame.
When you lose in the audience tell the brief story with suspense end on a cliffhanger and then get back to your pitch.
Prize frame:
* Where it is they want you and you are the prize as people want what they can't have.
* Make statements instead of asking questions which means go down in tone at the end of the sentence.
Power frame:
* Example of meeting on their turf and then set in the frame so he took the apple and cut it in half and said this is how I do deals where we both benefit and then went into his pitch. Was something they would never forget.
* The key is to be friendly but disruptive.
INTRO:
* Let them know it'll be short you have somewhere to be shortly after so we'll have to run
* Give a short track record of your successes.
* Show how taking advantage of a brief Market window that just opened up so I anticipate competition.
* Here's what it is, show me how moving from old information the new way.
* Here's who it's for.
* These are my competitors.
* Share with the budget and the secret sauce.
There must be a little bit of tension and every pitch that gives this push-pull.
4 FRAME HOT COGNITION STACK:
* Intrigue frame. the goal is to introduce desire with something the prospect wants.
* Difficult situation. There's an attack. Will he make it. MUST CREATE INTRIGUE AND LEAVE HANGING
* Prize frame.
* Time frame.
* Moral Authority frame

[Scott Wozniak · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about high stakes presentations--especially how to get and keep the attention of super busy alpha dogs. It's edgy and clever but not manipulative at all. I have never read a better balance on how to influence influencers without playing shady games. Best of all, he has a clear framework and language to help analyze and engage all situations.

[Note: for the first time in my life I'm re-reading my favorite books, to reinforce their messages and to see if I would still consider them one of the greats. The review above is my original reaction. The comments below are my thoughts now.]

How does it compare to my memory of the book? Would I still recommend it to others?

I still recommend this book to anyone who is doing high stakes sales. That could be for large sums of money from investors (what he does), but it could be convincing you team to undertake a major change in your company or asking volunteers to help with a hard project. (He doesn't apply it to those situations, but it could be used there--I know I have used this in those situations.)

I was worried that his bragging would be off putting, but it's not as bad as I remembered. And the tactical content, the "how to" portion of the book was better than I remembered. So, keeping this one my list of greats.

[Niels Mulder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oren Klaff did a great job on explaining how the human brain works, and thus, how people perceive your message. He delivers a framework on how to shape your message for your audience and how to be persuasive in your pitch. All based on research how your brain works. Although he has a background in finance it’s applicable for other industries. Start reading today and change how you pitch forever.

We all think we can make decisions based our calm and analytical approach. This is nonsense! Our first reaction is pure instinct and there is nothing you can do about that. Once you are aware of this you will change your message accordingly.

He also delivers tips on how to handle so called beta-traps from your opponent: letting you wait in the lobby, saying they don’t have much time for you, interrupting during a presentation, etc. The situations he describes are very recognisable and make you want to bring his framework into practice.

[Benjamin Kuttner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the real deal. The author is a maverick deal maker who offers some sound advice which can help amateurs get deals done. In reading I did get a sense that this guy is a bit of an artist, some of what he does is so impromptu, ballsy and creative ordinary people pitching just wouldn't be able to pull it off. Despite this, us ordinary mortals can still take a lot away from this book. I really liked the crocodile brain part - you can see this occuring not only in deal making but in relationships, sport so many areas of our lives.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to wrestle with the rating because the book has some amazingly good tips and clearly this person could out-pitch me by far. So if you ONLY want to get to some great points for winning in deals, do read this book. My problems with it were around 1. what I saw as the author's delving into WHY something worked which didn't always seem to follow... and 2. with old-school political clout trickery. Much of it will work though so each reader will have to discover what works for her/him. Again, the concepts are really helpful to know and Oren Klaff certainly knows his stuff.

[Ильяс Джаз · Rating 5 out of 5]

Книга очень полезна будет для всех.
Очень хорошо раскрыта тема, того как человек принимает решение. Неокортекс, рептилии мозг, горячие и холодные когниции.

Но больше всего конечно понравилась играм фреймов. Ведь мы каждый день общаемся в каких либо рамках, а в книги рассказывается как ставить свои рамки и это очень круто.
Даже даются конкретные рекомендации, как это делать.

Конечно книгу можно было бы сделать и поменьше, но в ней много истории, которые укрепляют теорию.