'There Is No Success Without Failure': How to Turn a Pitch Meeting Setback Into Success
On the new episode of "Fix My Pitch," business coaches Anthony Sullivan and Tina Frey explain how to reboot yourself when a meeting doesn't go your way.
Practice pitching out loud — connect your thoughts to your body and fine-tune any words or phrases you find yourself stumbling over.
How you stand is more important than you might think. Your posture reveals your passion!
Put your logo on full display on your clothing — a t-shirt, hat, a bag. Keep your company name front and center in investors' minds.
Keep your pitch as simple as possible. State the problem and explain how you are the solution. And avoid insider jargon.
Slow down! Don't rush to get the information out there. If it is taking too long to say, then cut down on what you're saying.
Practice pitching out loud — connect your thoughts to your body and fine-tune any words or phrases you find yourself stumbling over.
How you stand is more important than you might think. Your posture reveals your passion!
Put your logo on full display on your clothing — a t-shirt, hat, a bag. Keep your company name front and center in investors' minds.
Keep your pitch as simple as possible. State the problem and explain how you are the solution. And avoid insider jargon.
Slow down! Don't rush to get the information out there. If it is taking too long to say, then cut down on what you're saying.
Transcript
00:00 - Okay.
00:00 - Where is everyone?
00:02 All right.
00:03 - I feel my way to success.
00:05 - Thomas Edison.
00:06 - That's a good quote.
00:07 - There's this quote on the board when we walk in
00:09 and it's just like, where are our mentors?
00:12 What's going on?
00:13 - When I walked in and I saw the quote,
00:14 like failing to succeed,
00:16 I don't think anybody really goes out to fail.
00:18 (group clapping)
00:21 - Are you excited?
00:22 - Yes.
00:23 - All right gang, well, welcome to the workshop room.
00:25 I saw that you were reading the quote
00:27 and I was like, oh, I'm excited.
00:29 I saw that you were reading the quote,
00:30 I failed my way to success.
00:32 And I know that you might interpret
00:34 that what has gotten you here is your failure.
00:37 Not true.
00:37 All opportunity, right?
00:38 Failure actually is an opportunity.
00:41 And that's what we're gonna work through today.
00:42 Right, Anthony?
00:43 - There's no success in my opinion without failure.
00:45 So what I wanna do today with Tina
00:47 is sit down with each of you individually.
00:49 We've identified some areas where we both think
00:52 we can improve your pitch.
00:53 We're gonna get into the mechanics,
00:54 into the architecture, into the physical aspect,
00:57 the informational aspect.
00:58 We got a lot of work to do.
00:59 So let's split up and get busy.
01:02 - All right, let's do it guys.
01:03 (group clapping)
01:04 Air high five, air high five.
01:06 Go to your table.
01:07 (group laughing)
01:08 - Thomas Edison famously said,
01:09 "I failed my way to success."
01:11 And what he means is without failure, there is no success.
01:15 And I need these guys to understand that,
01:17 that it's okay to fail.
01:19 She had 60 seconds to pitch a business to investors
01:22 and possibly change her life.
01:24 But instead.
01:26 - Attention, Ashley, your pitch has been denied.
01:30 - If an entrepreneur can't pitch their business,
01:34 they can't succeed.
01:35 It's something we see all the time
01:37 on our show Elevator Pitch,
01:39 where entrepreneurs have 60 seconds to pitch.
01:41 If they don't get an investor's attention after that,
01:44 they're done for.
01:45 So we picked four entrepreneurs who failed on the show
01:49 and teamed them up with world-class experts in pitching
01:52 so that they and you can make a good impression
01:55 in the time it takes to ride an elevator.
01:58 This is Fix My Pitch.
02:00 (upbeat music)
02:02 (upbeat music)
02:12 - Okay, Ashley.
02:17 - Hello, Ashley.
02:18 - How you doing, all right?
02:19 - Come on up, join us.
02:21 Now you watched your video with us.
02:23 - I did.
02:23 - What are you working on, my friend?
02:25 - I am restructuring my pitch.
02:29 - Okay.
02:30 - I am visualizing myself saying parts of it
02:33 so that it actually comes across the way I want it to.
02:36 I'm practicing in my head.
02:37 - And then, okay.
02:38 - Yeah.
02:39 - So let's talk about practicing in your head.
02:41 I've done this many, many times.
02:43 Practicing in your head is incredibly different
02:45 than practicing out loud.
02:47 All of the things that go along with it, right?
02:48 You think you're gonna say something
02:49 and then all of a sudden you get up there to do it
02:51 and you're like, what are the words
02:53 that are coming out of my mouth right now?
02:54 So can we try something, though?
02:56 And that's actually, so what you're doing right now,
02:58 it's called the power pose.
02:59 So Amy Cuddy is this famous social psychologist
03:01 and what she talks about is that the body
03:03 and the brain are connected.
03:04 And when you do something like this,
03:06 what you're actually doing is you're teaching your brain
03:07 and you're telling your brain, you are victorious.
03:10 So my recommendation is before the pitch for sure,
03:13 and even as you're getting this in your head
03:15 and you're rehearsing, is you just stand like this
03:17 and you say it out loud, right?
03:19 Because then what's happening is,
03:21 nothing else can happen except for success.
03:24 - I think Ashley just has to turn it up.
03:27 I didn't feel that her elevated pitch was at pitch level.
03:30 I'm not saying she has to scream and yell,
03:32 but Ashley has to dial up the enthusiasm
03:35 and I need to feel the passion.
03:37 And I think she can get there,
03:39 but I think it's gonna be a push.
03:40 You're in the fitness space, okay?
03:42 We need to dial it up a little bit.
03:44 Some of the, I know a lot of the great fitness pitch people
03:47 and some of them are bouncing off the walls.
03:49 I don't think you wanna bounce off the wall,
03:51 but your fitness, it's a physical,
03:53 you're selling clothing, your logo,
03:55 I don't know if you may be a subtle on your logo,
03:57 but every time you get in front of investors,
04:00 it's a good opportunity to logo up.
04:01 So I didn't even know you were wearing what you were wearing
04:04 and I would be like turning around while I'm talking,
04:06 this is the greatest, it stretches, it has support,
04:09 whatever those features and benefits are.
04:11 And then right now, price is a big thing.
04:14 It seems to me your USP is great quality, low price.
04:17 Hit that.
04:18 - I think with anything new, there's learning curves.
04:20 And so I was nervous, I had a lot of questions
04:23 and the confirmation from people
04:26 that expertise really helped.
04:27 - All right, Brandon, Brandon, hey,
04:29 join us over here, man.
04:30 - How are you, buddy?
04:31 - I'm doing good, how are you?
04:32 - Good, how's it going so far?
04:34 - Good, just taking some of the feedback
04:37 that you guys gave from watching the pitch
04:39 and incorporating that into a new one.
04:41 - So what did you hear and what are you incorporating?
04:44 - Yeah, so I know Anthony had mentioned,
04:46 working on kind of the numbers
04:48 and like getting so caught up in that.
04:51 - So it's great that you took Anthony's input.
04:53 How do you feel about editing the data?
04:56 - I can really like kind of shrink that down
04:59 and try and get some of the data as far as like maybe revenue
05:02 but I wanted to get your guys' opinions
05:04 to see like what things I should keep in there,
05:06 maybe some things that I should take.
05:08 - Look, what I always love to do, keep it simple, K-I-S.
05:12 When you walk in and working on something like this,
05:14 write it down on a piece of duct tape
05:16 at the top of your computer, keep it simple.
05:18 I've sold weight loss products, you know what it came down to?
05:20 Eat the food, lose the weight.
05:22 With that simple, that is what we solved.
05:24 Start with the problem, come in with a solution,
05:27 retavo and then keep it simple.
05:29 There are some numbers in there that are important.
05:31 You just have to figure out which ones do you wanna keep.
05:34 I actually really relate to Brandon.
05:36 I suffer from that, trying to get as much information
05:39 as I can into a short period of time.
05:41 It's a challenge and I think he's gonna struggle with it.
05:44 He just has to cut, cut, cut, cut, cut, no pasting.
05:47 - My mentor used to tell me all the time,
05:49 Tina, too much good is no good.
05:51 Can we try something?
05:52 - Yeah, I'd like that.
05:53 - So I'd like you to tell us a few things about yourself,
05:56 anything, personal, whatever my dog's name is.
05:59 And I want you to painfully talk slowly while you do it.
06:04 - Okay. - All right?
06:06 - So my name is Brandon Storms.
06:08 I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio.
06:11 I am the father to a beautiful three-year-old boy
06:15 and I love being a dad.
06:17 - We're gonna stop you on purpose.
06:19 How did that sound?
06:20 - Good, it's great, it's authentic.
06:21 - Did that feel painfully slow for you?
06:24 - No, it didn't feel painfully slow.
06:25 I was just talking.
06:26 - What's interesting is when you slow your speech,
06:29 you slow your thoughts a little bit too,
06:30 so you can really compartmentalize what you're doing.
06:32 But that was brilliant.
06:33 That was absolutely brilliant.
06:35 - The biggest piece of tactical information,
06:36 I think, is slowing down.
06:39 I have a tendency to talk really fast
06:41 and try to get as much information
06:43 that I think is pertinent.
06:45 It's really just taking a breather
06:47 and really making sure that I put
06:49 the most important information out,
06:51 not necessarily all of the information.
06:53 - Arvin. - Arvin, how you doing?
06:54 All right. - Hey.
06:55 So what exactly are you working on to elevate your pitch?
06:58 - Mostly just staying consistent, being thorough,
07:02 while the camera's still on me.
07:04 - What I think we really need to focus on
07:05 is just to tell your story.
07:07 - Just be natural.
07:08 - And be natural, yeah.
07:09 I mean, that's an easy toss-away thing to say, right?
07:11 But really, what's the story?
07:13 What problem is this solving?
07:16 What makes your technology amazing?
07:18 - I honestly believe that Arvin needs to start
07:20 with believing in Arvin
07:22 and also understanding what Arvin's message is.
07:25 - I wanna give you a little lesson.
07:26 It's been invaluable to me.
07:27 It's what's in it for me.
07:29 I think what fell flat in your pitch to me was,
07:33 I understand AI, but I really,
07:36 the digital assistant is something that rings a bell.
07:39 Now, that's a feature, right?
07:41 The digital assistant is a feature.
07:42 It's a thing, and it's powered by artificial intelligence.
07:46 And your brand name is, remind me?
07:48 - Superintelligence.
07:49 - When you hit that, superintelligence,
07:52 hit it, dial it up a little bit.
07:54 What's in it for the person who's buying your product,
07:56 who's a potential customer?
07:57 And every single time you walk into a room,
08:00 it's potentially a different audience.
08:01 If you've got a bunch of high-level investors,
08:03 they are booking travel.
08:05 They are whatever an executive is doing.
08:07 If you're talking to a bunch of college kids,
08:08 different, you know, they're ordering pizza.
08:10 What I think you could do, and it's pretty simple,
08:13 the architecture of this is open up with the problem.
08:15 People are busy.
08:16 Being an adult is difficult.
08:17 You've got, if you're a busy mom
08:18 or you're a busy executive,
08:20 you've got a lot going on,
08:21 picking up kids from school, dry cleaning,
08:23 whatever you're dealing with.
08:24 This is gonna simplify my life.
08:26 That's what's in it for me, is a simple life.
08:28 It's gonna make it easy.
08:29 I need him to lift it up a little bit
08:31 and get through the pitch
08:33 with a certain amount of enthusiasm.
08:34 He's got it.
08:35 He's got a great personality.
08:37 He's magnetic.
08:38 But I feel like when the camera's on
08:40 and the spotlight's on him, he falls apart a bit.
08:42 This is gonna sound a little crazy.
08:43 Do you do any like deep breathing, belly breathing,
08:46 anything like that before you get in the elevator?
08:48 - I did not.
08:49 - Okay, this is like, I'm not kidding you, okay?
08:51 Work with me here, okay?
08:52 Okay, take a deep breath.
08:53 (inhales)
08:54 (exhales)
08:56 Exhale.
08:57 Deep breath in.
08:58 From the belly, expand the belly.
09:00 (exhales)
09:03 One more, okay?
09:05 And then big breath out, okay?
09:07 That's it, okay, you got this, okay?
09:09 I got this, I got this.
09:10 - I got this.
09:11 - You got this, that's it. - Nice, yeah, I love it.
09:13 - If I would've had this preparation
09:15 before elevator pitch,
09:16 things would've gone a lot differently.
09:18 I have a lot more confidence now
09:19 and things look a lot more optimistic.
09:21 - William, I'm still not 100% sure
09:24 what it is that you're selling.
09:26 - Yes.
09:26 - And I need to understand in very, very basic terms
09:29 because you're a smart guy.
09:31 You come across very knowledgeable, very smart,
09:34 and you baffled me with science.
09:36 And I was left like, okay,
09:37 are we selling a cleaning product?
09:40 What is it?
09:40 - Technology, what exactly?
09:42 - So, Paldera is developing a gel coating
09:45 for medical devices like catheters or hip implants.
09:47 And all it is is it's applied over the surface
09:49 of the medical device
09:50 and protects the patient for up to 30 days
09:52 after the medical device is used
09:54 from any bacterial infection.
09:56 - So it's the actual coating.
09:57 - Yes. - It isn't the technology.
09:58 - It's not just the technology.
10:00 It's just this gel coating
10:01 that's applied to any preexisting medical device
10:03 that actively fights off infection for the patient.
10:06 - William is brilliant.
10:07 There's no arguing that.
10:09 We need to be able to take that brilliance
10:11 and take 90% of it and shelve it
10:14 and just get that 10%
10:16 that the normal audience can understand.
10:18 - So you're reducing patient infections
10:22 by using this technology.
10:23 - In advance.
10:25 - Is there a reason why you went down the urinary road?
10:30 - It's the most common infection
10:32 in hospital systems globally.
10:34 - So you think that's the pain point,
10:35 that if I'm a hospital,
10:37 I'm getting my attention,
10:39 that's an attention grabber?
10:40 - The design for catheters hasn't changed in 100 years.
10:43 It's pretty much the same basic design.
10:45 What we're doing is adding one layer to it
10:47 that protects the patient from that catheter.
10:49 - Are you trying to get to really defining
10:51 what the problem is?
10:52 - What he just said then is the design for the catheter
10:56 hasn't changed for 100 years.
10:57 I think you have to make it
10:59 so that when the people on the receiving end of this pitch,
11:02 it's a no-brainer.
11:03 - You would almost be stupid not to buy this.
11:06 I have something that's gonna save you millions
11:08 and it's gonna save lives,
11:10 and you're doing it the old way.
11:12 You know, I've invented the car
11:13 and you're still riding around on a horse.
11:16 It's that big of a leap.
11:18 I just think you're very intelligent,
11:20 you're very smart.
11:21 It's a high-level product.
11:24 This is not something that's simple.
11:26 And once you get into the infections,
11:28 and I start crossing my legs.
11:32 - The nitty gritty parts, yeah.
11:33 (laughing)
11:34 - They gave me some great input
11:36 on trying to not have so much information compressed.
11:39 The goal that I have to work towards
11:40 is making sure I can convey it to a general audience
11:43 without it being so technical
11:44 that it goes right over their head.
11:46 - Exciting day.
11:47 - Yeah, no, I'm feeling good.
11:48 I'm feeling good.
11:49 - Are you feeling good?
11:51 - Yeah.
11:51 - Well, we're done with today.
11:53 Tomorrow's a brand new day.
11:54 A lot of work tomorrow, right?
11:55 We're excited about it,
11:56 but we're gonna close out today.
11:57 - Practice, practice, practice will make perfect.
12:01 So I'm excited to see where we can go with this.
12:03 - All right.
12:04 - All right, we'll see you in the morning.
12:05 - Yeah, all right.
12:06 - See you.
12:07 (clapping)
12:08 - We have to do our pitches tomorrow,
12:09 and honestly, it's not a lot of time,
12:10 but besides being nervous, I'm gonna do my best.
12:13 - Personally, I hope I have enough time
12:16 to take all the information that they gave me,
12:18 and I'm able to have a pitch for tomorrow.
12:20 - We gave those guys a lot of information today,
12:23 and if it was me, I would be up all night
12:25 in front of the mirror practicing.
12:27 - If they just show up with their authentic selves,
12:30 they're gonna nail it.
12:31 - I feel like my pitch is really ready now,
12:33 but I felt like that last time too.
12:35 - The time crunch is kind of stressful since it's next day,
12:38 but I'm confident with their coaching, their style,
12:39 that I can get around and get a good pitch going.
12:42 I'm gonna work hard to make this easy to understand.
12:44 - On the next episode of Fix My Pitch.
12:47 - I thought we were pitching in an elevator.
12:50 - Yeah, me too.
12:51 - Oh yeah?
12:52 How about now?
12:53 - Oh, whoa!
12:54 - You're gonna get one last chance right now
12:57 to rehearse your pitch, to practice your pitch,
12:59 to see if you're ready for next season's elevator pitch.
13:02 Are you ready?
13:03 (upbeat music)
13:06 (camera shutter)
13:09 (upbeat music)
13:12 (upbeat music)