The 7 parts of the ultimate presentation or proposal

OVERVIEW

A pooping unicorn walks into a bar and the barmen says “why the long face”! (insert canned laughter here!)

Besides being an awesome dad joke you are probably wondering what this has to do with sustainability. Well in this post I am going to dissect the greatest sales pitch ever to uncover the ultimate 7 part pitch formula that will help you create the best, most memorable, most compelling and most engaging presentation or proposal you have ever put together.

Putting together a killer presentation or proposal is an essential part of every sustainability professional’s arsenal because we are always pitching that new project, trying to secure that budget, or trying to get that client to implement some sustainability initiative. The problem is that most sustainability professionals are really crap (that pun will make more sense later) at pitching and presenting which is why they find it so hard to get their ideas supported and implemented.

In this post you will learn the 7 key elements you need to write and create the ultimate sustainability pitch. If this new knowledge isn’t game changing for the way you deliver your environmental and social initiatives then I promise that as a minimum this post will put a smile on your face.

Warning: If you do not have a sense of humour you should probably not read any further as the following post includes some content they may disturb some readers including reference to unicorn poop, porcelain thrones, and Howard Stern’s toilet habits.

Everybody likes a good poop joke, right? Well the team from Squatty Potty have excelled in taking this to a new level. The Squatty Potty is basically just a plastic stool for the bathroom that changes your seating position. Whilst the Squatty Potty team’s effort to convince us in the following video that we need to buy a Squatty Potty is eye wateringly funny (at least my 10 year old son and I think so) this is not what interests me most. What really interests me most is the pitch formula that sits behind the following funny infomercial and how this can be applied to help you create the best presentation or pitch ever.

THE WORLD’S GREATEST PITCH EVER!

In the following video, the Squatty Potty team used a 7 part sales formula which launched Squatty Potty from a $17,000 per annum business in 2011 to a $30 million per annum cult juggernaut today and they are on track to hit $100 million in the next few years. Sustainability professionals can adapt this same formula for communicating or selling the benefits of our sustainability plans or our sustainability strategies.

But before we move onto the serious stuff you need to watch the following 3 minute video and then once you have composed yourself you can read on.

LET’S BREAK IT DOWN

Let’s dive in and have a look at the next video where I break down each part of the pitch formula – when you are finished make sure you scroll down to the bottom to access a free ebook you can download with an easy fill-in-the-box pitch template.

If you prefer to read about the pitch formula then I have laid it all out below.

THE PITCH FORMULA

Let’s look at the steps the team from Squatty Potty used in putting the pitch component together:

Step 1 – Attention

The first step in any good pitch is to gain the attention of your target audience. The Squatty Potty team achieved this in the first 4 seconds of the video by telling us that our ice-cream comes from the “creamy poop of a mystic unicorn” and together with the visuals they have commanded your complete attention.

You can use mystery, humour, an interesting fact, or even a story to get people’s attention. A PhD student I taught this framework to, came on stage wearing a shower cap at a conference where she was presenting her research on saving water – everyone was raving about her presentation at the end of the conference as the best presentation of the day when everyone else just gave the same old boring academic talk. Which presentation do you think the conference participants remembered 1 week, 1 month, or even 6 months later?

One of my favourite sustainability examples is the Patagonia Black Friday “don’t buy this jacket” advertisement that immediately grabs your attention because it disrupts the standard messaging people expected to see.

Step 2 – Identify the Problem

The next step is to state the problem. In this case study the problem is the way we sit on the porcelain throne and the muscle that creates a kink that stops those “Ben and Jerry’s from sliding out smoothly”.

For sustainability this could be the rapid pace of technological change, how to attract the top talent, competition from innovative startups, concerns over shareholder activism, reputation risks and so on.

Step 3 – Agitate the Problem

What are the negative consequences if you don’t fix this problem? Haemorrhoids, pelvic organ prolapse, constipation, bloating and IBS. None of that sounds good, does it?

How about loss of social licence to operate, competitors out innovating your company, wasting money, the CEO looking like they dropped the ball? What are the negative consequences to your organisation and the people in it if you do not address this sustainability problem.

Step 4 – Introduce the Solution part 1

This step involves introducing the solution to the problem. Not your solution or your sustainability plan but the answer to the question”what do we need to do to fix this problem?”. For Squatty Potty this is changing your position from a sit to a squat.

Step 5 – Introduce the Solution part 2

This is where you introduce your sustainability plan and you can deliver the solution. Your target audience now understands that they need to change from a sit to a squat and here comes the Squatty Potty that helps them to do just that.

Step 6 – Describe how your solution Transforms your audiences life

What does your audience’s life look like after they implement your solution? “Yes, it will give you the best poop of your life guaranteed!”

Step 7 – The Offer

This is the moment you have been waiting for where you can start to talk about all the benefits of your solution.

Want to have the best poop of your life? Then you need the Squatty Potty because it removes the kink (delivers the solution), lets you get “complete elimination”, saves you time on the chamber pot (“go twice as fast or your money back”), and it tucks neatly out of sight thanks to it’s patented design.

This step is not about the features of your product or service or your sustainability plan. It is about solving a problem or a need. What problem are you solving and for whom? Try listing out the features of your sustainability plan and then ask “so what?” after each one to uncover the benefits.

Step 8 – The Call to Action or Response

Now that you have your target audience thinking “I really need this” what do you want them to do? “If you are a human being who poops from your butt, click here to order your Squatty Potty today”.

What action do you want people to perform when you pitch your sustainability plan? Do you need the CFO to approve a budget, the facility managers to review energy data, or a customer to issue a purchase order?

Don’t make them guess, tell them exactly what you want them to do next.

Step 9 – Social Proof and Testimonials

Still not convinced? What if I told you that the Squatty Potty was endorsed by your Doctor, The Shark Tank, Huffington Post and even Howard Stern. What about the 2000+ five star reviews on Amazon.

Who else is talking about your sustainability plan, what successful case studies can you reference, what previous wins have you had in your sustainability program, what awards have you won, what research do you have to back up your claims?

Step 10 – Secondary Call to Action or Response

Finally, one more call to action for those that needed a little more convincing and that’s it.

The 7 Parts of the Ultimate Pitch or Presentation

The 7 parts of the pitch formula are:

A – Attention

P – Problem

A – Agitate the problem

S – Solution (part 1 and 2)

T – Transformation and Testimony

O – Offer

R – Response (Call to action)

Just remember that your job is to be A PASTOR.

Try using this the next time you have to pitch your sustainability plan or product (for clarity I mean the pitch formula and not the Squatty Potty – the later approach might be a bit awkward for your audience) and perhaps you too might deliver a winning sustainable soft serve delight!

To make it easy for you I have put this all together in a free ebook you can download with an easy fill-in-the-box template.

So if you are a human being who poops from your butt, click here to get your free e-book today. It will help you create the best, most memorable, most compelling and most engaging presentation or proposal you have ever put together or your money back!