Management Tip of the Day: Win the pitch

A businessman walks on an illuminated walkway in Tokyo November 13, 2008.

BOSTON (Reuters) - We all make pitches every day, and there are ways to raise the percentage of your pitches that will actually "win" and be accepted, says Harvard Business Review.

The Management Tip of the Day offers quick, practical management tips and ideas from Harvard Business Review and HBR.org (www.hbr.org). Any opinions expressed are not endorsed by Reuters.

"Whether you are vying for a highly-prized account, convincing a CFO to loosen the purse strings, or swaying a new team, you need a winning pitch. Here are three steps to compose and deliver it:

1. Know the hidden agenda. Figure out your audience's unspoken emotional motivation. What do they want, need, or value above all else?

2. Connect. Demonstrate that you have the answer for them: something special that solves their needs.

3. Form your argument. Create an exciting narrative where your audience attains their desires. Don't use business-speak, but good old-fashioned storytelling to convincingly convey your pitch."

- Today's management tip was adapted from "Win the Pitch: Tips from Mastercard's "Priceless" Pitchman" by Kevin Allen.

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