Evergreen Topic: How to Pitch Projects and Products to Executives

From the Archives: This video series provides some timeless advice to help anyone that is helping influence and move ideas into and across an organization.

Q: Have you ever wondered how some of those projects that you admire get approved for development, funded for development, and built by teams to be produced for TV, film, or product development? I did. One of the things I NEVER learned in school was how to best position those projects with the right initiative to move forward! 

How do you give a project a chance to succeed? 

Whether your projects are to be pitched to a client, or inside a Fortune 100 company, how do you set up your projects for approval? How do you best prepare to get the funding, headcount, or even get the project off the ground? 

In 2009 I produced a video series with the intent to share some key things that I had learned on the job, from some of the smartest people I know. My former colleagues, collaborators, and some of the very executives that had helped give me the skills and approval to move projects forward.

After more than a decade, I was re-united with this content and reminded how timeless and valuable it was. Even though this Learning series has expired & been removed from the LinkedIn Learning searchable library, these timeless themes and wisdom are still available for you here:

:::::: Link to the Video Series :::::::

Topics Discussed

• Preparing for a pitch
• Learning what executives want
• Socializing an idea
• Dealing with naysayers
• Prototyping effectively
• Creating the right environment
• Pitching effectively
• Learning from your Mistakes
• Closing the Deal
• Passion

Background

In 2009, I pitched the founders of Lynda.com (now LinkedIn Learning) on a series of collaborations I would do with the talented storyteller, Richard Koci Hernandez. I was interested in 'Evergreen' topics that could give back to the next generation of creative and business leaders. I wanted to focus on topics I had learned in the field and was never taught in school. One of those topics was how to be effective at pitching Projects and Products to Executives.

They gave me the green light, and so I began to reach out to my network and collect and curate a short list of talented and seasoned collaborators and executives whom I had admired and worked with. Here are a few highlights from this evergreen topic, which is still relevant today through the words and wisdom of those that shared in this series.

The following interviews are from (then 2009) executives and product managers from renowned design firms and corporations like Google, Apple, and Adobe, who share their insider take on how to effectively move projects and product ideas forward. Richard brilliantly edits & weaves the video interviews together into a captivating visual narrative. The soft skills shared in this course show the practical techniques, processes, and communication styles employed to sell to executives more effectively, and to bring ideas to life.

Great Quotes & Timeless Advice

"I think my whole thing with pitching is no, there should never be a high-stakes pitch. If it's a high-stakes pitch where there are 15 people in the room, there shouldn't be any surprises to you at that point. If there's a crucial stakeholder, you want to get them involved early, and have it be very informal and have a lot of options. So, I think there's no new news in the big pitch." - Charles Warren

< for Prototypes > "I have a very strong belief that the higher fidelity the better off you are. I'm kind of an anti-design strategy person. Or at least I'm accused of being anti-design strategy in that making that thing, the closer you can get to actually making that thing, the closer you are to really apprehending all of the challenges. So, the best work happens when there is no distinction between design and making." - Michael Gough

"When it comes to socializing an idea, I think it's very rare that I am ever doing it with a larger audience. I usually try to hit smaller audiences in a smaller group of people first, because then you can kind of gauge what the temperature is, how interested people are in a specific idea." - Diana Williams

"Storytelling is really valuable for communicating in general, but when you're selling an idea, it's great to have a story that has a kind of air of inevitability about it. It's the kind of thing that other people can take away from your meetings and use to sell other people." - Tim Barber

< passion > "There is nothing better than witnessing someone in the room that absolutely believes the material they are talking about. Their sheer conviction and enthusiasm infect those around them. The emotional position, aligned with some compelling arguments and data, always seems to win the day. If nothing else, your passion is going to be that North Star, and ultimately a blessing for those projects that come along and strike you with that feeling that you just HAVE to do this. This passion is always going to be the lightning rod for you to get those things done." - Dane Howard

"Never make it your idea. And that might apply to absolutely everybody. Everything you're doing around building consensus for an idea or building enthusiasm around the idea is never reinforce the point that it was your idea." - Michael Gough

Many Thanks

Many thanks to those that made this content possible. Michael Ninness, Richard Koci Hernandez, Charles Warren, Albert Tan, Rob Girling, Diana Williams, Michael Gough, Ryan Tandy, Tim Barber, Guthrie Dolin. - Many of the voices and wisdom in these video represents a snapshot from 2009 when they were recorded. You'll notice that many have moved on to new roles and expanded their careers and experience even further! I'm grateful for their wisdom. I think the weight of their words is timeless and useful for me even to this day. I hope it's useful for you as well.

NOTE: LinkedIn has expired this Learning Series from their searchable library, but the title is still visible through this link. If you enjoyed this content and would like to see more like it, I invite you to write the LinkedIn content team at: [email protected]

More topics on Pitching Ideas and early stage Discovery & Development