Joan Stewart recently asked some interesting questions:
When you call a reporter to pitch a story, what are the first words out of your mouth?
The fact that you wrote a book?
An apology for bothering the reporter because you know he's so busy?
Or, heaven forbid, a little idle chit-chat just to warm up the conversation?
If you're guilty of any or all of the above, no wonder you aren't getting interviews and the publicity you want.
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Within a few seconds, you must state the issue that's tied to your story and explain why people would care. Say much more than that and you're just wasting the journalist's time.
Jill Lublin is a master at crafting the perfect 30-second pitch. Joan watched her in action last summer when she did a break-out session at the National Speakers Association convention. She invited volunteers from the audience
to the front of the room to join her as she played the role of a radio talk show host listening to a pitch over the phone. She gave each volunteer only 30 seconds to convince her to book them on her make-believe talk show called "Jill & Friends."
One by one, most of the volunteers started spewing useless facts about their books, topics they spoke on, background on their company, and other boring trivia that would have elicited a yawn on the other end of the phone. One guy even started mentioning his college degrees.
Few if any of them came out of the gate with a sizzling opening sentence that would make a reporter's ears perk up. As one volunteer after another bombed, the audience joined right in, hissing and screaming "Gong" and "No!!!!!!!!" in unison, as if they were on The Gong Show. Jill patiently explained to each volunteer what she thought was the most important element of their pitch. Then she asked them to try it again. Some people--including a few who had been pitching for years--needed three or four tries to get it right. When they did, the room burst into applause.
It was a fun, informative exercise designed to illustrate how difficult it is to convince a journalist, within 30 seconds, why they should interview you.
Jill and Joan have now shared her knowledge with the rest of us through a teleseminar recorded just last week. The information in it was so powerful that Joan rushed a copy right out to me, so that you could start benefiting from these techniques as quickly as possible. This is one that you definitely don't want to pass up. Not only will it get you more PR, but it will probably make you more effective in selling your products and putting together business deals.
Check this groundbreaking new product out now. How to Create the Perfect 30-Second Pitch
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