Pitch Perfect: How to Say It Right the First Time, Every Time
The Founder of Inspire Leadership & focuses on unlocking people’s potential by providing them with programs; mentorship and coaching into high performance
By: Bill McGowan
This book is great, fun, and full of excellent advice especially if public speaking is becoming a struggle for you. Pitch Perfect teaches you how to overcome common communication pitfalls using McGowan’s simple Principles of Persuasion which are highly effective, easy to learn, implement, and master. With Pitch Perfect, I will be able to harness the power of persuasion and have people not only listening closely to my every word but also remembering me long after I have left the room.
The key lesson is that saying the right thing the right way can make the difference between sealing the deal or losing the deal, advancing my career or suffering a demotion. In these moments, it's important to be pitch perfect-to use precisely the right tone to convey the right message to the right person at the right time. Bill McGowan provides a framework on how to craft the right message. Along the way, he lays out his Seven Principles of Persuasion, which are easy to learn, implement, and master as they are effective. The right language-both verbal and nonverbal-can make me more confident, persuasive, and certain.
The book uses a user-friendly format including personal stories and anecdotes that illustrate the key points. The style is very entertaining and informative as well. The book helps us to move away from the "old" advice from the 1970s, “like envisioning your audience is ineffective”, he says and makes no sense. He emphasizes the point that there is no substitute for preparation.
The key principles of persuasion are as follows:
- The Headline Principle: The key lesson is to be concise and compelling. You need to summarize your key pitch or idea.
- The Scorsese Principle: Use images and stories to illustrate your headline or key idea.
- The Pasta- Sauce Principle: To make your message rich, boil it down.
- The No-Tailgating Principle: The speed of your speech is in correlation to the certainty of the knowledge of the content.
- The Conviction Principle: Ensure your physical message matches your verbal.
- The Curiosity Principle: Give your audience the impression that you are “in to” your message.
- The Draper Principle: If the topic is one that does not fit your key strengths, change the conversation. 
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