The Poetry in PitchingIt is difficult to get the news from poems yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there. -William Carlos William from “Asphodel, That Greeny Flower”

Clarity

Jackson Spalding University Elective on media relations by Ivy LeDecember 16, 2011

Relevance

Beauty

4 Audiences for every pitch

1.Journalist2.Journalist’s boss3.The outlet’s audience4.Your client

People, not targets.

News Values• Change, Conflict, Counter-intuition = 3 C’s

shortcut• From Grady College of Journalism at UGA:

• Timeliness• Proximity• Controversy • Impact aka consequence• Unusual Nature• Helpfulness• Celebrities• Human Interest• Community issues• Trends

Finding the Story

• Interviewing humans

• Analyzing raw data• Spotting trends, 3

incidents• Inductive

arguments and finding evidence

• Deductive argument and syllogisms

Normal Distribution Graph

If something’s not “normal” and

you know why, you’ve got a

story.

Do you have a story?

• Is it narrative or descriptive? Common plots:o Coming of ageo Odyssey o Underdog

• Does it have a beginning, middle, and an end?

• Are you moved?• Is something at

stake?

Telling the StoryPitch Package

• Pitch Email• Voicemail Script

(write your own)• FAQs and Talking

Points (or key messages)

• Vetted media list• Bios Preparation

• Study like you’ll be tested• Anticipate objections• Rehearse OUT LOUD until

you don’t sound scripted.• Google all mentioned. No

surprises!

GOOD VS. BAD PITCHES

The BEST pitch…

Good pitches… Bad pitches…

Fit on an Outlook screen Look like college essays

Offer cool access Offer no thing

Might be plagiarized Put you on the blocked senders list

Help win a Pulitzer Are mistaken for telemarketing calls

Have many potentials angles and uses

Overpromise, exaggerate and don’t stand up to scrutiny

Clearly have news value Sound like ad copy

Are loaded with facts Are loaded with superlatives

Are in English Reek of shamelessness

Aim high, even if they fall short Aim low, get nothing

Show language some love.idioglossia  (ɪdɪəʊ ɡlɒsɪə)   — n • 1. a private language, as invented by a child or

between two children, esp twins • 2. a pathological condition in which a person's

speech is so severely distorted that it is unintelligible  

• from Greek idios  private separate + glossa  tongue

World English Dictionary

PR Ninjavs.

Journalist

“What did English ever do to you?”

Selling the Story• Conversations Shoe Salesmen should have• Switching Gears.  • Style and Voice: Avoid the stereotype• Rejection and voicemails• Sales Closes for publicists:

o New Decision Closeo Ask for Actiono 3 step closeo Alternate of Choice closeo Character closeo Extra Close

• Call anxiety

Pitch Troubleshooting• Do you know the headline for your desired

story?• Is your subject line coy?• Are the words precise? Could this be

about anybody else but your client?• Is there any body in this pitch? Is it person-

less?• Does the pitch contain any logic fallacies?*• Is the hook/angle a buzz word or sentence

fragment?• Was the media list researched according

to the news values in the pitch?

“Trying to add style is like adding a toupee. …The problem is not that he doesn’t look well- groomed; he does,

and we can only admire the wigmaker’s skill. The point is that he doesn’t look like

himself. …Readers want a person who is talking to them to sound genuine. Therefore, a fundamental rule is: be

yourself.” – William Zinsser’s On Writing Well