4 mistakes that kill your deal when pitching to Americans

Are you making these four mistakes

which will kill your pitch?

If the future of business means

that you need to pitch to Americans

be able to follow the cultural codes and do all

of that in English like a pro, then this video is for you.

Are you ready?

Let's go.

Hi, I'm Christina, founder

of Business English with Christina, and I've helped dozens

of companies already to successfully pitch their products

at events in the USA and abroad.

And this video is a part

of a series that is going to help you dive deeply

into how to create your personalized pitch.

Before we get into the techniques

there's an article that I love, it's from entrepreneur.com

where a founder of a tech company goes to pitch an investor

in Silicon Valley.

I mean, classic story, right?

So they started talking about their product

and all of their details about it, like the technology.

And you know what that pitch, it didn't go well

because the partner just looked bored, annoyed, distracted.

And I mean, that pitch was all wrong.

And you know what he actually said, like his exact words

in reaction to the pitch that he just watched.

I don't care about the products as much as you might think

stop going on and on, I get it.

What I care about is what you are building

for me, the revenue, the opportunity for return.

Ooh. I mean, can you imagine the pain in that moment?

I mean, so if you don't talk about all

of the technical details about how good your product is

what should you talk about first in your pitch?

Well, the first thing that you wanna talk

about is your client's problem as they see it.

Why your solution can solve their problem

and why it's unique.

Try something like this.

There's a big change going on in the med tech industry.

Some companies are going to win

and some companies are going to lose.

Our software will help your company be one of the winners.

See how intriguing that sounds?

I mean, doesn't that make you want to listen

to what's coming next?

I mean, it makes me want to listen to it.

So start with your client's problem

because they want a solution.

All right.

Mistake number two.

When you're nervous, does your voice stay low

and calm or does it get high?

Do you speak slowly

or do you speak way too fast because you're nervous

and you're trying to put everything into a one minute pitch?

Good thing there's subtitles anyway.

Here's a quote from the Harvard Business Review

on how to deliver your pitch.

Before people decide what they think of your message

they decide what they think of you.

So you need to connect

with your audience before you share your solution.

And according to Harvard Business review your body language.

Intonation and voice matter a lot.

And yes, native speakers have to work on this too.

It's not a question

of English being your native language or not.

It's a question of working on these things

so that your pitch does what you want it to do

which is probably get someone to sign up for your program

to invest in your product

to maybe contact you just to know more.

Whatever your goal is, you want your pitch to

reach that goal.

And this is something that we often spend time

with our clients working on, helping them, how

to make that connection first.

And here's a couple of strategies, but notice that none

of these strategies have anything to do

with your English level, your accent, or anything like that.

You wanna show warmth and confidence with open body language

and posture, you know, not, not like this or this, or hands

in your pocket, none of that.

Also, a little bit about how high or low your voice is

your intonation, which is dynamic.

Now that does come back a little bit to your English

but it's not your English level.

It's how you use your voice.

And like I said, this is something that native speakers also

have to work on.

How fast are you speaking?

Again, native speakers, we do this, it's a natural reflex

I would say, when you're nervous to speak fast.

And that's if you, English is your native language or not.

So for all of that, consider recording yourself

and watching yourself, like make a video of yourself

or practicing with a colleague or a coach who

can give you feedback.

But honestly, as painful as it is, making a video

of yourself and watching it is a great way to see how

others see you.

And I mean, I'm speaking from experience here, five years

YouTube video.

Every week you'll get used to seeing yourself on

camera. I promise

Mistake number three is trying to sound too smart.

Yeah, I know this sounds counterintuitive

for a lot of cultures, but remember

Americans are often focused a lot more

on emotional intelligence rather

than intellectual intelligence, at least

at the beginning in the pitch stage.

Now, for example, I have seen a lot of my clients here

in France who want to show off their intelligence.

And I don't mean that in a bad way.

I mean, they want, they're doing it

because they want to use their intelligence as a form

of credibility to reassure the other person to show

that they have the education and the background, you know

to do their job.

But what happens is

if you are putting all of that out there

it can look arrogant to an American audience

because it's almost like you're saying

look at how smart I am, look at how intellectual I am.

And that's why working

on your emotional intelligence, your eq, and not your iq

it's a big topic in a lot of American business publications.

And over on the blog

I've actually got lots of fantastic resources

on how you can use your eq, your emotional intelligence

your emotional quotient to improve your sales.

Now, of course, that article

it's for an American audience, but hey

if you are trying to do business with Americans, so anyway

to improve your pitch right now

you can ask yourself these questions, am I nervous

and am I thinking about myself and what I want?

Or my product and the technical details?

Am I focused on my audience?

Who are they and what do they need?

How can I shift my focus from myself

and my product to the needs of my audience?

And do you know what most

of my clients find when they make this shift in their focus?

Everything changes when you stop paying attention

to things that don't matter

like perfect English, perfect grammar, how smart you sound

all of those little technical details about your product

how it works, how much it costs, et cetera.

And you focus on what matters instead

who you're talking to and how you can help them.

So if you wanna learn more

about how you can adapt your pitch

to your audience specifically, be sure to come back

for the next lesson on this special series.

And if you'd like an invitation

to my next live free interactive workshop

on topics like this, go ahead and sign

up to my newsletter so that you get your invitation.

If you don't use it, you lose it.

And here's how you can start thinking

about and using what you've learned in today's lesson.

In the comments below, tell me

about how you feel when you think

about pitching to Americans.

Maybe you've done it.

Share your story with us

whether it was great or not so great.

It's part of the learning process.

There is no shame in making mistakes.

We all do it.

It's how we learn.

Or if you haven't done it, maybe you're thinking about it.

What are your questions that you have?

Put 'em in the comments so I can answer them.

And if this lesson was helpful for you

there are three ways that you can let me know

and I would love to know.

You can give this lesson a thumbs up on YouTube, of course

and subscribe to this channel so

that you get all of those future business

English and American culture lessons.

Of course, head over to the blog

go get those resources on pitching and your ultimate guide

on pitching to Americans and watch the next lesson

how to adjust your pitch to your audience.

It's coming up next week, so I will see you soon.