Perfect Pitch: The Art of Selling Ideas and Winning New Business (Adweek Books) | 
 enlarge | Author: Jon Steel
Publisher: Wiley
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $15.63
You Save: $14.32 (48%)
New (21) Used (8) from $15.63
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 30494
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0471789763
Dewey Decimal Number: 658.85
EAN: 9780471789765
Publication Date: October 30, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A professional “pitching coach” for one of the world’s largest marketing conglomerates, Jon Steel shares his secrets and explains how you can create presentations and pitches that win hearts, minds, and new business. He identifies the dos and don’ts and uses real-world examples to prove his points. If you make pitches for new business, this is the perfect book for you.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 The lost art of presentations November 3, 2006
Gareth Kay (Boston, MA)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
I have to disagree with the previous review. Perfect Pitch is a powerful call to arms to the lost art of presentation writing and, more importantly, making compelling arguments. It made me realize some bad habits I've fallen into which need correcting and the need to take back control from technology.
I think the most powerful point in the book is the need to build the two minute argument for any presentation before you fire up PowerPoint.
Re-discovering the art of engaging storytelling December 18, 2006
Amelia Torode (London, UK)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Jon Steel is a rare breed of truly smart, creative thinkers. Though originally from an advertising background, The Perfect Pitch is by no means simply an "advertising book." It is a book about ideas and how to sell them, regardless of your business.
Jon believes that in business we all too often hide behind boring Powerpoint slides as it is easier to simply read from a slide than it is to step out and actually engage with your audience. He believes in finding an active insight from which to base the strategy and thinking and from there, developing an engaging and motivating story.
Essentially in a pitch situation you have a limited period of time to connect with your audience and involve them in the story you are telling. It's not about animated slides or embedded video links.
William Goldman, the scriptwriter, has a very similar premise in Adventures In the Screen Trade. He too talks about the critical importance of the pitch (in his case, pitches for movies) Goldman highlights the importance of finding the hook that captivates and motivates your audience.
Having had the pleasure of working with Jon, in fact on one of the pitches that he references in the book, it is fair to say that he practises what he preaches. The advice he gives is refreshingly free from jargon and rooted in simple common-sense that sometimes we can forget.
This book is an essential tool for anyone who is ever in pitch situations with their clients.
Creative Thinkerer September 7, 2007
Charles E. Elberson (Charlotte, NC USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
It's a hard book to pigeonhole, as you can tell from the other reviews. It's quite applicable to people in agency life, but it's by no means an ad-person's book. If your life involves coming up with creative ideas and convincing other people to buy into them, it's very worth your time. Yeah, there are some tangents, most are diversions to make a point. Every 10-15 pages I tagged things I want to return to later to put to use. Lots of good thought-starters about what to do (and perhaps more importantly what to leave out) to get people excited about your ideas.
I'm in love with Perfect Pitch December 2, 2007
Stephen Newdell (Fl)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Jon Steel is a fine writer and a brilliant salesman. If you read this and make notations carefully you will realize in it how to be a better ad writer, a better sales-person, and a better speaker, lecturer, or teacher. You'll also hear from a thinking man, "Wake up and use the brains God gave you!" Thank you and thank you again Jon Steel for a wonderful book. I would be honored to work with you. Everyone in the ad, sales, and promotion business should buy this book, and make an hour of leisure time every day for a while to read it, think through it, and make margin notes. The secrets of changing your own work (and income) from mediocrity to excellence are hidden here.
A big favor... March 6, 2007
Aroldo Nery (NY, USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Jon Steel did us all a great favor. A great favor to business people. A great favor to presenters and those who must sit through those presentations.
This book makes you realize things you wouldn't think about when preparing for a presentation. It helps you understand that everything you say during a presentation must reflect what your big idea is. It would make us approach presentations differently. Presentations are conversations. Hey, we are presenting to real people! Let's treat them as such...
It is clear that the goal of this book is to make us all better idea-sellers, not only in the field of advertising. Jon Steel writes some great "to-do" lists, suggesting the best ways to approach certain situations. However, those "to-do" lists are backed up with personal experiences that make this book much more enjoyable and easy to read.
From the mentioning of Bill Clinton's presidential campaign, OJ Simpson's trial and "The Perfect Pitch" - London 2012 Olympic bid presentation - this book shows that good presentations not only win new businesses...
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