Six Steps to Doing it in 10 Sentences

Jennifer had a problem.

She was the program manager for the number two business priority at a multi-billion-dollar company: rolling out sustainability programs in manufacturing. But when she presented, she kept hearing:

Too complicated.

Too time consuming.

Too costly.

And she couldn’t figure it out.

She was a top-rated engineer, handpicked to lead a CEO-mandated program. Sustainability had long-term margin impact – and with her modified approach – could even bring savings forward into this fiscal year.

But whenever she gave an update saying, “I have a proposal to accelerate the sustainability program into this fiscal year,” she was told, “No.”

Her big barrier? The number one priority – a business-wide ERP upgrade that was monopolizing capital, downtime and resources.

Jennifer’s response was to dig deep.  It was clear her SVP didn’t see how both priorities could be executed at the same time. To bust his outdated beliefs, Jennifer doubled down on granular details and specific timelines.

After more rejections and pressure mounting, Jennifer needed a different approach. She had just learned about pitching the big picture, so at the next SVP touch base, instead of a 30-minute line-by-line review, Jennifer gave a 5-minute update.  

And in 10 sentences she:

• Explained breakthrough value.
• Shot down conventional wisdom.
• Created real interest in her unique approach.
• Described a few incredible, tangible benefits.
• Outlined the critical next steps.

Everyone in the room did a doubletake. Immediately the SVP asked her to schedule time to review her proposal in depth.

That’s the power of pitching the big picture.

To many people, pitching is a mystery. A fantastic skill if you know how to do it, but next to impossible to teach, especially to super-smart engineers or analysts who love to go deep.

But here’s the thing. Pitching is not just a marketing skill, a sales tool or a gimmick. It’s an essential communication tool with a specific, time-sensitive objective. You don’t use it to update, review, educate or entertain. Pitch when you need to attract and intrigue your time-pressed stakeholder and convince them to say, “Tell me more.”

Ready to pitch the big picture in 10 sentences or less? Here’s how.

Step 1: Explain your strategic insight in one sentence – this is the big picture.

Think of the big picture as the ONE thing you want your key stakeholder to remember and explain to others. It should answer the following in 20 words or less:

What’s your topic and why should I care compared to my other priorities?

The big picture should address your stakeholder’s top-of-mind concerns, not yours. When you use their priorities, they’ll want to know more.  

Check out Jennifer’s before and after.

Before: I have a proposal to accelerate the sustainability program into this fiscal year.

After: I’ve identified high savings, low capital and complexity sustainability projects that can be deployed with ERP upgrades this fiscal.

Step 2: Match their top-of-mind priorities.

If the first sentence is intended to capture attention, your next 2-3 sentences are designed to keep it. Share background that demonstrates you’re on the same page and give a few facts that match your stakeholder’s top-of-mind priorities.

Get them to think, “Right. That’s what I’ve been worried about. Or, Good one!”

Don’t skip this step.

It’s tempting to think, “They already know this” and move straight to your topic.  But the thing is, people pay attention to what they know. The right background keeps your audience engaged.

As we’ve discussed, the ERP upgrade and sustainability are both viewed as critical, but conventional wisdom says they can’t be deployed at the same time due to cost, complexity and resource constraints.

ERP is clearly mission-critical for long-term margin improvement and asset utilization. However, consumers are increasingly demanding sustainable solutions and companies like ABC have taken a leadership position.

STEP 3: Provoke them to action.

Now that you’re on the same page, motivate or provoke your audience to action by reminding them what’s at stake. 

Your goal is to strike a nerve with a critical problem or point out a showstopper that primes your audience for action and shifts them into thinking, “Something needs to be done.”

The bigger problem is we also have waste reduction commitments and short-and long-term margin improvement pinned to making significant progress on sustainability this year.

STEP 4: Tell them how you’ll solve their problem or resolve a showstopper.

You’ve motivated them to action, now tell them in one or two sentences that you’ve solved their problem. You can repeat your claim from step 1 or give them more specifics.

I’ve identified some low-capital, low-cost, high-savings sustainability projects that can be deployed during ERP integration and scheduled down time.

STEP 5: Tell them, “So what.” Address 1-3 key objections and tell them what will be different.

This is your conclusion. Your conclusion should address 1-3 key objections and answer the question, “What will be different?” This gives your listener reasons to believe you and helps them envision the improvement.

There are several promising projects: the best ROI is an air-handling retrofit designed for aging dust handling systems like ours. Even with a limited roll out it can reduce emissions by 10-15%.

I’ve been coordinating with manufacturing, and my suggested projects are within this year’s resource plan, scheduled downtime and contingency budgets.

STEP 6: Tell them, “Now what.”

Once they understand your conclusion your audience should be ready for more. End by telling them the status, next steps, or give them a call to action.

There’s a small technical team vetting the scope, and we can start implementation within 90 days and see savings this fiscal.

You can pitch the big picture in as few as 10 sentences.

The right 10 sentences will attract your stakeholder, target their priorities, and shift their point of view. Use the framework to ensure your narrative is tight and your conclusions will feel logical, smart, and breakthrough.

And instead of being told, “No,” or “I don’t get it,” you’ll hear, “Set up time and tell me more!“