One of my initial mentors used to say “practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect”. I was reminded of this when I watched the founder of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, do his Y combinator demo day run-through, and then immediately compared it to his most recent investor relations video.
You can see both here:
Coinbase Investor Relations - 2021
You’ll notice many differences - the power of his statements, the fluidity of the story, & the confidence he brings. It’s like watching different people. My guess is this didn’t happen by one ah-ha moment, but through consistently practicing this story over the course of time.
There is no more relevant profession to this than sales. Anyone who has taken a new sales job is aware that it is nearly impossible to be good in your first couple of months, and if you are it probably has more to do with luck than skill. Engaging in deep practice & preparation, before you pitch, will give you the mental run-through required to be confident around every customer turn.
Figure out how you are going to engage in perfect pitch practice, examples include:
Writing out your pitch as “acts” - opening, discovery, asking for the deal, etc
Writing out potential customer objections & how you will handle them
Doing a mock run-through with your peers
Acquiring information & data on the customer you are going to be selling to
The way we all do this will be different, but if you can be disciplined about your perfect practice, you will be unstoppable.
🤘🍣