Why Your Pitch Falls Flat Out Loud!
- Victoria Hogg
- Sep 4, 2025
- 3 min read
Hello, people doing business, |
Have you ever read out loud your own written words and thought “what a load of tosh!” Or even worse… you don’t actually believe in the words that just tumbled from your mouth. I have. Never more so than when doing a stand-up set with a debut joke that didn’t land. Isn’t that all the time? says my family.
It’s just a hunch, but I reckon the same happens in the workplace, and never more so than when explaining what you do. And, I bet, this is because you’ve never said it out loud to someone before. What sounds good in your head or looks good on paper doesn’t always when you say it out loud.
Now, with comedy, there is a get-out-of-jail card when this happens. The comedian might say “well that was funny when I wrote it down this morning”, which usually gets a laugh, and on they go.
In business though - you might not get a second chance. So if you feel you can’t explain clearly what you do (your elevator pitch) or what your company USP is, then what should you do instead? Oh… no, let me think… what could you do instead? Well the truth is, clarity rarely comes from thinking. It comes from doing. |
Why Your Pitch Falls Flat Out Loud!
TRY IT OUT!: Instead of endlessly editing your niche or consultancy USP on paper, say it out loud to someone. Notice their reaction. Did they nod and lean in or sit back and look puzzled?
Ask them to “Yes, And” your idea, adding their spin based on what they heard. Sometimes the clearest niche emerges not from what you think you do but from how others receive it.
“Sometimes you say a thought out loud to give it weight because it matters - sometimes, to let it go because it’s trivial. Until the words hit the air, it’s difficult to tell which is which.” Katherine Morgan Schafler, The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control
Something rehearsed…
My (Paul) improv group practice every week how to make things up. Or to be more precise, we practice what it feels like, so we can trust what’s coming out of our mouth, before our brains have had a chance to polish the thought.
The same is true for professionals chasing the perfect USP. And you know it when magic happens. Usually it’s when you’ve said something astounding, in the moment, and your colleagues and clients ask “Ooh, that sounded good, can you say that again?”
By contrast, when in-your-head thinking becomes over-engineered, it can become vague. In improv, a character who tries too hard to be ‘interesting’ usually confuses the audience. The scene works when they’re simple and specific. Same goes for your USP. It doesn’t need to dazzle. It just needs to land.
Clear beats clever. Every time.
Something shared…
Your business niche doesn’t live in your head, it lives in how others understand what you do. That means you only know if it’s clear when you share it. Improvisers say, “If the audience didn’t ‘get’ it, it didn’t happen.” The same applies to your offer. If your words leave others puzzled, the niche isn’t landing. Clarity is social and it exists between you and your audience.
I’m going to let you into a secret now. At our Seize the Niche workshop the participants don’t just practice their niche - they live it. With the others. In the room. No hiding. Just revelation.
“Thoughts that resonate when said out loud gain a stronger sense of truth” Liz Myers, Global Chairwoman of Investment Banking and Capital Markets, JP Morgan
Something that struck…
I (Paul) landed myself in a workshop last week as a participant, with my engineering hat on. Twenty-five of us were charged with creating a vision statement. Urban planners, transportation experts - we were all there. What struck me? The (too many) cooks in the room had the wrong ingredients and no recipe to conjure up the dish.
Many were focusing on the solution and not the outcome. And conspicuously absent was who the vision was serving. And we knew this because it was obvious after we said things out loud, a lot.
Something that improv has taught me is to take that step forward and offer to the room a way out. So I showed the room the ingredients they needed, and how to serve the dish fit for a King. It worked a treat. A few years ago I might not have had the confidence to do this. Now, I know you just gotta step in. The rest of the room will thank you for it.
All the best,
Paul (‘n’ Vic)
