How to write better pitches to book speaking gigs [Jay's go-to format]

Hey, it's Jay Akunzo, and this is how stories happen for now.

For now.

I'm actually changing the name and the artwork of the show coming up soon because it will

align with my business better and my platform and everything I write and speak about and

have services for, but it will also give us the option, you and I, of exploring all kinds

of things that frankly don't make an appearance on the show right now.

Yes, we'll continue to analyze and dissect someone's story when they come on the show

and present it, but also I want to take you inside the process that unfolds when I advise

a client, when I work with the cohorts that I serve, when I train teams, I want to show

you what it takes to turn your mountain of expertise and ideas into one signature idea,

your premise.

And then I want to show you how we can turn a premise into a platform of impact and influence,

including all your IP, like frameworks and branded terms and signature stories, sure.

And I also want to a lot more often showcase the craft of public speaking and give you

ideas for becoming a stronger speaker for scaling your speaking business or using speaking

to drive leads.

There's so much in the world of a public platform owned by a public voice and delivered

oftentimes as stories and speeches and all that stuff kind of doesn't make an appearance

on the show right now.

So expect a new name very soon, some new artwork.

I don't want you to be like, what?

What is this show?

Of course, my name will carry over so you'll, you'll probably understand it.

You're smart, right?

Or as I like to say to prospects, you're smart enough, you're expert enough, but your

IP isn't strong enough, a little bit different when I talk to a prospect than changing the

name of my show, but point being more to come and it's more exciting and I can't wait

to roll it out to you.

But for today, I wanted to give you something that I found surprisingly resonant, if I

could say it that way, when I wrote this last year, this was my article on how to pitch

events to speak and the structure of effective pitches.

I got a lot of good feedback when I wrote this as a newsletter edition, so I wanted

to share it with you so you can bring it with you on the go and listen to it and use it.

Here's where we begin.

Many years ago, I lost a dear friend to CrossFit.

Now understand, at the time CrossFit wasn't a popular but off-putting cult with exercises

most normies don't need.

In other words, it wasn't popular just yet, and so naturally some of my friends were interested

in CrossFit as it was getting popular, including one friend in particular who like subsumed

his whole identity into being a CrossFitter.

I don't know if people said that, but whatever, practicing CrossFit, worshipping CrossFit,

there we go.

So I lost this friend to CrossFit, and the morning of his wedding, he decided to take

us to a private workout, and it was my first and also last time inside of a CrossFit church,

warehouse, gym, Thunderdome, anyways.

We actually had a surprisingly good time because of the camaraderie, because working out and

doing hard physical things with peers bonds you together, and I almost started coming

around to the idea of CrossFit.

It was still a cult in my mind, but it felt less off-putting, until my friends shoved

a green smoothie in my face.

Here he said to me, I can only describe this as like my lawn blended into a cup, it was

this sludgy, darker green in a cup.

He said here, drink this, it's good, I promise.

And that was my first encounter with what I now call the green smoothie problem.

The green smoothie problem is this issue that many of us face when we try to pitch ourselves

or get others to buy into our ideas.

We share something that we know is worthy, it's obvious to us, it's unique, it's delicious,

they should drink it, it's good, we know it's worthy.

But then they don't quite see it that way.

So what gives?

What's the problem?

What's there?

Problem.

We are the problem, the way we pitch our ideas is the problem.

We are really good at just handing others something that we're already convinced is good,

but we haven't given them any reason to care or anything that helps them see why it is

in fact good.

So we're like my friend, here, drink this, say yes to this, book this, buy this, it's

good, I'm good, I promise.

And that's a really tall ask to make of others.

It's different than my friend of literal decades giving me a literal smoothie.

When you pitch something and haven't built up years and years of goodwill and trust

with that gatekeeper, with that prospect, with that event planner or podcaster, they're

not prone to saying yes.

And so when you just hand them your metaphorical smoothie, you create what I call the context

gap, what you know and what they know are very far apart.

That's at the core of the green smoothie problem.

When we shove something at others and just expect them to care, it's because we've created

a context gap between what we know to be true and what they know to be true.

Between the journey we've been on and the journey they have not been on, but we're

asking them to quickly make up in their heads to arrive at the same conclusion that we've

arrived to say yes to this.

We haven't shown them what we see.

We do that by writing a better pitch and delivering a better explanation.

We should never create that divide between what they know and what we know.

But when we pitch, that's exactly what we create.

And so there on their heels forced to try and scramble and make sense of it.

When I saw that green smoothie that my friend handed to me, I thought about grass.

I thought about my lawn.

I thought about like grass clippings and it looks gross.

I thought about moments from movies, maybe, where really wealthy people went to like lifestyle

gyms with all these fancy trainers and overlooking the water in Malibu or whatever and they

have these in-house bars and they take shots of something green.

I don't know.

It looks gross.

That's what I thought about.

But my friend had decades of goodwill and trust built up, which got him around the

green smoothie problem.

He closed the context gap because he and I, through our relationship, had years and years

of context.

But in terms of that one idea, he still created a context gap.

It just didn't matter in that case because he was my best friend.

Not the case when you pitch yourself to speak.

So what can we do better?

What can you do when you pitch yourself to speak to guests appear to do anything?

It's not that you can build up years of trust first before pitching them, at least not

in all cases, even if in some cases we want to do that.

In addition to doing the upfront work to make sure that we build trust ahead of the

ask, yeah, we can also improve our pitches with a single reframe in our minds.

Stop pitching your ideas.

Pitch why your ideas matter.

Why are they urgent?

Why are they a must-have at that event or on their platform?

Don't tell them all the ways that you'll teach a topic.

Show them the one major change that people will receive.

Stop pitching topics.

Pitch your premise.

That signature idea, that one change you're here to advocate for, that insightful reframe

on a familiar topic that colors your talk.

There's something really nuanced at the core of this that I want to try and articulate.

I'll probably repeat it just so you get it because it's hard over a podcast, but here

it is.

We are much better at pitching an idea or pitching a talk than pitching why others would pick

that idea or talk.

Those are different things.

I'll say it again.

You're probably pitching your ideas.

You're probably pitching your talk.

What you need to pitch is why others would pick it.

And those are different things.

Again, subtle, nuanced.

I'll share what I mean in a second, but let's just start with that truth in our minds.

To pitch ourselves better, we have to close

the context gap and never just hand others a green smoothie, expecting them to drink it.

Instead, what we have to do is take them on a small, but powerful journey right within

the pitch language, right within the session description for your talk.

You move them in that journey, in that description, from where they're at, in their current reality

or understanding or context, to where you want them to be.

In other words, they get it and they say yes to it and to you.

And there are four parts to a pitch that takes them on that journey.

In other words, a pitch that closes the context gap avoids the green smoothie problem and

articulates not just what the talk's about, but why they would pick it.

Four parts to this pitch, a line, agitate, assert, invite.

One, agitate, assert, invite.

Align with the audience.

Who are they?

What do they already want?

What do they struggle with in trying to get it?

Align.

Then agitate the pain of that struggle to get what they want.

Raise the stakes to ensure the pain is clear and it's also a priority for them to relieve.

Ensure that it all feels urgent, like a must have, not a nice to have.

And remember, you're not just yet another speaker on XYZ, you're you and you have something

nobody else can say about your topic.

So you have to raise the stakes, put your finger on the pain and problem and make it urgent.

Agitate.

Align, agitate, assert, assert the premise, driving your talk and maybe your whole platform.

What's that insightful reframe on a familiar topic that you are going to argue for and

illuminate in the speech?

Given what others want, align, and what they struggle to do, agitate.

What do you think they need?

Your assertion, your premise.

This is an idea that they've not yet considered and others aren't talking about.

It's a reframe on a topic.

It's not just a topic talk.

It's an argument to see that topic the way you do, to see it better, see it differently

so they can be better in the audience.

Align, agitate, assert, and then invite, invite them to experience the transformation which

will be provided by your talk, listing a few benefits and takeaways at the very end.

Align, agitate, assert, invite.

Here's an example.

This is my resonance over reach keynote speech, my signature keynote.

And I want to hand you in the talk this idea of resonance.

I think you should care about it more.

I want to say here, drink this, resonance, but I can't create the context gap.

I can't just hand you this smoothie.

I have spent literal years on this journey to understand why resonance is important and

urgent and delicious and you haven't.

I have spent years thinking about why you should prioritize a resonance over reach, but

you haven't.

So I can't just say that.

An event organizer also has not done that.

They haven't been on the journey with me every step of the way, a podcast host that I'm

pitching also hasn't.

I need to take whoever I'm pitching on a mini journey of their own to close the context

gap by going through those four beats, align, agitate, assert, invite.

So my pitch might sound like this.

Let me break it down.

First the title of the talk, resonance over reach.

It's ownable, surprising, punchy, gripping.

It's a part of my IP.

Now mine just happens to be the description of my premise.

Yours might not be, but the title of the talk should be something ownable, punchy and

gripping.

It's yours.

This subtitle that follows, this needs to be written in plain language.

It needs to feel obvious and easy to understand, and it needs to also be tantalizing and desirable

for the audience because it's what they'll get to solve problems that they know they have

and maybe even achieve goals that they know they're wandering the earth trying to achieve.

So the subtitle of my talk, resonance over reach, sounds like this.

The surprising, sustainable way to stop chasing attention and become the one buyer's seek.

So the title is ownable, punchy and gripping.

The subtitle, plain language, obvious, but tantalizing.

And then you have that description in those four parts, align, agitate, assert, invite.

Let me read it in one go.

I want you to be thinking, when do I move from align, to agitate, to assert, to invite.

And even if you don't follow that, that's okay.

Just absorb this session description and you'll go, okay, I get it.

That hits different.

I'm going on a journey with Jay to close the context gap.

And so I can say yes to the talk, whether I'm attending it at an event, because I am the

attendee, or I'm booking it for my event because I'm the planner.

So here's the description.

Remember, I have written it to avoid the green smoothie problem, to close the context gap,

and to obey those four parts in the structure, align, agitate, assert, invite.

Here we go.

You've built your business by sharing your expertise.

But now you're ready for things to come easier.

You want to win ideal clients, at higher prices, and with less friction.

But it's been an exhausting slog to figure out what to say and how to say it, so prospects

rush your way.

Making matters worse, modern marketing feels exhausting, like you're on the hamster wheel.

Plenty of motion, but not enough momentum.

In a world where everybody obsesses over marketing more, the question becomes, how can we

matter more?

You don't need to be the biggest or the best to influence the market, grow your business,

or leave your legacy.

Instead, you need to become the one thing others pick, when surrounded by infinite choice.

They're favorite.

In this eye-opening session, public speaking and storytelling expert, Jay Akonzo will show

you what it takes to resonate.

You'll learn to distill your ideas into your clearest, most memorable message yet, turning

scattered thinking into more compelling words.

You'll see how scrappy business leaders win on the impact of their ideas, not the volume

of their marketing, and how influential storytellers turn their expertise into ideas, others

keep sharing.

While all your competitors have to get in front of buyers 10 times a week, you'll say things

your audience thinks about 10 times a day.

Don't market more, matter more.

Stop chasing attention, become the one they seek.

Think resonance, overreach.

So that, my friend, it sounds pretty good on a podcast, I'd argue.

I'm probably, I'm guessing you're like, wow, it's pretty good, I enjoyed that, right?

Yes, it's a trailer for your ideas.

It's meant to entice more eager, active attention and desire from either the audience reviewing

an agenda, deciding what to talk to attend, deciding if the go to your morning keynote

or stay in the hotel, and also for the event planners that you're pitching.

More and better opportunities await all of us.

If only we stopped blasting away on social media and get better at pitching ourselves.

But the thing is, you can't just pitch yourself.

You can't pitch your ideas either.

You need to show them what you already see.

Don't describe the talk, describe why the talk matters.

And then, once you get familiar with this approach, and I hope the framework helps, by

the way, you can then go one step further to consistently get booked to speak at events

or guest on shows, by continuing to pitch, by turning every successful pitch into more

opportunities, because the audience from that one event, that one podcast appearance invites

you to their event, to their podcast, what we want, this feeling of momentum, and easier

leads, and easier growth, it sits on the other side of discomfort, not lobbing more things

out into the feed from home, but actively pitching yourself to various gatekeepers.

To do that, close the context gap, avoid the green smoothie problem.

Remember, to bring them on a mini journey, right in your session description, right in

your pitch, align, agitate, assert, invite.

If you did it that way, then maybe you'd create the only real reaction you want when

you hand someone else that smoothie you've concocted for them.

But yes, I'd love this, this sounds great, and then they drink it, wow, that was delicious.

Can I please have some more?

Thank you so much for listening, I'm really enjoying doing these solo episodes, if there's

any question that you would like me to answer that I have it on the show, just contact me

anywhere I show up on the internet, and I'll make it an episode.

For now, I'm doing these as a way to carry over some of my newsletter insights over to

the podcast, and to speak to you about separate things that just come to mind, and I just

have to get them out there because somebody told me it was useful, or I'm seeing it work

for clients, and now I want to hand it to you.

Some really loving these solo episodes, but like I said before, I do want to start bringing

people back on the show to workshop things, develop things in real time, analyzing and

building together, and really figuring out why they resonate.

So expect a name change coming up on the show, and some cover art to change soon, that's

probably coming up in the next few weeks.

For now, thank you so much for listening, and I'm back with another lesson really soon.

Again, you can subscribe to my newsletter, jaconzo.com slash newsletter, or check the

link in your show notes, and as always, don't market more matter more.

When you matter more, you need to hustle for attention less.

Take resonance over each.

See ya.