This is probably the part of our training that we enjoy the most.

Storytelling is one of the latest best practices in pitching... weaving a narrative that captivates the room, punctuated by moments of inspiration and moments of fear.

Great stories dominate our culture.

And they come in many forms. From religion, to music, to movies, to hypnotic campfire-induced tales, they capture our imagination and often our hearts. There's nothing like a good narrative to make even the most rational decision-maker more ... [Read More]

Following the brief is the fastest path to mediocrity. You will end up looking and sounding just like every other agency in the room. You'll also end up providing what the client thought they wanted. After all, we all know that what they request in the brief is rarely what they go with in the end. To make matters worse, the decision-maker probably didn't write it.

Job one is to reinterpret the brief. A few simple questions to consider:

1) What does this client really need to impact their business/marketing/brand?
2) I... [Read More]

Agency teams often follow the instructions of the prospect... only to find out the winning agency did not.
This happens commonly with the request for the presentation to be made only by "the people that will work on the business." The quality of the presentation team is further diluted with a desire to have all the department heads present.

Only put your best presenters in the room.
You have worked weeks (if not months), you have invested capital, and you have invested the morale of the agency. There is too much at stake to put any subpar presenters in the room. This is 20... [Read More]