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- ♞ Understand the Brain for Better Pitching Part 1/3
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Understand the Brain for Better Pitching
There are three parts of the brain:
Survival
Social
Logical
The best fundraisers know how to talk to each part of the brain.
To successfully pitch repeatedly, you need each pitch to convince each part of the brain to be in order. First, convince the survival brain, then the social, then the logical.
Today, we are talking about the survival brain; in the following issues, we will deal with the survival and logical brains.
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What is the Survival Brain?
Ever got a call from an unknown number, you pick up the phone, and a telemarketer is trying to sell you something? What was your response?
Your survival brain would have taken over, triggering a flight, flight or freeze response. That is how your survival brain protects you.
The problem is that if you trigger this response when pitching, you are likely to lose the deal. This is why many founders instinctively feel they should include an ask slide in their deck. Your basic biology knows that when you start asking for money, you risk triggering this response and getting rejected.
How to Trick the Survival Brain
You need to make people feel safe to avoid a fight-flight-freeze response.
Stories where you can explain a big-relatable problem that you and them will solve together help their brain know you are on the same team. This is why having a massive problem you are solving, like climate change, education, hunger, etc., is a much easier pitch. It’s something that we can unite against together. Investors can quickly go from seeing you as needing something from them to understanding that we must work together to solve the problem.
How can you get this shift in mindset from investors?
Stories - If you tell a story with a beginning, middle and end, something in motion can sweep away investors as they want to come on the journey.
Emotions - Emotional pitches work because when you sympathize with someone, you see yourself in their shoes; leveraging emotions can help you close deals.
Tone - Using a conversational or collaborative tone, saying words like “together we can” and looping investors into the conversation so that they feel like they can be part of the solution is an excellent way to get them on your side.
Do you know how to trick the survival brain? |
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Are you looking to grow your business? Here is how I can help:
📱 Book a Strategy Call to get 1:1 feedback on your pitch, pitch deck and/or fundraising strategy. (If you need general startup advice, then reply to this email, and I’ll let you know if/how I can help.)
Onwards and Upwards,
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