Keep it simple

Pitching was complex before. These days, it has only become more complex.

Transitioning most of our communication to online meetings brings in new sources of distraction. It’s hard for people to stay focused when they listen to small rectangular videos of people instead of interacting with them directly.

In these times, it’s more important than ever to keep it simple. To make your words easy to understand. Because only when people understand will they be able to relate. And only when they can relate to your words will they want to stay focussed.

Yet, there’s one important distinction: Simplifying your words doesn’t mean simplifying your concepts. By all means, make your concept as elaborate as is necessary. But speak about it in words as simple as possible.

John F. Kennedy did the same thing when he committed an entire country to flying to the moon. This was one of the most complex projects of all time. Yet, he managed to put all of this complexity in a nutshell using these simple words:

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”