Pitch Anything

Picture this: you're standing in front of a room full of investors, executives, or potential clients. You have twenty minutes to present the idea that could change your career. Your slides are perfect, your research is thorough, and your passion is undeniable. Yet somehow, you watch their attention drift away, their phones light up, and their eyes glaze over. Sound familiar? This scenario plays out in conference rooms around the world every single day, where brilliant ideas die not because they lack merit, but because they fail to connect with the human brain's fundamental wiring.

The truth is, most of us have been approaching persuasion all wrong. We've been taught to pile on facts, features, and logical arguments, believing that rational people make rational decisions. But neuroscience reveals a different reality: the part of our brain that creates messages isn't the same part that receives them. When you pitch with your highly evolved thinking brain, you're actually communicating with your audience's primitive survival brain—a brain that's primarily concerned with detecting threats, seeking novelty, and making split-second decisions about what deserves attention. Understanding this disconnect and learning to bridge it isn't just helpful for your career; it's essential for anyone who needs to influence, persuade, or inspire others in our attention-starved world.

Frame control is the invisible force that determines who leads and who follows in every social interaction. Think of a frame as the lens through which people interpret reality—it's the context that gives meaning to everything that happens in a conversation. When two people meet, their frames don't politely coexist; they clash in an invisible battle where only the stronger frame survives. The person whose frame wins gets to control the agenda, the pace, and ultimately, the outcome of the interaction.

Consider the story of Oren's encounter with the notorious investor, "Jonathan"—a master-of-the-universe type who controlled vast sums of capital and was known for demolishing pitches within minutes. When Jonathan began his typical power plays—dismissing revenue projections as "made-up numbers," calling the company's technology "ketchup" instead of "secret sauce," and announcing he only had nine minutes left—most presenters would have scrambled to appease him. Instead, Oren recognized these as frame attacks and responded with a powerful reframe. When Jonathan started tracing his hand on the pitch book out of boredom, Oren didn't panic or plead for attention. He pulled the book away and said, "Gimme that. Hold on, wait a sec. Now I see what's going on. This drawing is pretty damn good. Forget the big deal for a minute. How about you sell this to me. Name a price." This unexpected move completely shifted the power dynamic, turning Jonathan from a dismissive judge into an engaged participant.

To master frame control, start by recognizing the three most common opposing frames you'll encounter: the power frame (used by people who expect deference), the time frame (artificial urgency imposed by others), and the analyst frame (drowning you in technical details). Counter these with your own frame arsenal: use power-busting frames to neutralize arrogance, time-constraining frames to manage urgency on your terms, and intrigue frames to pull people out of analytical mode. The key is to respond, not react. When someone tries to put you in a subordinate position, use small acts of defiance delivered with humor and confidence. Remember, if you have to explain your authority, you don't have it.

Frame control isn't about manipulation or dominance—it's about creating the right context for meaningful communication. When you control the frame, you're not forcing compliance; you're providing leadership that others naturally want to follow. Master this fundamental skill, and you'll find that every interaction becomes an opportunity to guide outcomes in your favor.

Status in social interactions works like gravity—it's an invisible force that's always present, shaping how people respond to you before you even speak. Unlike global status (your wealth, position, or fame), situational status can be created instantly in any encounter. The key insight is that people don't just evaluate what you're saying; they're constantly assessing where you fit in the social hierarchy to determine how much attention and respect you deserve.

The most vivid demonstration of situational status comes from Oren's experience with a French waiter named Benoit at Brasserie Lipp in Paris. Despite being "just" a waiter, Benoit masterfully controlled the entire dining experience from the moment guests arrived. He made the customers wait, questioned their wine selections, and guided every decision throughout the evening. By the end of the meal, this man who served others for a living had positioned himself as the alpha, while his wealthy, successful customers deferred to his expertise and judgment. Benoit understood that within his domain—the restaurant—he could create powerful situational status by demonstrating superior knowledge, maintaining frame control, and redistributing social power strategically among the diners.

Creating instant status requires you to first avoid the common traps that signal low social value: excessive politeness, validation-seeking behavior, and submitting to others' agendas. Instead, enter every situation looking for opportunities to demonstrate your unique expertise and value. Use the power of domain knowledge to your advantage—become the unquestioned expert in your area, just like Benoit with wine and cuisine. When you're on your own turf, leverage your home-field advantage. When you're in someone else's domain, find ways to redirect the conversation to areas where you have superior knowledge and experience.

Remember that status is fluid and can be shifted through strategic moves: controlled defiance delivered with humor, demonstrating specialized knowledge, and making others qualify themselves to you. The goal isn't to dominate others but to position yourself as the prize they want to win. When you achieve high situational status, people automatically pay more attention to your words, trust your judgment more readily, and become more receptive to your ideas.

The STRONG method provides a proven framework that transforms any presentation into a compelling narrative that commands attention and drives action. This isn't just another presentation template—it's a systematic approach based on how the human brain actually processes and responds to information. Each letter represents a critical phase: Setting the frame, Telling the story, Revealing the intrigue, Offering the prize, Nailing the hookpoint, and Getting a decision.

When Oren had to pitch the massive airport deal worth over one billion dollars, he faced formidable competition from established powerhouses with far more resources. Rather than trying to match their credentials or firepower, he used the STRONG method to create an entirely different kind of presentation. He began by setting a frame that positioned the selection as a choice between the "best ideas" rather than the "biggest firms," immediately neutralizing his competitors' size advantage. He told the story of the airport's rich World War II history and framed the project as building "An American Legacy" rather than just another development deal. The intrigue came when he introduced Joe Ramirez, a local mechanic who shared the personal story of how the community's football field had been paved over, adding genuine emotion to what could have been a sterile financial presentation.

To implement the STRONG method effectively, start with a strong frame that puts the discussion on your terms—make it about what you do best, not what others expect. Keep your entire presentation to twenty minutes maximum, because that's the outer limit of human attention span. Use the three-market-forces pattern to explain why your idea is relevant now: identify the economic, social, and technological forces that have created a unique window of opportunity. Create intrigue through storytelling rather than data dumps—people's brains are wired to follow narratives about human characters overcoming obstacles. Always position yourself as the prize they need to win, not a supplicant hoping for their approval.

The beauty of the STRONG method lies in its respect for how decisions are actually made—not through cold analysis, but through hot emotions that create wanting in the audience. When you follow this structure, you're not just presenting information; you're creating an experience that engages both the logical and emotional centers of your audience's brain, making your message irresistible.

Hot cognitions represent the emotional, immediate responses that drive human decision-making, while cold cognitions involve the slower, analytical processes we mistakenly believe control our choices. The revolutionary insight is that people decide whether they like something—including your ideas—before they fully understand it. This means your job isn't to provide exhaustive logical proof, but to trigger the right emotional responses that create genuine desire and wanting in your audience.

The power of hot cognitions became crystal clear when Oren found himself trapped in a presentation to twenty-five due-diligence analysts—arguably the most analytical, emotion-resistant audience possible. His pitch was technically perfect, covering all the logical bases with precise financial projections and detailed market analysis. Yet he faced stone-cold silence and complete disengagement. Everything changed when he suddenly stood up and began collecting the materials he had just distributed, saying, "Guys, since you can't think of any questions to throw at me, let me get those books back from you." This unexpected move triggered immediate scarcity and loss aversion, transforming the passive audience into engaged participants firing questions and ultimately leading to over five million dollars in commitments over the next two years.

To create hot cognitions consistently, master the four-frame stack that triggers both desire and tension simultaneously. Start with an intrigue frame—tell a compelling story that captures attention but deliberately leave the ending unresolved. Follow with a prize frame that positions you as the party who must be won over, not the one chasing approval. Add a time frame that creates appropriate urgency without feeling forced or manipulative. Finally, deploy the moral authority frame that positions your solution as not just profitable, but ethically superior. This combination floods the audience's brain with dopamine (creating desire) and norepinephrine (creating alertness) simultaneously.

Remember that rational arguments and emotional engagement cannot coexist in the brain—when people are analyzing, they're not feeling, and when they're feeling, they're not analyzing. Your goal is to keep your audience in an emotional, engaged state throughout your presentation, saving the detailed analysis for after they've already decided they want what you're offering.

Neediness is the ultimate deal-killer because it signals weakness and triggers avoidance responses in others. When you appear desperate for approval, validation, or the deal itself, you're essentially broadcasting that something is wrong with your offering. People instinctively move away from needy behavior because it activates their threat-detection systems—if you need this deal so badly, there must be something they don't know that makes it risky or undesirable.

Oren learned this lesson the hard way when he had burned through most of his funding and was down to his last pitch opportunity with Enterprise Partners. With only $468 left in his bank account, every instinct screamed at him to be grateful, accommodating, and eager to please. Instead, he applied the principles of neediness eradication by positioning himself as the prize. When the investors asked hostile questions and even laughed at his idea, he didn't panic or oversell. He calmly stated three key points: the deal would be fully subscribed within fourteen days, they didn't need venture capital money but wanted a prestigious name for their eventual IPO, and he questioned whether they were the right investors, demanding to know what unique value they could bring. This complete reversal of the expected dynamic transformed skeptical investors into engaged participants who committed not just to the deal, but to a valuation six million dollars higher than expected.

The antidote to neediness follows three core principles: want nothing, focus only on what you do exceptionally well, and be prepared to walk away at any moment. This doesn't mean being indifferent to the outcome, but rather approaching every interaction from a position of strength and abundance rather than scarcity and desperation. Practice the "Tao of Steve" philosophy: eliminate your desires, be excellent in the presence of others, and withdraw at crucial moments when people expect you to chase them.

Develop strong time frames that communicate you're needed elsewhere, qualify your prospects to ensure they're worthy of your time and expertise, and never hesitate to end an interaction that isn't proceeding on favorable terms. When you genuinely embody the mindset that you are the prize to be won rather than the one hoping to win, people's entire perception of your value shifts dramatically. They begin to chase you instead of the other way around, and deals that once seemed impossible suddenly become inevitable.

The art of persuasion isn't about having the best logical arguments or the most comprehensive data—it's about understanding the fundamental wiring of the human brain and learning to communicate in ways that create genuine desire and engagement. Throughout this exploration of advanced persuasion techniques, one truth emerges consistently: people make decisions emotionally first, then use logic to justify those decisions afterward. This means your primary job is to trigger the right emotional responses, not to overwhelm people with rational proof.

As the research clearly demonstrates, "Your decisions are strongly prepared by brain activity. By the time consciousness kicks in, most of the work has already been done." This insight should fundamentally change how you approach every important interaction, from job interviews to sales presentations to investment pitches. Success comes not from perfecting your slide deck or memorizing more statistics, but from mastering the social dynamics that determine whether people pay attention to you, trust your judgment, and ultimately choose to follow your lead.

Start immediately by observing the frame battles happening around you every day, practicing small acts of strategic defiance, and positioning yourself as the prize in your professional interactions. The confidence and results that follow will compound quickly, transforming not just your career prospects but your entire approach to human relationships and influence.