S1E20: Jim Highsmith, Co-creator of the Agile Manifesto, Storyteller, Adventurer

The pitch to become British Rail’s advertising agency in 1979 is one of the greatest of all time. It involved an immersive theatrical experience that showed an audience a problem in a completely new light. The story has been told to me many times by many people, but always with a different spin. I decided to find out the truth for myself and tracked down Graham Thomas, who was – in 1979 – an Account Manager for Allen, Brady & Marsh, and played a vital role in this now-legendary pitch.  In this episode, he talks me through the pitch itself as well as taking me on a journey behind-the-scenes of the clandestine world of 1970's advertising. Wire-tapped mini-cabs, walkie-talkies, buttering up hotel porters, theatrics and playbooks - this episode is 80 minutes of pitching GOLD. If you enjoy the show, reviews, ratings and shares are the best possible way to show your support and are always appreciated. Sign up for the mailing list for exclusive content at http://pitchguy.co.uk/ and follow me on social media for video clips of the episode. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyfontaine/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pitchguy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pitchguy/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyfontaine/

Oren Klaff is the real deal. He raises vast sums of investment capital every single day using his unique and hugely popular methods of pitching - as outlined in his international bestselling book, Pitch Anything: An Innovative Method for Presenting, Persuading, and Winning the Deal. We talk about a LOT of topics: swagger, making money, persuasion, human behaviour, capital markets, Anthony Scaramucci, cognitive psychology, power hierarchies and status, billionaires and valets, values, and negotiating - and we even do some role play. WARNING - there is some fairly explicit and expletive language throughout this episode, but if you’re ok with that, grab a drink, sit back, and get ready to take notes. If you enjoy the show, reviews, ratings and shares are the best possible way to show your support and are always appreciated. Sign up for the mailing list for exclusive content at http://pitchguy.co.uk/ and follow me on social media for video clips of the episode. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyfontaine/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pitchguy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pitchguy/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyfontaine/

In this episode of the Pitch Masters podcast, I speak to yet another one of my all-time pitching heroes, the legendary Peter Coughter, founder and CEO of Coughter & Company, Professor at VCU Brandcenter, and author of one of my favourite books - The Art of the Pitch: Persuasion and Presentation Skills that Win Business. In this episode, we discuss a lot of pitch material - the fear we all have, whether we need a deck, bringing the right people, and breaking the rules. But, best of all, Peter is a natural-born storyteller, and this episode is packed to the brim with pitch anecdotes that will make you laugh and cry. He tells me how he helped the Boston Olympic Committee win the honour of being the US City of choice to be put forward for the 2024 Summer Olympics, by employing a highly emotional and heartfelt story about the Boston Marathon Bombings. He tells me the story of how he used a scene from Conan Barbarian to win the hearts and minds of a business that were strongly opposed to his agency. He also tells me the hilarious story of a pitch that went horrendously wrong in a hotel when the slide projectors became effected by the pushing of buttons in the elevator. He tells me a lot of great stories. If you enjoy the show, reviews, ratings and shares are the best possible way to show your support and are always appreciated. Sign up for the mailing list for exclusive content at http://pitchguy.co.uk/ and follow me on social media for video clips of the episode. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyfontaine/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pitchguy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pitchguy/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyfontaine/   Sit back, grab a drink, and get ready to take notes…

You've probably heard of the power of storytelling in business, but how do we actually go about doing it - and do we need to be a natural-born storyteller? Enter, Hilary Salzman, the Business Storyteller.    Hilary is the founder of 22-stories.com and she's on a mission to get more people telling stories to grow their business. In this episode of Pitch Masters, we talk about why we should tell stories in business, the science behind creating emotional connections, and frameworks that you can immediately start using to create your own compelling stories. We also talk about the challenges that women face in male-dominated industries, overcoming imposter syndrome, and we have an open discussion on whether ChatGPT has a role in storytelling. You can connect with Hilary on her website, Instagram, and Linkedin, and I would HIGHLY recommend her Podcast, The Everyday Storyteller.   If you enjoy the show, reviews, ratings and shares are the best possible way to show your support and are always appreciated. Sign up for the mailing list for exclusive content at http://pitchguy.co.uk/ and follow me on social media for video clips of the episode.  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyfontaine/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pitchguy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pitchguy/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyfontaine/   Sit back, grab a drink, and get ready to take notes…

Welcome to a truly inspiring and motivating episode of Pitch Masters with Carl Hewitt, a young CEO of a digital marketing agency who founded the company when he was just 17 years old. He tells me the struggles he’s overcome with age bias, how he’s grown a business from door-to-door selling, how we can all use personas properly to win over an audience, how small tests always win the day, how he handled a mid-pitch panic attack, and how the dream of taking his mum to Rome has driven him towards success. This episode is jam-packed with advice and guidance for aspiring entrepreneurs and seasoned businesspeople alike. Find out more about Carl's agency, Hewitt Matthews at hewittmatthews.co.uk, or connect with Carl on Linkedin at linkedin.com/in/carl-hewitt. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review and share it with someone else who might. Sign up for the mailing list for exclusive content at http://pitchguy.co.uk/ and follow me on social media for video clips of the episode.  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyfontaine/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pitchguy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pitchguy/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyfontaine/   Sit back, grab a drink, and get ready to make notes…

In February 2001, 17 anarchists assembled in the Snowbird ski resort in Utah, USA. They had no fixed agenda and spent two days in lively conversation, creating what we all now know as the Agile Manifesto. A new mindset and movement were born that would change the face of software development, but they could never have guessed just how far-reaching, famous, and infamous their work would become. One of those 17 was Jim Highsmith, and in this episode, he tells me the story about the birth of Agile. You'll hear Jim tell me the story of Snowbird, and how that meeting resulted in a worldwide phenomenon. We discuss how Agile was pitched by many people, how it's resulted in unexpected and amazing things, and how it's been misunderstood and misused. We dispel some Agile myths, talk about applying Agile in leadership, and discuss Jim's own career from being a self-proclaimed techie to a VP of Sales and Marketing.  Jim's latest book 'Wild West to Agile' is a truly riveting read and I'd recommend it to anyone. The book is available to purchase at Amazon and directly from Pearson. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review and share it with someone else who might. Sign up for the mailing list for exclusive content at http://pitchguy.co.uk/ and follow me on social media for video clips of the episode.  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyfontaine/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pitchguy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pitchguy/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyfontaine/

Video version available on Apple Podcasts and Youtube.  This week on Pitch Masters: Nancy Duarte. Listening is essential for anyone who wants to improve their pitches, presentations and storytelling. Nancy is another one of my all-time pitching heroes. Her work on ‘sparklines' has had a huge impact on my career and the way that work, and I use her methods every single day at IBM to create the most compelling pitches and presentations. In this hour, you’ll hear about how Nancy discovered sparklines, the joy that followed and her moral decision about whether to share it with the world. We talk about speeches and keynotes by Martin Luther King, Steve Jobs, Al Gore, and Jawaharlal Nehru. We discuss how to make presentations like Pixar make movies, how to humanise data, and how to make your audience FEEL something. The episode is available in full as a video on Apple Podcasts and YouTube, and as audio everywhere else. As always, I’d love to know what you think. Find out more about Nancy and her work at Duarte. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review and share it with someone else who might. Sign up for the mailing list for exclusive content at http://pitchguy.co.uk/ and follow me on social media for video clips of the episode.  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyfontaine/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pitchguy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pitchguy/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyfontaine/  

Jeb Blount is sales royalty. He's published 15 books on selling, including Sales EQ, Fanatical Prospecting, and Objections, and he's been top of my Pitch Masters hit list since the show began.  In this episode we cover a huge amount of ground: qualifying deals, closing deals, relationships, stories, 'the ledge', 'murder boarding' the chessboard of sales, how to withhold information for leverage, and of course, how we can create emotional connections. In 70 minutes we cover the entire sales cycle, and Jeb gives me a ridiculous amount of insights that we can all use to improve our pitches and make more sales.  You can find out more about Jeb on his website salesgravy.com and I'd highly recommend you go buy one of his books on Amazon - Sales EQ is my all-time favourite.  I'm also pleased to announce that this is Pitch Master's first full VIDEO EPISODE, available on Apple and Youtube - just search for Pitch Masters. If you enjoy the show, please leave a review and share it with someone else who might. Sign up for the mailing list for exclusive content at http://pitchguy.co.uk/ and follow me on social media for video clips of the episode.  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyfontaine/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pitchguy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pitchguy/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyfontaine/  

Episode 17 of Pitch Masters features the incredible Neil Mullarkey, star of Austin Powers, author of Seven Steps to Improve Your People Skills, and In The Moment, actor and improv comedy maestro. We talk about how to use improv in business, how to cast the perfect team for your pitch, debunking the myth of “Yes, and…”, mirror neurons and monkeys, and, of course, Swedish-made penis enlargers. I was lucky enough to be taught ‘business improv’ by Neil a few years ago, and the lessons I learned from him have stuck with me forever. We met downstairs at the Comedy Store in London and spent an entire day telling stories and learning how the exact techniques used in improv comedy are directly applicable to business. In this episode, we drill down deep so you can learn them too. This is an episode that is packed with a thousand usable tips for when you’re next pitching. You can find out more about Neil on his website neilmullarkey.com, and order his new book In The Moment over at Koganpage.   If you enjoy the show, please leave a review and share it with someone else who might. Sign up for the mailing list for exclusive content at http://pitchguy.co.uk/ and follow me on social media for video clips of the episode.  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyfontaine/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pitchguy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pitchguy/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyfontaine/

In episode 16 of Pitch Masters, I speak to inspirational leader and former CEO, J Schwan. We have an incredibly candid talk about what being a CEO really involves. We discuss red and blue oceans, pitching to investors, choosing the right clients for your business, the importance of having a great mentor, and using the story from the movie 300 to motivate a team to success. Grab a coffee (or something stronger), sit back, and enjoy the show. Visit J's new business venture, The Second Mountain, at https://thesecondmountain.io/ or find his free masterclass series on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/@thesecondmountain.   I If you enjoy the show, please share it with someone else who might appreciate it, and if you can, leave a review. Follow me on social media for video clips of the episode, or visit the website for more information.  Website: http://pitchguy.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyfontaine/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pitchguy YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pitchguy/ Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dannyfontaine/