REPORT ON PITCHING IDEAS
You are sure your story, or your project, is exactly the sort of thing the outlet you have in mind is looking for, but you still have to sell it, still have to convince somebody else to buy the idea.
Hollywood blockbusters, they say, are pitched in about 25 seconds, so your pitch has got to be brief. Think of it as a kind of speed-date, where you have only a little time to pass on the information and, hopefully, get a result.
Commissioning editors are pressurised people, so always, always, look at it from their point of view. And it’s not really about you but about how the client will benefit from what you can deliver.
The briefest of checklists might look something like this:
- Does it interest the audience? The main thing and it has to be first.
- Is it topical? The better the topicality the better chance you have.
- What is the story? Does it rely on narrative, a big name personality, opinion, or expert knowledge of the subject?
- What do you have the outlet doesn’t? Exclusivity, or a degree of it, for example.
Before making the pitch it might be useful to make a few other checks.
Has the outlet already published what you are offering, or something similar to it? Check the outlet’s website, or Google the subject to try to find out.
But don’t despair if something similar has been published, most journalism is repetitive with the same topics popping up again and again.
How does the commissioning editor like to be contacted? And when is the best time to get their attention? If you are not sure phone the outlet and find out whether to phone, email or write, and when deadlines are looming.
When phoning, script the pitch in advance if that helps give you confidence, or phone a friend and run what you want to say, or even tape the spiel yourself and have a listen.
Write a standfirst (the blurb at the top of a newspaper or magazine feature), the first sentence, or a headline, if that helps you condense a complicated idea. Some magazines, for example, ask what the cover line might be.
If you email, think about something pertinent for the subject line – it might just save your idea from being junked without being read.
Breaking up an email into succinct single sentence paragraphs is useful. A neat phrase, in an email or letter, to introduce the idea before expanding into the detail might help too.
And finally… You is better than I. ‘You might like’, ‘Your readers might be interested in’, keeps the idea in the editor’s territory, and helps you stop talking about yourself – remember the editor is interested in the audience, not you.
The author attended NUJ Training’s Pitch and Deal course, run by Humphrey Evans and Phil Sutcliffe. The NUJ runs this and other journalism courses, which can be attended by non-members as well as members. Further information at: www.nujtraining.org.uk
