The Pop-up Pitch by Dan Roam is a fast method for tapping into your visual brain to organize any pitch into a compelling hero’s journey story in 2 hours or less. If you prefer the content as a video, you can find it here. If even this is too much work, he’s made software to make the pitch even easier.
The first main step is getting the components of your story on paper using the 6 simple sketches in the folded blank sheet of paper that is the Visual Decoder. Quickly identify the main players and actions in your story and feel like a kid again.
The second step is to arrange the components into a Hero’s journey using his 10-Page Pitch Storyline.
Act one- Opening
Title page- clearly establish who and what (#1 payoff the who wants) by (Insert action you want the Who to take.) Trigger phrase- There is a way to get what you want…
Common ground – show them you know them for real, build trust with positive statement. Either establish the problem in the best possible light or that you are intimately familiar with the awfulness of the problem and are willing to face it with them. Trigger phrase – In our world of X, Y is going really well. As your colleague, I find that the best part of our job is to…, I’ve only been here a short time, but I can already see how effective X is. Or We’ve all been suffering with the shifts in our industry. Recent news hasn’t been good for any of us. (in the mix and willing to talk about the hard stuff. Can’t fake this part. Must know your audience through experience or research. We are in this together and we know these things are true. What is the common ground we all share? What do you know that they don’t know I know? What is a goal/ opportunity/ or challenge? What is a memorable shared experience?
Coming problem – Facts and numbers no one really wants to see. Things are about to get a lot worse. Real fear as an extension of common ground. Clear eyed assessment solidifies trust. Only by boldly meeting the truth and addressing it realistically will we find a way to redefine it and thrive within it. We can’t meet a truth that is not said. You may or may not know this, but… It’s scary, but this turmoil is not going away. Using honesty about undeniable scary truth invites aspiration to do the right thing. What wakes you up in the middle of the night? Big problem on the horizon is We might not want to think about X right now, but we can’t wait any long because Y.
Emotional win- What it will feel like to have solved the problem. Hope and shared Joy. Imagine a world where… it feels like … Picture how it will feel when this is all over and we are safe and free. On the other side of this problem is the world we’ve always dreamed of. Visual Happy tomorrow state map.
Act 2- Things get real
False hope- Conflict between desirable easy path and why it won’t work. Avoidance. This time around the safe approach isn’t safe at all. Misplaced trust in business as usual. What got us here won’t get us there. Despite what people might thing, business as usual won’t solve this problem because… The easy answer that everyone defaults to here is… What makes this problem thornier than usual is… Visual decoder – Today state in disarray
Audacious Reality – What will work. Problems as puzzles. To solve this once and for all, we will.. The real solution we need. What if there were a way to … (something counterintuitive)? Reluctant hero turns Instead of the old way, here’s what we need to do instead. Name new solution and it’s uniqueness (2 -3 features). Visual Decoder -Today step simplified.
We can do this – Scariest operational details with proof we can do this. Trusted experience and solid plan. Experienced based reason. High level plan (5 steps maximum). We’ve done this before. If we approach this with the same rigor as …, we can do this. When we break the whole thing into three phases, it is actually straightforward. (first page audience goes back to) Insight or technical change that supports bold new reality. Visual decoder – timeline
Act 3: Close- Future can be even better than the best of the past
Call to Action – Make 3-5 point action plan, show commitment by taking personal responsibility for 2 points and ask for help with the other 1-3. You have skin in the game, but can’t do it alone. Handful of steps to first milestone with deadline. Phrases: Suggest how the team can find early suggest. All you need to do to get started is… The first steps are as easy as 1,2,3. What is this new path we are committing to? What are the steps we need to commit to…, The first 3-4 things we need to do is…, Visual decoder- zoom in on beginning of timeline
Early benefits >= 2 near term quick returns, realistic timeline, ease transition to bigger steps later, justify time and money spent, lays foundation with incremental success Phrases: The momentum we build by starting soon … Just by getting started we already gain… One benefit we see right away from taking action now is… Visual decoder- Chart
Long Win – unexpected giant win of long win once the change becomes the new normal. By the way, can you imagine what else we might accomplish by getting this right? Be Bold. What comes next is better in ways we can’t seen yet. Life is amazing and different when we reach this goal. The most amazing result will be the parts we can’t even imagine yet, new things we find along the way. When we get this right, we won’t just solve the problem that got us started, we will reveal capabilities we never knew we had. Lessons learned are worth the journey. Asperational. Opportunities we can’t even imagine yet could be… Just think what it will mean when we can finally… Visual decoder- new map, lessons learned