Deconstructing The Pitch: The best ‘pitcher’ you have ever seen

Our panel’s favourites. Please comment below to add yours.

Panel
JAG: James Acheson-Gray, international MD, Grayling
KH: Ken Hong, global comms director, LG Electronics
RG: Rich Goldblatt, SVP/director of consumer, M Booth
SD: Stephen Doherty, international comms director, Diageo
DS: Doug Spong, president, Carmichael Lynch Spong
TD: Todd Defren, principal, Shift Group
CA: Clive Armitage, CEO, Bite Communications
AB: Andrew Bloch, MD, Frank PR

JAG: Sebastian Coe presenting the London 2012 Olympics winning bid in Singapore. He told a story about the legacy that a London games would offer through his own eyes as a youngster growing up with Olympic dreams. In doing so he demonstrated that he completely understood the motivations of the IOC Members in the audience. I know that he also spent several days rehearsing and it paid off with bid winning performance

KH: Christopher Graves, global CEO of Ogilvy PR. He's an executive who was in the trenches during the media's transition to digital so when he talks, people listen.

RG: I wouldn’t want to face Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay. On the agency front, I hear that the late Bill Ruder could mesmerize a room and had a knack for telling the client exactly what they want to hear.

SD: Jonathan Short. On his day, he was utterly fucking breathtaking. On other days, he was an absolute car-crash. Mostly, he was on it and to watch him in full flight was a thing of beauty to behold. Gigantically clever which was so plainly apparent in his thinking. His enthusiasm was infectious beyond belief. He had an actual edge to him so you felt like it was never going to be boring if you were hired this guy. And never predictable. He worked very hard on not pitching the predictable safe option.

DS: The best ‘pitcher’ I've been around in my 30 years is Kelly Thompson, our agency's head of research and brand planning. Kelly has a remarkable gift of digging deep and sifting through the broad cultural trends, understanding the prospect's category, tracking the competitive positioning and identifying the rational and emotional appeals for the bull's-eye consumer. Once in a presentation, Kelly is the most prepared, articulate and captivating presenter I've had the pleasure of working with in my career.

TD: Anyone who is comfortable in their skin, and can think and speak extemporaneously in a creative, meaningful way is going to be successful. The best ‘pitchers’ have high EQ – they can read the room and respond on the fly.

CA: Tom Galvin, CEO at 463 communications is hands down the best ‘pitcher’ I have ever seen. He has charm, charisma, a killer CV and the knack to ‘read’ a room. This is crucial. When to shut up talking and listen; when to get excited; when to shift the conversation; when to crack a joke; when to be serious.

AB: I would probably have to say Julian Henry in his days at Lynne Franks. A combination of insight, intelligence, wit and charm. A deadly combination.

Our investigation into new business pitching is a five part-series. Jump to the following sections:

New business in a new era
Your best pitch
Ingredients for success
Is pitch theatre a good idea?