How To Pitch an Idea (on IndieGoGo) - Scott Berkun knows what he's talking about.

Hi Folks,

I recently tweeted about public speaker Scott Berkun and his piece on How to pitch an idea.  The twittersphere response was suprisingly positive.  So I wanted to make sure all our IndieGoGo projects didn't miss out!

Whether your project is a film, book, music, piece of art, venture, community effort, technology product, invention or political campaign, all projects are ideas.

And the difference between interesting ideas and good ideas is THE PITCH.

Successful projects on IndieGoGo tend to go the extra mile to pitch their project, not just show it. By now you probably know how important a pitch clip is.  So I recommend you take a few minutes to read what Berkun has to say and amp up your pitch page on IndieGoGo.  Make sure your IndieGoGo project screams GREAT IDEA, not just interesting one.

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How to pitch an idea

By Scott Berkun

Coming up with good ideas is hard enough, but convincing others to do something with them is even harder. In many fields the task of bringing an idea to someone with the power to do something with it is called a pitch: software feature ideas, implementation strategies, movie screenplays, organizational changes, and business plans, are all pitched from one person to another. And although the fields or industries may differ, the basic skill of pitching ideas is largely the same. This essay provides a primer on idea pitches, and although most of my experience is in the tech-sector, I pitch to you that the advice here will be relevant to pitching business plans, yourself (e.g. job interviews), screenplays, or anything else.

The nature of ideas

Ideas demand change. By definition, the application of an idea means that something different will take place in the universe. Even if your idea is undeniably and wonderfully brilliant, it will force someone, somewhere to change how they do something. And since many people do not like change, and fear change, the qualities of your idea that you find so appealing may be precisely what make your idea so difficult for people to accept. Some individuals fear change so much that they structure their lives around avoiding it. (Know anyone exhibiting the curious behavior of being obviously miserable in their job, their city, their relationship, but still refusing to make changes?). So when your great idea comes into contact with a person who does not want change, you and your idea are at a disadvantage. Before you can begin the pitch, you have to make sure you’re talking to someone that’s interested in change, or has a clear need that your idea can satisfy.

See the entire article here on Scott Berkun's site.  He walks through the 8 Steps on How To Pitch.