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Persuasive Pitching
Juliet Huck
Juliet is the CEO and Founder
of Huck LLC, a firm that
educates and consults with
successful executives and
professionals on how human
connection, the spoken word
and complicated facts can be
integrated into a compelling
and persuasive story. She is
the author of The Equation
of Persuasion (Huck LLC,
2014). Contact Juliet at
[email protected] or
+1.323.477.4600.
26 Coaching World
Sometimes, making a pitch to a roomful of organizational decision
makers feels painless: Your audience is engaged, connected and
clearly came to the meeting convinced of coaching’s benefits. After
hearing just a few of your clients’ case studies, they’re ready to take
the next step and begin negotiating a contract.
Often, however, one or more audience members may broadcast reluctance, or even
outright resistance. Perhaps they don’t believe that coaching is the best investment
in their organization’s talent. Maybe they’re prepared to invest in coaching, but aren’t
certain that you’re the right coach for them. Regardless of its underlying cause, this
reluctance is a roadblock standing between you and your goal of securing a new
customer. In these situations, leveraging persuasive communication skills can make the
difference between forging a fruitful business relationship and walking out the door
without the contract.
As a coach, you let your clients take the lead, supporting them as they draw their own
conclusions and design actions that will help them reach their goals. As a persuasive
communicator, however, you’re tasked with directing your audience to take a specific
action or series of actions. While this may feel uncomfortable at first, there’s an array of
proven techniques you can adopt to communicate persuasively without feeling that you’ve
compromised your integrity.