Is your elevator pitch missing this key component?

These days, authors need to be writers and marketers. Two professions diametrically opposed to one another. There are definitely aspects of both that I least like. In writing, it’s the first draft (I prefer revision—to me it’s where the magic happens). In marketing, it’s the verbal pitch that gets me trembling like a hamster on methamphetamines.

Pitching to a total stranger who could potentially change my life scares me more than an elevator full of zombies.

I’ve read articles, blog posts, and books on pitching but I always felt as if something was missing (from my pitch, not the information). Maybe it just takes me longer to “get it.”

Fortunately, a recent article by author and professor Luke Williams in the Atlantic magazine helped me realize what I was missing: the turning point. Williams quotes master storyteller and screenwriter Robert McKee who says that, “turning points have to surprise, increase curiosity, and present a new direction.”

If you want to sell yourself and your ideas, make sure this element is part of your pitch.

Read the full article here.