*Reading is Not the Same as Speaking*

I spent two years writing my new book, Flip the Script, and it’s a great read. But last week I had to spend 5 days in the studio recording the audio version and I realized that good writing is not the same thing as good speaking. Many of the things that worked well on the page sounded strange when I first read them out loud. In fact, my publisher hired a professional audiobook director to coach me through it because this is a very common issue.

*Don’t “Write” Your Pitch*

When companies come to me for help with their pitch, I always start by speaking the words out loud. That’s how I develop the content. Then someone from my team transcribes it and our graphics department creates slides and turns the speech into a pitch deck. This process always felt right to me and now I have realized why it’s so effective. There is a fundamental difference between written content and spoken content and if something is going to be delivered out loud it’s never a good idea to write the first draft on paper.

*How to Avoid Awkward Speech Writing*

I hear a lot of people talking about “storytelling” and delivering a “story pitch”, but I don’t recommend focusing on that unless you are a professional storyteller. The key is to write your pitch in the way that you actually talk. People don’t talk in stories, they talk in terms of situations. Focus on a situation instead of a story and your pitch will sound much more natural. I reveal exactly how to do it, along with some specific examples, on this episode of the podcast.