Pitchers’ Mound

Most of a good pitch comes down to the importance of research. Know your audience. Pitching to a media outlet is not unlike pitching to any other public. You have to know who you are talking to, what they value, and what they don’t value.

Journalists value straightforwardness and language that they understand. It should go without saying that you should use AP style when writing to newspaper. It’s is easy to think that you know your public and that knowledge alone will suffice in a situation such as pitching. However, I believe there should always be a good deal of preliminary research.

This also goes for choosing a subject to pitch. If you know what a journalist wants, you’d know that they don’t want you to waste their time. Hold on to a potential story until you are relatively sure it will stick.

This is what I have gathered from my classes and internships. Make friends. Write thank-you notes.

Good advice. Thank you, David.

Since the first day that I began taking public relations classes I have been told that research is the key to everything. Even in making a story pitch to a newspaper it is important to do your research and find out what that newspaper’s values are and what you can do to show them that your story idea agrees with those values. I have also noticed in your blog as well as Marcomblog that you express the importance of simplicity and straightforwardness. This is a rather simple concept if you think about it. Journalists prefer a straightforward writing style because that is what they are used to. They write by putting the most important information first and saving the minute details for last. It only makes since to write a pitch to them in this same manner. I believe that would fall into the category of understanding your audience and its values. I also agree that saying thank you is very important. Just like in interviewing for a job, a simple polite act such as this one could be what sets you and your pitch apart from all of the many other story ideas that particular newspaper has received.

Like the saying goes, “When in Rome do as the Romans.” If I am writing a pitch to a journalist, I would want to use their (and my) style of writing. I would imagine that if I were to write something that I hoped a journalist would adapt into a story I would want them to take me seriously. I agree with you on the idea to make a journalist not feel like they are being pitched, but pitch letters are to be taken seriously.
I also agree with the idea about researching your “target public” for a pitch letter to make it personal to their interest, but I believe there is a fine line between personal and professional. If I knew the journalist personally I would make the letter more, not informal, but personable. If I did not know the journalist then I would make it very textbook and professional.
I am a firm believer that it does say a great deal about a person if he/she takes that extra step to make something more to their receiver’s taste. I will try in the future to research the journalist I wish to pick up my pitch letter and make it something more to what they would be interested in. I will continue to keep my professionalism because I believe that you are on to something and I do believe that we can achieve both if we worked hard and made it happen.

I recently pitched a story to our school’s newspaper for my internship. I know the editor, so it was easy to be casual and to the point. It worked and they ran my story- yay. However, I did find it interesting that as a professional you liked to receive pitches that are casual and to the point. I prefer to communicate like that- obviously we are pitching them something that could help us both, but I don’t want to offend them.

This advice came just in time. My group project is using a pitch letter to increase awareness in our campaign. We don’t get to hear from people receiving the letters much, so your advice is greatly appreciated. I know from my journalism classes that having people make writing an easy job is such a blessing. That is what I try to do for them.

I think this is great advice. You don’t hear much from people in the “real world” about how to pitch ideas. Things taught in class are great and all, but what I’m learning in most of my classes (Not Robert’s) is that the stuff we’re learning is mostly outdated and not even in practice anymore. I like your advice that getting straight to the point is the key if you want to be heard. Research is always a good idea in any situation. It is extremely embarrassing to bring an idea to a group, but not know enough about it because of a lack of research. It’s always better to do a little research and then when it’s time to pitch the idea state the facts and get straight to the point.

I do seem to be hearing a lot about pitches lately, good and bad ones (The Bad Pitch Blog for example). Everything I have been hearing about good pitches seems to agree, get to the point. Which makes sense, I mean, we are busy, so are the people we are pitching to. Don’t waste their time. I think that this is good advice for all of us. A lot of times we try to make things too complicated. I am a big fan of simplicity.

I have also grown up in the world of southern hospitality. A thank-you does go a long way. If you help someone out you want to know they appreciate your efforts, right? They want the same thing from you.

I love any advice that I can get on writing pitches. Last summer, I did an internship for the American Red Cross during their reconstruction of their house. Not only did I have to write pitches in order for people to volunteer their time and effort in helping to repair ARC’s chapter house, I also received pitches from local vendors offering their supplies and time. I definitely received some that were quite detailed and not to the point. Although these did lose my attention after awhile, they still informed me more on what the organization intended on doing and what it had to offer.

On the other hand, the pitches that I received that were right to the point were the ones that I used as a model to write my own pitches. I felt that these left the person who received the pitch wanting more, which in some way, is one of the goals of public relations. During my internship, I only received and wrote a few pitches and I can only imagine the amount that people receive in major PR firms and would imagine they would want the person to get to the point. If the pitch wasn’t to the point, I would think the organization could get offended.

I really understand the part where you write about how important simply saying “thank you” is. In any situation, if I do something for someone, even as simple as hold the door open for them, and they don’t respond with a simple thank you I get offended so I make an extra effort to say “thank you” whenever I can. In regards to a pitch letter, the simple words “thank you” can mean that you appreciate someones time and attention and it also closes the letter politely. If I didn’t see a thank you in a pitch letter, I did look at that organization differently.

Thanks David for the advice on pitching an idea, it really does help us up-and-coming PR practitioners.

Thanks for the post, David. I attended a PRSSA conference last month in Atlanta, and the first session dealt with pitching. I found it beneficial because the panelists in the discussion were not PR professionals, but Atlanta area journalists. There was a representative from a local TV news station, the Atlanta NPR station, the AJC section editor and a AP writer.

These participants more or less told us what you have just stated: brevity is key, have an interesting angle and know your media.

I think the key to pitching is to imagine yourself on the other end of a pitch. I’ve written for the campus newspaper and have seen some horrific pitches that haunt me in my PR work. These bad examples float in my mind and serve as a constant reminder to choose my words and overall message with care. Maybe it’s the PR golden rule? Pitch others only the way that you would want to be pitched.

What a useful post! I think we can all learn something from this post about the true art of pitching, because, in fact, I do believe it is an art. Trying to gain the attention of a journalist who receives pitch after pitch day in and day out has to be mastered down to an art. One of my professors last semester told me that you have a very short amount of time to get the journalists attention. Catch them and catch them quick. Grab their attention and have the ability to hold it all the way to the end of the pitch…that is the purpose in pitching.

The tips you gave us are something that I have heard before, and I do believe that repitition will have the deepest effect on us. If you hear it once it is much easier to forget than if you have heard it two or three times. Being honest and upfront would have to be one of the most important tips I have received. Some journalists already have such a negative idea of Public Relations practitioners why would you want to add fuel to the fire by misleading them into believing you are someone you are not. So, I would have to agree with you that being honest and telling journalists or whomever that “yes, I am in PR” can only help you gain a positive image in the minds of your targeted audiences.

We all know how busy journalists are so I agree with you that being direct is an important tip to keep in mind. Tell them why you are pitching to them and what you are pitching upfront. From my understanding, you should pitch straight to the point and briefly. It would keep your pitch from being exhaustive and overwhelming which may eventually lead to being deleted.

Pitching plays such a dominant role in public relations that all the help that we, as students, can get is appreciated. So, hats off to you for this post, and I hope to read more like it soon.

I have not had much experience in pitching any ideas to journalists or companies, but I do know that keeping them straight-forward and right to the point is the main objective. The journalists and public relations practitioners have a short amount of time to hear ideas and they don’t want to read or listen to something that takes up a good portion of their time. A good pitch needs to be short and to the point, but also needs to grab their attention and keep them interested. I like that you brought up keeping background information out of the pitch letter and including links for them to go read up on it on the Web. I think your points and tips about pitches are helpful and effective. Being honest in general and about who you are and what you are trying to achieve is the most important part of a pitch letter.

I also agree with you about the simple thank-you note. A thank you can go a long way and benefit you in the long run. It is also common sense and respectful. It shows that you appreciate what they have done and are actually interested in what you had to say. I appreciate your insight about this topic because you have had a good amount of experience and it is helpful for people like me with little or no experience in pitching. Thank you David for your advice and insight about pitching.

It is reassuring to know that other people aren’t duped by those people in the world that just like to hear themselves talk. I am glad to hear that pitching is a prime example.

People who I say like to hear themselves talk are the ones who like to use pompous, pretentious language… the ones who are going to pour out a ridiculous amount of information to you without one ounce of sensitivity to the fact that most of that information would be useless to you. It is reassuring to know that journalists help put some of those people in their place because obviously their pitch will not be used with this kind of lack of sensitivity to their needs.

People who use flowery language and are not straightforward make those around them distrust them. People aren’t stupid, they can tell when you don’t know what you’re talking about and not doing the appropriate research to fit the occasion is something that goes against what most journalists and PR professionals are about. So to do that to a journalist with a pitch that is too long, well I guess I am learning you might as well just throw your pitch out the window before they do.

This is great advice not only for pitching ideas, but for presenting information in general. I know even when I receive an e-mail this is true. It takes extra time to weed through the ‘fluff’ and by the time the reader gets to the point, if they ever get to the point, they are exhausted and or annoyed. It is also a great idea to do your research about the company or organization you are pitching an idea to. This will show the company you are serious about your work and the opportunity.

In the first journalism class I took, I had to train myself to write like a journalist. This means cutting out extra words or using one word instead of three…basically cutting out the ‘fluff’ and getting right to the point. This showed me how journalists write, and also gave me an idea of how to pitch an idea to them. In order to successfully pitch an idea to journalists you have to understand their point of view.

One thing that many of my public relations classes has failed to teach me is how to form, construct and write a valuable pitch letter. I have heard from many PR professionals and journalists how imperative it is for public relations people to write a good, worthwhile pitch letter.

I recently attended the PRSA “Real World” conference in Atlanta, which was designed for up-and-coming public relations graduates. One of the first seminars to be presented included a panel of public relations practitioners and journalists, and was on the topic of pitching. The general consensus of the panel was that pitches will not get read by anyone if they are poorly written, not to the point, or directed to the wrong person.

What is hardest to master for pitching, though, seems to be trying to create a universal format that pleases everyone. What may be well written and to the point for one person, could seem too casual or poorly constructed to another. When Google searching “pitch letters,” you come across more than 15 million hits all telling you a different way to pitch a letter. To me the hardest part of trying to pitch a letter, is figuring out how to direct the pitch and how to write it to the specific person.

But, I do appreciate all your help on pitching, and I completely agree with you on the fact that a simple thank-you can speak volumes and go a long way.

Thanks for your advice on pitching ideas. I have learned through my internship that pitching can be tricky. Since it was not something that we spent a large amount of time on in our PR Writing class, I have had a particularly hard time constructing the “right” pitch letter.

I am working at the Sports Academy this semester, where a lot of my duties consist of writing press releases and distributing them to the media. Since I do not have a long-standing relationship with media in the surrounding area, I have had to write numerous pitch letters to try and get them to run press releases and/or write stories on the business.
My biggest success came with the Auburn Plainsman. Luckily, the editor was a sorority sister of mine. She agreed to assign a reporter to the story, and sure enough, there was a brief write up about our event.

However, some of my other endeavors have been not so successful. I am thankful for your advice on good ways to approach a pitch letter. I will make sure that I am upfront and clear about what I would like, while still trying to maintain/build a friendly, positive relationship!

This is right on cue. I am virtually doing a sales pitch on Saturday to the two top executives for Snickers candy bar. We will “pitch” our ideas and execution to them as we explain how we went through the research, development, execution, and post event research for “Snickerfest.” (this was all done in the MTVu reality show) This is the greatest advice that we have received on giving a presentation or pitching an idea, and I will be sharing it with our group tomorrow night. The idea of pitching without letting them feel like they are being pitched to is simple in theory, but complex in action. I will say, however, that we have done (in my opinion) a great job in doing research on our target audience, maximizing every possible channel to reach that audience, and delivering what they wanted in a manner that markets the relevant product (Snickers Satisfies). We have outlined objectives thoroughly and now it’s a matter of pitching to perfection. Wish us luck, and thanks for the help David.

Pitching is definitely a hard thing to do effectively, primarily because not everyone wants the same thing out of a pitch and two people do not right a pitch the same way. I do agree that more people want the information laid out to them in a simple and straightforward manner.

I work in sales and people don’t like to be approached with a long pitch. I go into a business and they want to know exactly who I am, what I am selling, what it will do for them and how much it costs. After I get to know the client we will chat and I can suggest things, but at an initial meeting it is pretty cut and dry. Of course, being nice and easy to talk to is a plus when approaching someone, but after that they want to information.

This is how I try to conduct cold calls and visits, that way it is left up to the client to decide whether they want to buy or not and the salesperson knows that they told them all the information.

This is very pertinent to a lot that my friends and I are going through right now. We are seniors and have been busy planning our FUTURES…ah! Applying for jobs, internships, yadda yadda yadda, we are basically trying to “pitch” ourselves to the employers.

I have tried to be creative and persuasive in my pitch letters, in hopes of catching the employer’s attention. I have to admit that coming up with a way to sell yourself to the person on the other end in just a couple of paragraphs is harder than I thought!!

Your advice to pitch without letting them know they are being pitched to is hard in a cover letter, but it sounds like it can be very effective. Considering the employer knows that you are interested in the job if you are submitting a resume and cover letter, if the cover letter is written exquisitely, the person reading it might not realize he/she is being pitched to!

I’m definitely going to use this advice in my next cover letters! Thanks so much!

Hi David

This blog hasn’t been commented on since May, but this information is so extremely valuable to us as students.

Jess explained in the previous comment that we are trying to pitch ourselves as employees and interns. This is probably the most frustrated I’ve been in my entire life. I am trying to lock-up an internship in New York this summer and I’ve sent out countless letters to PR firms and businesses in Manhattan, and though I have received positive replies from several of them, I’ve always wondered what an employer might see in a simple cover letter.

I’ve found that instead of trying to sell myself in a few short paragraphs, like Jess put it, I try to actually have a contact person within the company and keep in touch with them, setting up “relationships” so I’m not just another student hoping to get a call back.

It’s always important when trying to get your idea to someone to be straight to the point. Many people will stop listening if takes you a while to get your point accross. Also, knowing as much as you can about the company can help you go a long way. Many people will take the time to listen to you if you come prepared.

Great advice! Pitching can be a difficult talent to master and the advice that you provided is top notch. As a student, I have not had to pitch a story to anyone yet, but I will take as much advice as I can get in order to prepare for that first time I am trying to get something covered. One of the most important things that you mentioned in this post is writing a Thank You note. I think that this small courtesy has, in many cases, gone by the way side. People still deeply appreciate to be thanked and acknowledged for something that they have done. In order to continue having meaningful relationships with those who are in a position to help you out, one must always remember to thank the people that get their stories covered.