Presentation-Secrets-Of-Steve-Jobs
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INTRODUCE THE ANTAGONIST 71<br />
the category and the problem before introducing the solution,<br />
Fleiss created the cup to pour the coffee into.<br />
Investors are buying a stake in ideas. As such, they want<br />
to know what pervasive problem the company’s product<br />
addresses. A solution in search of a problem carries far less<br />
appeal. Once the problem and solution are established, investors<br />
feel comfortable moving on to questions regarding the<br />
size of the market, the competition, and the business model.<br />
The Ultimate Elevator Pitch<br />
The problem need not take long to establish. <strong>Jobs</strong> generally<br />
takes just a few minutes to introduce the antagonist. You can<br />
do so in as little as thirty seconds. Simply create a one-sentence<br />
answer for the following four questions: (1) What do you do?<br />
(2) What problem do you solve? (3) How are you different? (4)<br />
Why should I care?<br />
When I worked with executives at LanguageLine, in Monterey,<br />
California, we crafted an elevator pitch based on answers to the<br />
four questions. If we did our job successfully, the following pitch<br />
should tell you a lot about the company: “LanguageLine is the<br />
world’s largest provider of phone interpretation services for companies<br />
who want to connect with their non-English-speaking<br />
customers [what it does]. Every twenty-three seconds, someone<br />
who doesn’t speak English enters this country [the problem].<br />
When he or she calls a hospital, a bank, an insurance company, or<br />
911, it’s likely that a LanguageLine interpreter is on the other end<br />
[how it’s different]. We help you talk to your customers, patients,<br />
or sales prospects in 150 languages [why you should care].”<br />
The Antagonist: A Convenient<br />
Storytelling Tool<br />
<strong>Steve</strong> <strong>Jobs</strong> and former U.S. vice president turned global warming<br />
expert Al Gore share three things in common: a commitment