The virtual pitch: How to get it right

Good tech can only get you so far. It’s what you’ve got to say that will seal the deal.

BY GUY CLAPPERTON

It’s been months. Business has been slow, and yes, there are vaccines that may start to allow us to pitch and engage in person during 2021, but we’re really not sure when. So, we’re stuck pitching for new clients over Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet or whatever other system you or your prospective client prefers. You can make the most of it, though.

You can fiddle with your camera settings and put a green screen background in, but if you haven’t covered the basics it’ll fail. Independent PR person Jenny Hodge picked up a bit of business under lockdown and believes the rules haven’t changed: “Do your research, be prepared, make sure you have comprehensive notes on the company, spokespeople and products to hand.,” she says. “And be confident about your own experience.”

That said, like a lot of people, Hodge has a dislike of watching herself on screen. This is why one of my favourite features in most versions of Zoom is “hide self view” – you’ll find it in the top right hand corner of your picture where there are three dots; it will hide your picture from you, so self-consciousness should be reduced immediately.

Picture is important, so a better webcam than the one that came with your computer may well be an idea. If you have a digital SLR with an HDMI slot, it will almost certainly be usable as a webcam with the addition of a tripod at a decent height. Search for software that allows your computer to take a feed from your exact model. If you have the right lens you can then play with focus and depth, and look super-clear.

Mind you, there’s research out there to suggest people think they’re seeing a better picture when the sound improves. So, if you’re restricted in terms of funds, you may be better off buying a better microphone and selecting it as your input when you’re on calls. A lot of PR is about presentation; the prospective client will want to see and hear that you look and sound slick.

This is increasingly important in an environment where, as Frank Smith of Context PR points out, clients now expect some face-to-face contact over video earlier in the relationship than they previously might have. Based in Macclesfield, he points out that a team presentation in London would previously have lost four days’ work and £1000 in travel costs, whereas it can now be done over Zoom for half an hour of everyone’s time from anywhere. It’s a mistake to treat it as an ordinary phone chat, though. “With an online pitch, you need to make a conscious effort to build rapport and inject energy into the conversation,” he says. “Once the energy levels drop, you’ve had it. That goes for everyone on the call not just the senior people. So, everyone has to make a contribution and a dry run is essential, as you would do in a face-toface pitch.”

A lot of PR is about presentation; the prospective client will want to see and hear that you look and sound slick.

It’s tempting to throw everything into a swish animation in a presentation to keep people engaged. I have the battle scars from this; something that looks elegant and smooth at your end can look jerky and awkward once it’s squished through your Internet connection and that of your prospect. Livening things up a little is good — maybe introducing bullet points individually if you’d normally just have one slide with them on — but for more elaborate animations, remember your recipient might not see the same fluency.

Related point: Windows and most of the app technologies are updated often with a view to increasing functionality and security, which is a good thing. If you’ve just updated, remember to check all of the settings you’d lovingly built up, like which microphone or camera is your default and whether your videos’ sounds will be shared. Bitter experience tells me the Zoom pixies will cheerfully rip up any settings you’ve changed and make you start again, and if you don’t know, you could end up with silent playback at the other end.

This is all getting a bit negative. As Frank Smith points out, there are positives. You can be pitching to someone in South Africa just as easily as to someone in Chelmsford in the virtual world. Depending on the services you offer, this can be a huge opportunity. The time zone rather than geographical distance is now your only barrier.

Zoom and other systems offer virtual backgrounds without a physical green screen, but it involves the computer doing a lot of processing. Some laptops will just give you an error message saying they are not powerful enough. Physical green screens are great, but make sure you’re well-lit with something like a halo light, or if money is tight, the torch on an old phone. Be sensible: I have a corner desk, and had a roll-up green screen behind me until my wife whispered the words “fire hazard” into my ear.

If you take only one thing away from this brief article, though, then it should be that it’s up to you to engage with people through the technology rather than expect the gadgets to do all the lifting. “Cut back on the words, bring some warmth into it — be human despite the lack of face to face,” says Gina Hough of MCC International. “And make sure that you have feedback for them on how to improve their situation — a media audit is always very well received.”

So content was king the whole time. Who knew?

Guy Clapperton runs the CIPR course on virtual presenting. He has been coaching media clients over Skype initially and now whatever the client wants since 2010. See www.remotemediatraining.com for info.

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