Best Pitch Advice I’ve Heard

With Mark outside the Kalich Theatre in Prague, where Octopus Soup has been playing to full houses for 16 months

The other day, I had lunch with my mate Mark Stevenson, and in the middle of some general chat, he shared one of the best pitching tips I’ve ever heard.  

We were talking about the latest edition of our farce, Octopus Soup!, and how to get it on in the West End, when Mark mentioned a conversation he’d had with one of the country’s top entrepreneurs and storytellers — the kind of conversation Mark seems to have all the time!  

The advice? “You have to leave them with the feeling that if they say ‘no’ then they’ll be doing the equivalent of turning down The Beatles.” That lingering “It may be risky to say ‘yes’, but it’s probably catastrophically risky to say ‘no’,“ is what you want. 

It's terribly un-English to say you believe in your work – and I am terribly English (you know me – all cricket, warm beer and cardigans) so I find this tricky – but it really works, as long as you have genuine faith in what you’ve got. And if I’m being honest, I do think people will miss out if they don’t get involved. If I didn’t really believe in it, how can they? It’s part of the reason we’ve landed the participation of some of the UK’s finest comedy talent (including genuine comedy royalty).

I still temper it with a bit of self-deprecation but I may even stop that. (After all, self-deprecation is another one of the many things I’m not very good at - ho ho).

What’s the best pitch advice you’ve ever heard? And did you use it?