The first thirty seconds of a pitch are intuitive

“I became aware that whatever I paid attention to grew. If I focused on the bad news and the awful, it seemed that the whole world was pointing its finger at me. If I focused on the amazing company we had created, I began to trust that I could do it again. I just had to brush myself off and get back on that entrepreneurial horse.” – from Cold Hard Truth

I’ve heard the same insight expressed in many ways from different people. James Arthur Ray from The Secret expressed it as “energy flows where attention goes”. Friedrich Nietzsche expressed the insight’s flipside: “if you gaze for long into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you.”

It’s been called The Law Of Attraction by the hit movie The Secret and the concept has become recognized and espoused by more and more very, very successful people. That’s why your mindset is everything. We attract into our life what we focus on in our thoughts, emotions, and actions. If we’re positive people and focus on positive thinking and positive ways of being we’ll tend to experience mostly positive, uplifting situations. If we’re angry, critical, pessimistic, or any similarly negative emotion we’ll attract the same types of energy toward us. Just as positive experiences uplift and encourage and build self confidence and affirm our own viewpoint so can negative experiences deject and discourage and weaken self confidence and affirm our view that the world is a bad place. It’s all you!

O’Leary’s views of first impressions and how he experiences new people pitching a business are worth understanding. During his time on Dragon’s Den and the US version of the show called Shark’s Tank he’s seen over 1000 people pitching a business plan. So the people you pitch your listing presentations to are likely feeling similar things as O’Leary is:

“The first thirty seconds of a pitch are intuitive, visceral, from the point of view of the investor. I watch the way the pitcher enters the room. It could be the look in a pitcher’s eye, the spring in her step, the color of his tie, the style of her shoes, the tangibles and intangibles of personality that make me lean in closer or sit way back. Maybe the pitcher reminds me of someone from my past – someone I liked, or didn’t. But I can tell instantly whether I even want to hear this entrepreneur’s story.” – from Cold Hard Truth