My last post discussed intensity as a quality essential to the approach and preparation of a winning pitch. Charm is the magic ingredient, on the day, which can carry an average pitch and without which you lose however good the pitch. 

UKIP is enjoying  success as it emerges as the country’s third most popular party. Some of this success is down to the failings of its rivals but much of it is down to the undeniable charm of leader Nigel Farage.  His charm makes the unpalatable easier to swallow. In G2, Decca Aitkenhead described him as “..charismatic, funny, indefatigably good-natured and essentially cheerful  towards absolutely everyone…”

While Farage, who keeps on smiling in the face of the most hostile interviewer, may be more gifted,  the reality is that most people excercise charm as part and parcel of the working relationships in their daily lives. Except when they pitch.

Being naturally charming takes a back seat as worry -about content/last minute changes/checking the charts/hand-overs/time keeping/looking good/eye contact/gaffs – takes over and charm is reduced to false bonomie, exaggerated enthusiasm and ingratiating niceness.

If you don’t want to use Farage as your role model, check out Thesauraus which gives some 40 alternatives words for ‘charming’. Here are some of them to bring  to your next pitch:

“captivating, engaging, enjoyable, attractive, engrossing, charismatic, irresistible, fascinating, winning and likeable”

If they don’t like you they won’t buy you. To be more likeable, rehearse. The more you do so, the more confident you get. The more confident you are the more your naturally charming self takes over.