Oren Klaff

Interestingly, while Chance was probably doing tons of research on Jeffries, I did none. I was not interested in building so-cal ed deep rapport—a personal connection with my audience

My research had shown that the smal talk at the beginning of a pitch typical y was fruitless. People who make mil ion- and bil ion-dol ar decisions don’t care where you play golf or whether you had trouble finding a parking spot

I would be focused, instead, on a unique theme and storyline. A compel ing human drama

Nine Days Before

I wanted the visuals for the presentation to pop and shock

I also was working on the elements of “the story.” Some of my friends were Hol ywood screenwriters, and they had beat it into me: Every pitch should tell a story

There’s gotta be an intrigue hook,” I told McFarlen. “If the shark in Jaws has a GPS beacon on it, and you know where it is al the time, then there’s no drama, and the story is not interesting

Sometimes deals are done strictly on numbers—but not this time

but the story I’d prepared had something stronger. A human angle that was compel ing

How do you spend weeks or months working on a big presentation and not be anxious about it? I had to invert my own psychology