What a great idea!

Ever had an amazing idea that try as you might, you just couldn’t get others as excited about it as you were?

It’s not uncommon for people to struggle to ‘get’ your thinking; after all they haven’t been on the journey of discovery with you, they may not empathize with the opportunity and may not see the value in what you are suggesting. All of which gives you two choices, let it go or change the way you communicate the idea.

If you choose option 2 then you need to rethink your pitching. The problem is going to lay with you, the message, the person you are pitching to or the idea itself.

Try starting with yourself, is there something going wrong with the way you are communicating the idea to people? Perhaps you could change your delivery method, perhaps you could be calmer, perhaps you could be more excited, perhaps an academic approach would work or perhaps you could get someone else to pitch the idea for you.

If it’s not you, then think about the message. Is the message designed to help people understand the problem or opportunity that you are trying to address, is the timing of your delivery right, is the idea simple enough that you can get the right people on board? Make sure you have multiple approaches up your sleeve so you can tailor the delivery.

If it’s not you and the delivery is spot on, perhaps it’s the people you are pitching to. Check that you are trying to get the right people on board, check that they are in a decision making position, and make sure they even care about the issue.

After all this work, if your delivery is great, if the message is strong and you are taking it to the right people, then chances are it’s the idea that’s the problem…so be prepared to put it on the backburner until it does make sense to others, be open to going it on your own, or perhaps just let it go.