Steve Jobs was a natural storyteller but he practiced his pitches for hundreds of hours before delivering them on stage.

How do you pitch like Steve Jobs? With a story pitch built on a story arc that has worked for centuries: The Hero's Journey.

iPad launch

Not unsurprisingly, the Customer Forces Canvas follows this same story arc, which means you can apply the same formula Hollywood uses to launch blockbuster movies to your product pitches.

When you lead with problems you could put your customer on the defensive. This is particularly true when you are dealing with B2B customers and tell people "I believe you have this problem". Unless they know and trust you, they may be defensive and don't want to admit that they have a problem. At that point your pitch falls flat and you end up pitching to someone who doesn't really want to talk to you. It's much more effective leading with what are the stakes and what has changed and that sets the context for the points 3, 4, 5.

When you lead with problems you could put your customer on the defensive. This is particularly true when you are dealing with B2B customers and tell people "I believe you have this problem". Unless they know and trust you, they may be defensive and don't want to admit that they have a problem. At that point your pitch falls flat and you end up pitching to someone who doesn't really want to talk to you. It's much more effective leading with what are the stakes and what has changed and that sets the context for the points 3, 4, 5.

The 3 Rooms framework

The mafia offer pitch script