Pitching

          This weeks blogs post was incredibly helpful to me, as I have never ‘pitched’ a project in my life, and while researching for this blog, I began to get a much better understanding of what Professor Bell is expecting. 

Some of the best tips that I learnt from each source are listed below:

‘CBC’

• Not only does your idea need to stand out and be original, but you do as well! They are looking for producers that will be just as charismatic and help the ideas to come alive!
• Don’t be afraid to dream up the most wildest ideas and to ask for help when you need it; unbiased feedback can be extremely useful as long as you remain open to it.
• What about your show will appeal to CBC and does it fit in with their morals? What opportunities do you see growing from this idea?

I deemed CBC to be a reliable source to gather information on pitching podcasts, due to their dominance of broadcasting in all of Canada, and the fact that they produce hundreds of podcasts of all different natures every week. Anyone would be lucky to have CBC support their idea; therefore they were my number one source to go to.

‘Forbes’

• In order to capivate your audience, especially when discussing a topic they may not be familiar with, the use of clear, concise and efficient sentences are the way to go.
• To better organize your ideas so you can come up with a superb pitch, Message Maps can be extremely beneficial to ensure that you hit all necessary points. 
• Make sure to reinforce your points with backup information such as stories, examples and statistics.

While the information gathered here is not necessarily for a podcast, I believed that Forbes would be a reliable source as the leading and most respected magazine on business. If anyone would have tips on how to make a better pitch it would be Forbes!

‘This American Life’

• Submissions do not need to be completely formal, and favourite moments that help to underline why the story is so great in a brief manner can really help the pitch.
• Pitches that reflect traditional stories, who are clear in the conflict and that raise bigger questions and issues are important and can help pitches stand out.

I believed going to This American Life would be an important reliable source as Professor Bell mentioned them in lecture and talked very highly of them. Therefore, I was curious myself to hear their expectations of pitches, and trusted what they were saying. 

          Based on the information that I have gathered here, I know that I must begin to throughly organize and sort out the important information that I want to include in my pitch. I want to make my own Message Map for my topic of Clean Eating, so that I can ensure my pitch is very concise and brief, yet hits home on the main points that I want to come across. I will also make sure to be myself and have fun while doing the pitch, because if it is clear that I love my topic, then it won’t be very hard to receive the support I am looking for. 

Works Cited

“About Us.” Submissions. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2014 http://www.thisamericanlife.org/about/submissions

“CBC Radio Pitch- Index.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2014. http://www.cbc.ca/pitch/radiopitchguide.html 

Gallo, Carmine. “How to Pitch Anything in 15 seconds [video].” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 17 July 2012. Web. 24 Jan. 2014. http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2012/07/17/how-to-pitch-anything-in-15-seconds/