5 Things I Learned From Sitting in on 120 Pitch Meetings

1. Give the Exec Insight Into Who You Are as a Person

There are many opportunities to bring your personality into the meeting. First, make use of the small talk at the beginning. Most people end up chatting about the weather in LA—but even that’s something you could make more personal.

For example, the exec might ask, “Can you believe all the rain we’ve been having?” Instead of responding, “Yeah, it’s crazy,” you might say, “I’m getting a little tired of it, but my pug hates it. I have to stuff his paws into rain booties and he always looks so angry about it.”

The exec might then share something about her cat or her sister’s poodle, and she’ll begin to see you not just as a writer, but as a well-rounded person.

2. Every Development Exec Runs Their Meetings a Little Differently—Be Prepared for Anything

While you pitch, some execs will be really responsive, laughing at jokes or gasping when there’s a big plot twist. They may even interrupt your pitch to ask you questions.

Other execs may be harder to read, especially if they’re focused on taking notes. Either way, don’t read into their reactions.

We prepare our fellows for Pitch Week by bringing in a showrunner, a development exec, and a speech coach to provide feedback on their pitches from various perspectives. In between the virtual meetups for our program, we have the fellows practice their pitches over and over and over again with each other. We have them simulate different situations with their partners, from looking disinterested to interrupting constantly. We make sure they ask each other tons of questions after the pitch so that they’re used to thinking on their feet.

By the end of Pitch Week, after they’ve each had between six to 10 one-on-one meetings, they leave with a much better understanding of how execs’ responses and questions may vary.

3. You’re Not the Best Judge of How You Pitched

If you leave a meeting unhappy with your performance, remember that you’re not in a position to be objective.

One of our fellows texted me after her first pitch meeting, “I've just been panicking for 10 minutes that they didn't ask any questions.”

I responded that the exec did, in fact, ask a bunch of questions, which our fellow answered intelligently! She had simply blacked out from nervousness. If you’re struggling to remember how your meeting went, trust that you practiced so much that you could do it perfectly in your sleep.

Another fellow texted me after one meeting that she bombed the pitch. I replied that I actually thought it was one of her best pitches of the week—it’s just that this exec was less vocal about laughing since she was concentrating on her notes.

But the exec was like that for everyone! If you don’t have the context of how an exec normally operates, you might take things personally. Instead, assume the exec is completely on board, because that’s the belief that will help you perform the best.

4. Go Into the Meeting Knowing That Your Work is Valuable

It’s hard to have a genuine conversation with an executive if you feel like the exec is the gatekeeper and your entire career hinges on this one pitch meeting. It makes for a much better dynamic when you’re not creating a power imbalance in your head.

5. Development Execs are Human, Too

When we caught up with one of our fellows after last year’s Pitch Week, she told us the experience had made her realize that execs are just people—and this realization was a huge relief!

Often, writers see execs as the people who say “no” and who prevent their work from moving forward, but execs can also be your biggest ally for getting more eyes on your project. They’re usually friendly and creative, and they want to find a project they’re excited about.

They were drawn to storytelling for the same reasons you were.