The Art of Persuasion

The Art of Persuasion

Idea Pitch

Hello Sharks, my name is Chine Nkado. I’m the founder and CEO of FindMe Inc. I am seeking an investment of $25,000 in exchange for 5% equity in my business.

Have you ever found yourself ready to head out for a time-sensitive appointment, only to realize that your car key is not where you thought it was?

FindMe offers an easy location of vehicle keys from anywhere in your home or anywhere else within 100 square feet radius.

Unlike other devices for locating keys, FindMe is a programmable device that locates car keys through signals. The beep sound gets slightly louder the closer you get to the location of the key. You can program as many car keys as you need to on the device. To prevent vehicle theft or unauthorized access to your vehicle, FindMe is password protected.

FindMe saves busy adults, particularly parents of younger children a significant amount of time that could be wasted looking for car keys around the house.

The market for FindMe is estimated at 50,000 households in Canada alone. So far, we have penetrated 25% of the market in Canada in just six months of operation just by word of mouth. The loan will enable us to expand our social media presence.

Invest in FindMe today and put back some lost time in the hands of already very busy parents.

Persuasion technique used

The main persuasion technique I used was emphasizing the audience benefits (Munter & Hamilton 2014). This technique stresses “What’s In It For Them” (WIIFT). The technique entails identifying the features – facts about the item; applying an audience filter – analyzing the features of the product from the audience’s point of view; and creating a benefit statement that explains WIIFT (Munter & Hamilton, 2014). I demonstrated the tangible benefits of the product and showed how those features would benefit the target audience, instead of just concentrating on the features of the product.

I used this technique because according to neuroscientist Gregory Berns (2008), to force the brain to see things differently, one must find new novel ways to help the brain perceive information differently. “The brain must be provided with something that it has never before processed to force it out of predictable perceptions” (Gallo, 2015). My audience may have heard about a device that assists with tracking misplaced keys, but the might not have heard about this particular device. I will grab their attention if I can show just one unique feature they didn’t know existed before (Gallo, 2015).

Reference

Berns, G (2008). Iconoclast. Harvard Business Press. Boston, MA

Gallo, C. (2015). Talk Like Ted. New York: St. Martins Griffin.

Munter, M. & Hamilton, L. (2014). Guide to managerial communication. Chicago, IL: LSC communications.