Transcript for Precious Williams Interview on the Beyond Speaking Podcast
In this episode of the Beyond Speaking podcast, Precious Williams, also known as the #KillerPitchMaster, shares her journey from an attorney to a 13-time national pitch champion and successful entrepreneur. She dives into the art of pitching, offering practical advice on how to captivate an audience, develop a compelling pitch, and stand out in competitions and business scenarios. Precious discusses her unique approach to storytelling, her experience on Shark Tank, and the power of authenticity in communication. She emphasizes the importance of understanding your audience, bringing energy, and crafting pitches tailored to different scenarios, whether for investors, media, or sales.
Podcast Episode · Beyond Speaking · Oct 1, 2024 · 24m
Precious: Are you truly establishing yourself as the Kia, the Lexus of the Rolls Royce of the industry? So you can bring human elements, but also if you want to speak, if you want to sell better, if you want to improve your communication and advocacy skills, you have to ask questions of your audience because they're gonna tell you things you wouldn't know. So when people told me all they thought about was Shark Tank, I was like, Shark Tank doesn't teach you all you need to know about pitching, and that's investor pitching.
What about elevator pitches? Media pitches, investor, sales speaker, and interview pitches? You have students out here in professional schools or, you know, undergrad that need to know what needs to go on their application to truly help them stand out. What do they need to say in the interviews to make them the only choice that matters?
And the biggest question when it comes to pitching in all forms is why are you the only choice that matters? Why should I book you, hire you, refer to you, invest in you? And when you think about it from that standpoint, you start to see why pitching is so important.
Intro: Welcome to the Beyond Speaking podcast from Premiere Speakers Bureau, featuring in-depth conversations with the world's most in-demand keynote speakers.
Brian: I'm Brian Lord, your host of the Beyond Speaking podcast. Our guest today is Precious Williams. She's the founder of the Perfect Pitch Group. She gives audiences the tools and tenacity to pitch with power, sell with storytelling, develop a masterful mindset for communication, and she has left the sharks on Shark Tank speechless, which is the opposite of what she'll teach you to do.
So, Precious, thank you so much for coming on and being part of the Beyond Speaking Podcast.
Precious: Well I'm so excited to be here and to have this conversation.
Brian: Yeah. Well, I am too. So I'm curious to know, like, how does someone become a pitch master? Like how does somebody get into this specialty?
Precious: Well, I can say this. My story's probably unique because I've been speaking professionally since I was 16 years old. I became an attorney in the great state of New York where I am today, but I kind of got tired of being a litigator and I'd kind of lost my fire and my buzz and walked out of a relationship with my ex-fiance. Of course, he's an ex-fiance now.
Never knowing that putting an ad on a dating site would totally change my life. And I feel like that was the beginning of pitching. I wrote a poem called To the Tango. To the Tango. And it attracted a very famous Hollywood actor. I was 327 pounds. So I didn't believe this could actually happen. From the first time that we met, he inspired me. Six foot four and five foot nine. 327. Get that in your mind.
Most women that size are never gonna have someone like that. And I did. But I couldn't find nice lingerie or six sexy stylish and fashion forward. And I thought about it and I thought about it. And I knew I was gonna start Curve Girls Lingerie, my first company. And what do you think most people told me? You're too fat, too black, no Ivy League degree. Let alone I never lost a case in court.
Let alone, I'm starting this, and my family and friends wouldn't invest in my company. They're like, there's no way. No one cares what plus size women wear. They associate plus size women with not being wanted. So I had to change my language. So I said full figure divas and plus size fashionistas.
So after my family and friends said no, I went to an event I couldn't afford. Yes, yes, I did. And I saw the media sponsors, and one was MSNBC. So I walked up to the producers and just made up a pitch on the spot, not even knowing how to do it, but it was like my Hail Mary. Not only did I blow them away, they said, Have you heard of our show, Elevator Pitch? Under your business with JJ Ramberg. I hadn't, but I had to act as if I had. Yes, of course everybody's heard of it. We think you'd be great to be on the show. You're the first person to pitch to us tonight.
Second lesson: Do it afraid. What's the worst that can happen? The next thing I know, February 9th, 2012, I presented Curvy Girls Lingerie, the ultimate shopping experience for full figure divas and plus size fashionistas live on your business with JJ Rambert. And in 54 seconds, I walked away with half a million dollars.
I was crying on the inside because think of all the no's I heard before I realized number three: who you pitch to matters. So if this audience isn't working, maybe there's another audience. I never thought that my first pitch in front of the media would be that breakthrough.
So the investors told me, enter pitch competitions. And I'm like, how do I beat these so-called tech companies with coming from certain families? And I won 13 out of 14 hands down because the way I pitch is I bring energy, funk, and noise. I don't start off with my name and the name of my company because you won't care. You're not going to care until I give you a reason to care.
So I'm going to build a story around that. And it's going to make you care. I'm very strategic about the words that I use to make sure that you understand I have facts, figures, statistics in there. That's why sales is so good. Understanding sales, understanding sales psychology, understanding what are certain audiences listening for. Are you speaking their language? Do they know that their challenge or problem is something you can solve? Or do you start off with the solution?
So even when I started off on Shark Tank, you know, I never forget having a private audition. Seven of my clients had already been funded on Shark Tank. So when they called me and asked me to just send the tape, send a you know recording, I sent it to them. I flew out September 11, 2016, filmed September 15th, 2016, and left them. And like the sharks could not get enough. I wore a low-cut canary yellow peppinum dress and afro extreme makeup, and I walked in that tank like where did they get a load of me? And I looked them all in the eye because I wasn't afraid of my 13-time national champion. I'm used to people saying too fat, too black, no Ivy League degree while I'm smoking the competition.
And I did things they weren't expecting because it's television. Who's my audience? Television in general public. So I have to dress for both and I have to show up unexpected. And that makes a difference in addition to having a great pitch that has fact figures and statistics while also telling a great story that people aren't ready for. And then closing in a way they've never seen before.
So that entire experience, I fell into pitching because I had no choice. And then just saw how I naturally took to it. I invested in my craft, became the killer pitch master, slaying all competition with a killer pitch, being able to tell stories to the right audiences. Not every story is for every audience, but also I didn't start in corporate. I started with myself, then training women, training men, training at Ivy League institutions, and then corporate America private associates, foundations and nonprofits. So that's the story of how I got here.
Brian: Now, I'm always curious because there are a lot of times there's a mentor back there, like a parent or a teacher or a friend or a business leader or something like that that you kind of got, you have your own unique style, but maybe you were inspired by that person. Is there anybody in your background or are you just the first storyteller from your family?
Precious: I will say this. My style is not modeled after anyone because if we're being honest, I'm black on both sides, no brazilian butt lift, no six-pack abs. So I didn't have the look that we often see out there. My grandmother, precious Dolores Williams, she's right there. And she's right over my shoulder. When I'm 16, my grandparents brought me into their home when I was 15 years old. My father is still a drug addict. And my mother nearly beat me to death when I was 12. So I didn't feel I had value and worth.
But my grandparents, they lived in the gritty hood of St. Louis, wanted me to live with them, and I didn't want to, but it's the best decision I ever made. From the time I walked into my grandparents' home, I never worried about where my food was coming from. My grandparents just finked my toes and wouldn't only call me Queen Bee, Sweet P, or when I'm in trouble precious Latin waves of full government. Did you hear me?
And so did my grandmother would do affirmations with me. Cause one day she said to me, Do you know when you speak, people listen? And I'm looking at her like I'm an unwanted child. And she's like, We waited 15 years to get you. You were never unwanted. You just needed, you just needed to wait our time. And she said, But when you speak, people listen. She's not a speaker, she had an eighth grade education. My granddaddy had an 11th grade education. The principal of my high school asked me to speak at an event.
I mean, really, do we know what that means? Because I was before the mayor of the city of St. Louis, Mayor Freeman Bosley. Now I'm looking back like I had no fear because I didn't know what I was doing. So my English teachers wrote my speech because you know, hood living, hood living. I didn't know if I could write a speech. Took that manila envelope. Yeah, that's how far back we go.
And when I got on that stage and I opened it up for the first time, it's like I knew, like my brain arranged what words to set on fire. It's like the most incredible thing. It's like I was naturally born to do this, and my grandmother didn't lie. And so as I was speaking, and you have these political powerhouses standing up, you have the mayor, the governor. Like I could not believe it, but I was also 16. And getting those standing ovations, you would have thought did something to me.
When we got a call from the governor of Missouri, I was like, whoa. And here I was. The teacher wrote my speech again. He did the same thing. And then I was taken all over the state of Missouri to speak on issues affecting, you know, inner city youth, the St. Louis public schools. I was in the St. Louis Post Dispatch a lot. And just imagine getting paid at 16, 17, and 18 when I was unwanted, tossed aside, nearly murdered, sold for drugs. Like, listen, this is real life.
But my grandmother knew who I was. And although she died in 2000 when I was a junior spellman in college, I always wanted to honor her for being the first to tell me who I was before anybody else did. So I went up to college, law school twice, and then went into becoming an attorney in the great state of New York. And I'm from the hood of St. Louis.
So it my grandmother inspired me, but my speaking style, that's me. I never saw anybody speak like me. I didn't have, I didn't like the formulas people use because I always thought they sounded fake. And I wanted to come in like a wrecking ball, Miley Cyrus.
Brian: So, I know your presentation style is very unique, but you also teach others. How do you help others find their own voice when they are storytelling or pitching?
Precious: I help others, individuals, and the sales team find their own voice. First, I have to listen. Like I really want to know what are their goals? Because I never want people to think I want to create Precious part two. We have introverts and we have extroverts. Those are your strengths, contrary to popular opinion. And we work to those strengths.
So when I think about introverts, they're the quiet storm. So every word has to count. And what do they do to draw attention to them and make the use of the time that they have to really make an impression? For those who are loud and gregarious like me, let me be very clear. When I really took my speaking craft seriously, nobody liked me. Because I didn't sound formulated. And that was by design. I knew how people trained in pitching and I never thought it would work because I said you have different types of entrepreneurs.
So let's even go to sales teams. I actually want to know the goals. I actually want to sit down with those who are hiring me, my clients, to know what are the goals? What are the things that they're challenged with? And those are the things that inform me so that I know when I'm creating these presentations, when I'm creating these trainings, that it's going to hit, that they're going to know I'm talking to them, that I'm understanding what some of the challenges are. And whether I need to come in multiple times or I'm brought in four times a year, or I'm keynoting, or I am doing workshops, it's very clear to me that I take my craft seriously because I really want to know what they would love to get out of this. What do they need to hear versus what do they want to hear? What are some of the challenges I'm hearing when they're speaking during the cold calls versus in-person versus Zoom? So those are things that I take into account.
And then I always send my presentation in advance to my clients because I want to make sure that I'm hitting on those points that they've talked to me about. And just because you see the PowerPoint, I don't teach you the PowerPoint. I want people to get storytelling. I want people to have fun and get humor because I'm not boring. And a lot of people are afraid of boring speakers. They'll pay you, but you're boring and they're not going to learn anything. So I want to inject humor. I want to inject fun, but I also have lessons in there. I'm engaging and I want people to learn in real time versus sitting there thinking I'm a lecturer. I'm not a lecturer. I'm engaging.
And I always say, pitch please. If I ever say anything that resonates, pitch please. And that's with the P. And I own the trademark for Pitch Please because I'm the killer pitch master. And so that's how I work. And whether you're an individual or sales teams, or I'm keynoting for an audience or I'm doing workshops, the goal is to meet or exceed my clients' expectations and show them that there's nothing deficient about them. It's how you arrange, it's how you listen, it's how you approach your prospect. And you can turn them into repeat clients and customers. Trust me.
Brian: What aspect of sales do you feel like most sales groups are short in?
Precious: The aspect that I feel most sales teams are short in is their pitches. If they're their sales script, if they have, you know, if they have one, it’s boring. It doesn't allow for conversation. It doesn't allow for relationship building. Or that not all salespeople are the same. So some people are greater at listening, some people just let it talk. And again, some like to lead with the solution when you haven't defined the problem in a way that speaks to them.
I'll give you an example. So I'm the killer pitch master. I've been, I've been pitching for 14 years now. 14. But I've been a professional speaker since I was 16. So that's 29 years. I don't think everybody's gonna want to learn how to pitch. And you know what I ran into? I don't want to be on Shark Tank. I don't think I want to be on Shark Tank.
So there was a lesson in me hearing that repeatedly that people didn't understand that pitching is something you do every day. When you talk about there’s no good man, no good woman in your life with your homies, your friends, your family, that's a pitch. You're being the so you're being the focal point of attention. And you're telling a story and you want them captivated and spellbound. And you want all eyes on you. But you also want to make sure they're asking certain questions and things like that.
So if you take that in there, when you are posting on social media, that's a pitch. Are you truly establishing yourself as the Kia, the Lexus of the Rolls Royce of the industry? So you can bring human elements, but also if you want to speak, if you want to sell better, if you want to improve your communication and advocacy skills, you have to ask questions of your audience because they're going to tell you things you wouldn't know.
So when people told me all they thought about was Shark Tank, I was like, Shark Tank doesn't teach you all you need to know about pitching, and that's investor pitching. What about elevator pitches, media pitches, investor sales speakers, and interview pitches? You have students out here in professional schools or undergrad that need to know what needs to go on their application to truly help them stand out. What do they need to say in the interviews to make them the only choice that matters?
And the biggest question when it comes to pitching in all forms is why are you the only choice that matters? Why should I book you, hire you, refer you, invest in you? And when you think about it from that standpoint, you start to see why pitching is so important.
We've never lost commercials. Some of us may scroll by them on YouTube, but they're there for a reason. Because repetition, getting you into this. That's why people still pay for ads. Ads are a pitch. But so is everything, the small business owners, so inside, outside sales rep, sales teams, those who want to sell products and services. This is why it's so important to have strategy, cunning, and precision, but also to understand how the market is seeing what you do. And changing the narrative on that. So language matters.
Brian: So let's see here, if we're to give somebody just a just some short bit, not get not give away everything, but like if someone wanted to be better at pitching tomorrow than they are today, what are a couple keys that you can give them to help them be better then than they are now?
Precious: Okay, so here are a couple. I'll throw in three because you know I got two. Number one: most pitches I hear are boring. Most posts are boring. So add some fun into it. Ask questions of your audience and to help you create better pitches because you'll get to see what's missing in the marketplace. It'll also help you to tailor your pitch or your speaking or your sales to those who really want it.
Number two: If what you're doing isn't working with the audience you're in front of, try different audiences. I already told you in the beginning how family and friends, the ones that are supposed to invest first, but didn't see it for me because I was an attorney and it thought that was the best that I could do. I went to something else and it made the difference because the right people were in the room who understood immediately that I had fast faced statistics and I could add the story that mattered to that particular audience, right?
Number three: You need to have 150 reasons why someone should hire you, book you, refer you, and invest in you, your products, your services. You need to have that. You may do 10 on your own. Start asking your trusted network, why would they or why should they? That's an educational process you're doing for them, but you're also teaching them how to pitch you for profit because they get to understand, they get to show you what you don't know about yourself. As I told you, everybody I thought wanted to learn how to pitch.
So it started to change my message. And I'm not hired generally because I can teach pitching. It's gonna shock y'all. But my trusted network said it's your energy. It's the way you come to the table. You bring, you, you bring fun and you bring energy, and we can learn in real time because you're engaging. So those are the three ways I would say. So we done with boring. If you are a quiet storm, don't worry about that. Use it to your advantage. Drop a set of books, all us. And those are the three ways.
Brian: That's awesome. All right. So last question here. I've never been to an elevator pitch competition and you've gone and dominated. So what is an elevator competition like? Like how does somebody get into that and what's one of them like?
Precious: So when it comes to elevator pitch competitions, and remember, you're actually pitching in probably in front of investors, but you're also pitching in front of a late audience, depending on what it is. So I raised $250,000 through pitch competitions. And remember, I got $500,000 live on the show. So think about that, right? Yeah. So you may have 30 seconds, one minute, two minutes, three minutes. Sometimes you even have 10 minutes. And your goal is to convince whoever the stakeholders are to invest in your company.
So whether you have 30 seconds, a minute, three minutes, or whatever, you have to tailor your pitch to who's in the audience. Are they investors? Are they lay people? Are they professionals? Are they people with resources? These are things that truly people don't think about. They're like, I'm just gonna pitch my company. I'm like, who's in the audience? Because you play to that, right?
You also wanna make sure that there are probably gonna be other people in the audience who, if they can't write you a check, they have resources for you, or they can link you to someone else. So money may sound great, but it's the resources and the word of a powerful person that can walk you through doors, right? So being in 14 national pitch competitions, behind the scenes, you have your contestants and someone will be talking to you. And I get very quiet because I'm in the zone. Like Britney Spears, I'm in the zone.
I listen to four songs. I listen to Lose Yourself by Eminem, Nicki Minaj's Moment for Life, Bad Michael Jackson, and a toss-up with Cardi B, knock me down nine times and I get up 10, or Bodak Yellow. Because when I attack that stage, you're gonna see why I don't dial it in. And after I pitch, you will always hear this. I'd have to go after her. Because this is fun for me. For other people, it's just saying words. For other people, like my name, the name of my company, who I'm associated with, these media spots, like all of that. That's not going to help you compete against me.
And finally, if I never pitched that first time in front of the producers of a major network, I would never have seen what I see today. So with the companies that I've worked with, I leverage that for other opportunities. And they walk me through the door because I'm gifted and talented, and I never dial it in. And it's so good that people will say your name and people know who you are. Precious. Killer Pitchmaster?
So if that's how you're making a name for yourself, that's a pitch in and of itself. So it's always tense behind the scenes, but when you go out there, laser focus, I'm here to do my job, slay all competition, get whatever I'm gonna get, and still be in the audience later talking to people who can provide even more resources or can say your name and doors open.
Brian: That's awesome. Well, Precious, thank you so much for sharing all this wisdom, sharing your story and you know, kind of, you know, bringing this unique perspective and a way to really bring value to an event, you know, whether it's sales or leadership or whatever the group may be. So thank you so much for coming on and being part of the Beyond Speaking podcast.
Precious: Thank you so much, Brian. I'm so happy you had me today.
Brian: Yeah, glad to have you on here.
Outro: Thank you for joining us for the Beyond Speaking podcast. To learn more about today's guests, visit PremiereSpeakers.com. Make sure to subscribe and leave a review wherever you listen.
