If you don't truly believe in your ideas, no presentation can save you. Let authentic enthusiasm shine through. Feel a genuine emotional connection to your vision.As challenges arise, check if they energize or deplete you. Your passion sets the tone.

Convince Yourself First

<ul><li>Truly grasp supporters' motivations and goals.</li><li>Identify exactly how your idea fulfills their needs.</li><li>Customize thoughtfully without losing integrity.</li><li>Forced matches lead to downstream issues.</li><li>Avoid assumptions.</li></ul>

Understand Their Needs

We often chalk 'it' up to natural talent or charisma...either you have 'it' or you don't. But 'it' can be learned.

<ul><li>Avoid shoehorning your pitch to what you assume backers want to hear. Stay true to your core vision and message.</li><li>Have confidence that the right supporters will resonate with the real you and your ideas.</li></ul>

Let Go Of Your Ego

No one makes it alone. But there’s a reason why some people can get investors or bosses to believe in them while others cannot.

Go beyond surface research to uncover non-Google-able insights.Demonstrate the journey that led you to your idea. Share what you uniquely learned through deep field research.Make audiences feel like insiders.

Find An Earned Secret

The craziest ideas—the ones that are most likely to change the world—are often the hardest ones to sell. But that doesn’t mean we stop trying. We build the skills and invest the energy to make ourselves backable. And we realize, as all backable people eventually do, that when you get dismissed, there is always another room.

Practice pitches in low-stakes environments to refine style and messaging. Be open to completely reinventing your approach based on feedback.Embrace failures as learning. Losses prepare you for later wins.

Play Exhibition Matches 

Leverage FOMO - the fear of missing out. Make inaction seem riskier than action.Show unique benefits of moving now. Make your idea feel like an unstoppable rising tide sweeping people along.

Make Action Feel Inevitable

Stories of how ideas help real people are more compelling than abstractions. Imagine speaking to one person when pitching.Highlight how a central character uniquely benefits. Build empathy by showing real impact.

Cast A Central Character  

Be willing to reinvent your thinking around ideas. Let go of preconceived notions of what will work.Allow new information and context to shape your approach. Rigidity is the enemy of innovation.

Keep an Open Mind

In his book Backable, Suneel Gupta argues that the key to success in business isn’t talent, connections, or ideas – it’s the ability to persuade people to take a chance on your ideas. Drawing lessons from hundreds of the world’s biggest thinkers, he shows readers how to craft a story that will make your ideas irresistible, and teaches techniques that will help you overcome objections, close deals, and bring your ideas to life. 

A groundbreaking book that boldly claims the key to success is not talent, connections, or ideas, but the ability to persuade people to take a chance on your potential.   "The most exceptional people aren't just brilliant...they're backable." —Daniel Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of When, Drive  and To Sell is Human   No one makes it alone. But there’s a reason some people can get investors or bosses to believe in them while others cannot. And that reason has little to do with experience, pedigree, or a polished business plan. Backable people seem to have a hidden quality that inspires others to take action. We often chalk this up to natural talent or charisma...either you have “it” or you don’t. After getting rejected by every investor he pitched, Suneel Gupta had a burning question: Could “it” be learned? Drawing lessons from hundreds of the world’s biggest thinkers, Gupta discovered how to pitch new ideas in a way that has raised millions of dollars, influenced large-scale change inside massive corporations, and even convinced his eight-year-old daughter to clean her room. Inside Backable are long-held secrets from producers of Oscar-winning films, members of Congress, military leaders, culinary stars, venture capitalists, founders of unicorn-status startups, and executives at iconic companies like Lego, Method, and Pixar. Backable reveals how the key to success is not charisma, connections, or even your résumé, but rather your ability to persuade others to take a chance on you. This original book will show you how.