In the Room Doesn’t Mean in Control: 4 Pitch Traps Smart People Fall Into (and How to Avoid Them)

18 Aug

It’s tempting to want your audience to think you’re clever.

You’ve worked hard. You’ve got a smart solution. They’d be mad not to work with someone as sharp as you and your team, right?

So you show them how much you know, how much work you’ve done—and answer all the questions you wish they were asking.

It feels impressive. But it’s not always effective.

In high-stakes moments, here’s what many people forget: it’s not about how much you know. It’s about how much they want to know.

So don’t pitch to pump up your credentials. Pitch to solve their problem.

Be kind, not clever.
Don’t try to impress—go for impact.

You already know your stuff. The trick is meeting the room where they are.

Here are 4 common traps smart people fall into when pitching—and how to flip them.

1. They Don’t Care How Hard You’ve Worked

You’ve pulled long hours. Built smart frameworks. Lost sleep getting this pitch over the line.

But guess what? So has your audience.

Beth in Customer Insights hasn’t slept in weeks.
Harry in R&D’s wife is about to leave him.
Ravi in Analytics just spent three days migrating research data.

Your pressure doesn’t out-rank theirs. And in a pitch, effort doesn’t equal impact.

Instead:
Put the focus on what matters to them. Lead with relevance, not resume.
Try this shift:
“Here’s what you've told us…”
instead of
“A lot of people have worked very hard to get us here today.”

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2. They Already Assume You’re Smart

You got the meeting. You’re in the room. That’s the baseline.

Overloading your pitch with credentials, research, or case studies only signals insecurity—or worse, self-importance.

Instead:
Use only what earns attention or builds belief. If it doesn’t do that, it’s filler.
Quick check:
If you need 100 slides to prove your value, you haven’t found the story yet.

3. Are You Answering Their Question?

One of the most common pitch pitfalls?

Pitching what you want to say instead of what they’ve asked.

It’s easy to get swept up in your own thinking—but corporate graveyards are full of projects that missed the brief by a whisker.

Instead:
Clarify the ask. Check your aim. Build the pitch with them, not at them.
Tactical tip:
Pre-pitch, ask: “Can I clarify what success looks like for you here?”
That small moment of alignment can save the whole pitch.

4. Are You Taking Them Somewhere They Want to Go?

Facts convince. But stories move people.

Your pitch should let them see a believable transformation—from where they are now to where they want to be.
Not just vision, but vividness.

Show them the before and after.
Let them walk into the future with you.
Paint a picture they can support with confidence.

At Pitch Camp, we use a tool called FROTO: From → To

It helps the audience see the shift—so they don’t just believe your pitch, they feel it.

Instead of:
“Here’s how we help you achieve your goal of…”
Try:
“We're here to help you shift [FROM]—[TO].

TL;DR – Be Kind, Not Clever

The room doesn’t need to be impressed. It needs to feel understood.

Don’t pitch to showcase what you know—pitch to solve what they care about.
Stay focused on their questions, not your credentials.
Lead them to a future they can see—and want to be part of.

So, which ‘you’ will they meet?

One tries to win the room.
The other brings the room with them.

You don’t need to be clever to figure out which one lands.

Rosie Gundelach