Perfect your pitch

Tweak small things to get your message across more effectively.

By Lisa Hochgraf

G. Richard Shell told attendees of the first-ever summer CEO Institute I: Strategic Planning that they could “exercise conscious controls” to make themselves more effective.

“Small adjustments and bits of self awareness about how you handle other people is precious,” emphasized Shell, J.D., professor of legal studies and business ethics at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, where the institute was held. “Learning more about this stuff can make you better at practicing it. You can talk all you want about charisma, but these are things you can get better at.”

Shell offered small things executives can do to be more effective when pitching their ideas. This process has been documented to be effective, and was first conceived by Aristotle.

“This is nothing new,” he said. But it works.

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