Writing your Total Exposure pitch

A pitch is a short presentation — given either in writing or orally — in order to generate interest in a specific idea or proposal. This might concern a new product, a new pop band or — as in this case — an idea that could be used for a new radio or TV programme. A pitch should be fairly short, succinct, and have a very clear ‘hook’
 

One way of writing a pitch is to consider your idea in relation to a set of three questions:

1. What is the ‘Hook’?
   The golden rule for pitch presentations is generally summarised as ‘Hook-ABC’. It’s the definitive focus, the original twist or specific argument of your idea — followed by Audience, Benefits, Competition. The hook might be technical, political, social or psychological in focus — or combine a number of these elements — but there needs to be some central focus around which programme(s) are made. 

    

   Secondary questions therefore include: is this ‘hook’ actually novel or distinctive? How could I make my hook sharper? Will this ‘hook’ encourage teh public to ‘tune in’ or ‘turn off’? What options or flexibilities surround the hook? Is the hook multi-barbed in the sense that it speaks to a wide range of potential audiences?
    

2. So what and who cares?
   There is a big difference between academic relevence and broader social relevence when it comes to generating an audience so there is a need to frame the hook in a manner that forges a connection or relationship with a potential listener or viewer. 

   Questions to consider include: is this a topic of broad public interest? Is it of relevence to an international audience or solely within the UK? Is this project connected to any other activties that might make this topic salient in the future (an anniversary or event, for example)?
    

3. What do you want? 
   Working with the media to try to get a project for an idea off-the-ground can be a long and demanding process (often involving one-step-forward and two-steps-back) but it is also a process that demands new skills and ways of thinking, most crucially a realistic set of expectations. 

   It is therefore worthwhile to consider the following questions: how flexible am I willing to be? Am I being too ambitious with my first pitch? Are the structures and timescales I am proposing realistic? Is my proposal ambitious and lively enough to captivate an audience? How will I respond if my first pitch gets knocked back? What do I do if someone likes my idea?

   Total Exposure is about learning and linkage: learning in the sense of the art of translation and taking academic knowledge into the public sphere; linkage in the sense of providing a space in which cutting-edge social science can be offered as the basis for cutting-edge broadcasting. 

   Remember: (1) the strangest ideas can sometimes be the best ideas; (2) boring ideas will never get you through; and (3) your pitch should be set out on no more than two sides of A4.

Read next: Giving your Total Exposure pitch