This is Mike Patton. He’s the lead singer of Faith No More, as well as about 16 million other bands. He has an 8-octave range which runs the spectrum from baritone crooning to ear-splitting shrieks. He can often be found climbing up onstage rigging, trying to destroy camera drones with his microphone lead, or attempting front flips mid-scream. He also made the zombie noises in I Am Legend.

This is Oren Klaff. A Silicon-valley dealmaker. A slick, very American operator who regularly raises a huge amount of money by pitching to venture capitalists (which is probably also the name of a band Mike Patton is in). He very rarely does front flips, but has some great suits.

These two people would not get on.
But what have they got in common?

The clue is to be found on tour with Guns N Roses in 1992. Faith No More were supporting them, and it wasn’t going that well. The audiences tended to want The Axl Rose Show, not 45 minutes of a weird metal band banging out Burt Bacharach covers. Things came to a head in Brazil, where the irate audience started hurling their shoes at Faith No More. Followed shortly by bottles of urine.

I’ll be honest. If I was Mike, I’d have gone home. He didn’t though. He simply picked up one of the many shoes and held it aloft. He then grabbed a bottle of urine, poured it into the shoe and then slowly tipped it over his own head. As if by magic the crowd turned. He had taken their game and proved it meaningless. He had asserted a weird form of dominance to the audience - I don’t care what you’re doing. I’m on a totally different level.

He had established Frame Control - a principle made popular by Oren Klaff in his book Pitch Anything.

Frame Control

Klaff worked with a team of neuroscientists to understand the way the brain responds to pitches. One of the ideas he explores in detail is that of “frames”. According to Klaff everyone views the world through their frame - a perspective made up of their experience, their outlook and their standing in the eyes of others. When two people meet their frames clash and the stronger frame subsumes the weaker: this is “Frame Control”.

When you are responding ineffectively to things the other person is saying or doing, they own the frame - you are frame controlled.
If you have to explain your authority, power, position, advantage, you do not hold the stronger frame.
Weak arguments and logic bounce off strong frames.

Think of meeting a celebrity. A good one, not the one you’re thinking of. They spend their life being revered and treated well - so that’s how they expect you to behave. And so assured are they in this frame that when you meet them, it subsumes you - you treat them as they’re naturally expecting to be treated.

The same goes for CEOs, CTOs, FDs - key decision makers you might be pitching or presenting to. They hold the keys to the kingdom. You’re begging for scraps from their table, along with countless others. You’re pitching to them and you can just tell they’re thinking about dinner. How do you shake them out of their delicious reverie and make a real-world impression?

Sometimes you have to drink the wee from the shoe.

You drink the wee from the shoe. Sort of.

The thing about “power frames” is they can be weakened and disrupted by “small, friendly acts of defiance”. In the book Klaff recounts the time he helped himself to the apple of a big-shot investor who wasn’t engaging with him. These little acts of rebellion force a re-evaluation of the power dynamic. They wake people up. It’s basically negging, but for business.

So how can you use frame control to have more impact in pitches?

One of the key ways Klaff outlines is to use “prizing” - positioning yourself as someone the client would be lucky to work with. In short it reduces your neediness and plays on people’s propensity to chase an opportunity that seems to be getting away.

He also explores how to gain status (although finds it very hard to stay away from the term “alpha”). The first thing to note is that status is situational. You might be the CEO of a huge bank, but when you motor off on your yacht, the captain is in charge. Or, still being a CEO, you might be wining and dining some clients in a luxury restaurant and find yourself feeling stupid and tongue tied in front of a debonair sommelier. Therefore, when negotiating with or pitching to someone of high status it’s important to bring the conversation quickly to the area in which you’re the expert (in a subtle way, don’t just start yelling about Oasis B-sides).

A couple of other things to note are how to regain control when a pitch starts to go sideways - especially when you’re trying to do a bit of storytelling and some nerd keeps getting hung up on digging down into the details, completely killing your momentum. According to Klaff, you’ve been hit with the “Analyst Frame” and you need to respond by building intrigue with a story or metaphor. The idea is narrative and analytic information cannot coexist, so replace analytic discourse with storytelling.

Although it’s flawed in some ways (and cliched in others), there’s a lot to be said for the idea of playfully disrupting established dynamics if you want to make an impact.

It’s something I’d often have to use as an MC at rowdier comedy nights. A particularly enthusiastic heckler or drunk stag party carry a pretty strong frame: I’m the centre of attention and this night will be about me. As MC, my role would often be to subsume their frame to mine - this is everybody’s night equally and we’re all going to get along and have a good time. But I’m in charge. Sometimes that would be subtle (invite the stag to stand up, get everyone to give him a round of applause and full attention for 30 seconds, tell him to sit down again and move on), sometimes less subtle (pick on the key disrupter and forensically make them look like a dick).

Sometimes of course it would backfire spectacularly, but that’s another blog.

In the professional world, Klaff suggests getting comfortable with frame control by starting small and initiating tiny “frame collisions” in a good-natured spirit whenever possible.
I’d just advise staying away from Guns N Roses fans until you’re an expert.

Need to improve your ability to pitch in difficult circumstances? Get in touch today: toby@dropthemic.co.uk

Frame Control: The Dirty Little Secret to Acing Tough Pitches

Frame Control

So how can you use frame control to have more impact in pitches?

Drop The Mic