5 Tips from professional pitchers

Batter Up – No, how about Pitcher Up

The grass has been cut once, the birds are singing, so it must be baseball season. And that makes me wonder, what sets a professional pitcher ahead of the pack: how about speed, precision and the ability to remain cool under pressure?
Great pitchers also are renowned for control. They deliver the perfect pitch to each target (most of the time) based on their knowledge of how the hitter hits and the overall strategy of the game. They practice daily. I’ve never heard of any pitcher or any professional performer of any kind, that doesn’t practice daily. This means that no matter how good they might be at what they do, they know that they need to keep their skills fresh and keep the body attuned to what makes it feel natural.
This is a simple summary of some deeply valuable lessons that apply to how we pitch our work to others. So in the spirit of the season let me use this as an opening day kind of entry.

When we prepare our pitch we need to keep these five simple points in mind.

1) Know your strengths and make them count or be who you really are and make sure you make the most of that.

2) Know your target: Be prepared before you open your mouth. Do your research and be alert to the response you get.

3) Stay centered: If your opener doesn’t work exactly right, settle yourself and try again, perhaps something different, perhaps the same thing, but from a different place. Take a moment to focus inward and collect yourself.

4) Practice. Practice everyday. Practice what you are good at, practice what you’d like to be better at. Practice alone, practice with others. Practice when things are going well. Practice when things aren’t going well.

5) Don’t wait until everything is perfect before you play the game. Get out there and start talking to people.

More on these topics and others to come.