Aw shucks is, appropriately enough, often underestimated as a sales and negotiation style. It can be authoritative when combined with clear positions, for an effective soft sell.
I hate arrogance. I even hate when I'm arrogant :)
One of the most effective techniques i've ever used is to disarm people. The aw-shucks approach is part of a greater strategy - which is to show you know your shit but are easy to work with. A lot of brilliant people, create brilliant things but are adversarial and hard to work with or negotiate with. If you come up with the approach "hey, i built this cool thing, i think i can do X and i know i can do Y with it, what do you think?" and reposition the pitch as a question, if done properly, people will have no choice but to agree with you and that's a step in the right direction. Of course, you need to follow it up with confidence and direction.
An example: So I built this cool widget that earns a $20 CPM on facebook pages. Think its useful? You do, really, me too, It was a total accident but it works and i think i can build an ad network. they seem to be hot. They are, well, i did build one in the past and and know a lot of the advertisers. here's how i think i can grow it, what do you think?
Notice, how every time i made a statement, i posed it as a question. This way your audience gets involved and the odds are they are not as expert as you are and will likely say yes to you and now you have their attention.
Going forward on this approach, transparency is king and can be used to your advantage. For example, say you are an illiquid entrepreneur and your goal is X and you know its worth Y but can use their help. So often, entrepreneurs come off arrogant to investors and try to play the wrong hand (if you have the money you wouldn't be pitching, so why not be honest about it?) and end up not getting a term sheet because they made "demands" rather than explained a situation. Of course this is an oversimplification but again the goal is simplicity in approach.
Lay your cards on the table and go all in. What do you have to lose?
The Anti-Arrogance
I hate arrogance. I even hate when I'm arrogant :)
One of the most effective techniques i've ever used is to disarm people. The aw-shucks approach is part of a greater strategy - which is to show you know your shit but are easy to work with. A lot of brilliant people, create brilliant things but are adversarial and hard to work with or negotiate with. If you come up with the approach "hey, i built this cool thing, i think i can do X and i know i can do Y with it, what do you think?" and reposition the pitch as a question, if done properly, people will have no choice but to agree with you and that's a step in the right direction. Of course, you need to follow it up with confidence and direction.
An example: So I built this cool widget that earns a $20 CPM on facebook pages. Think its useful? You do, really, me too, It was a total accident but it works and i think i can build an ad network. they seem to be hot. They are, well, i did build one in the past and and know a lot of the advertisers. here's how i think i can grow it, what do you think?
Notice, how every time i made a statement, i posed it as a question. This way your audience gets involved and the odds are they are not as expert as you are and will likely say yes to you and now you have their attention.
Going forward on this approach, transparency is king and can be used to your advantage. For example, say you are an illiquid entrepreneur and your goal is X and you know its worth Y but can use their help. So often, entrepreneurs come off arrogant to investors and try to play the wrong hand (if you have the money you wouldn't be pitching, so why not be honest about it?) and end up not getting a term sheet because they made "demands" rather than explained a situation. Of course this is an oversimplification but again the goal is simplicity in approach.
Lay your cards on the table and go all in. What do you have to lose?
Richie, http://www.bootstrapper.com