The Jericho

As Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark in the first Iron Man movie, the scene above displays one of the most effective and straight-to-the-point sales pitches I have ever seen. Let me explain…

First, his sales pitch is about 40 seconds, according to the video, being concise and not missing any of the important information about the product and why it’s different than other current products. In that setting, those military officers didn’t come to listen to his pitch about the missile system. They came to see the missile system in action. That leads to the second point about his pitch.

Mr. Stark clearly understands that the military officers want to see the missile system blow stuff up so that means give a demonstration of the product, which he does. In his few moments of speaking, he explains why this weapon will make you superior and the more dominant force, appealing to the nature of the audience, and then demonstrating the power of the product. The demonstration literally blew their hats off.

Last, the use of tone by Mr. Stark matches the tone of his audience. In doing this, it definitely gave him more credibility, displayed a sense of confidence in his product, and ended his pitch in a memorable yet motivating way that left the product to do the rest of the talking. His use of voice fluctuation gave him a demanding and authoritative role when speaking, commanding the attention of his audience.