There’s an old rule that all salespeople – or at least all successful salespeople – follow.
In any sales pitch, the key is to lay out your best case, describe the product with enthusiasm and infectious confidence, explain clearly and carefully why it’s the best thing around, and then … well, then comes the hard part.
You have to shut up. Because as every good salesperson knows, after the pitch has wound up, the next person who speaks is in the weaker position.
But that takes nerve, of course.
No one likes silence. And there’s always the temptation, after the big finish, to add just one more thing.
The power calculus is simple: if the salesperson pipes up after the awkward silence, it signals desperation and a lack of confidence. But if the buyer speaks up – to ask a question about the product, or for a bit of clarity on some feature – then the relationship has shifted in a subtle way, and in the salesperson’s favour.
This is a universal truth except in the one place where universal truths are turned on their head, which is the entertainment business.
Here in Hollywood, the one who talks first – whether he or she makes any sense or not – often becomes the de facto and unconscious leader.
Out here, being talkative and forthcoming are power tactics.
The production of a television show or movie kicks off with what we call a “table reading” of a script, when the actors, director and the executives gather around a conference table to read the script aloud and collect suggestions for necessary changes.
The moment the reading comes to an end, the actors shuffle out, the writers are left in a huddle, the executives gather in a quiet place to share their thoughts, and in a few minutes the groups reunite for a notes session, which like pretty much everything else in the world, begins with an awkward silence.
What the writer does – because writers almost always have the wrong instinct in these things – is wait for the other side to start.
But in Hollywood – unlike more dignified industries like insurance sales and internet email scams – the person who talks first always has the upper hand.
So the best thing for the writer to do – and something that very few do – is start the conversation by suggesting what changes to the script the writing team wants to make.
That’s the power move.
In the entertainment business, the idea is to create a kind of wall-to-wall bed of sound that emanates only from your mouth, to fill the space with your own personal soundwaves, to drown out any other contributors.
This makes sense, when you think about it. If you’re trying to sell someone a pair of shoes, your sole metric for success is, did they buy a pair of shoes?
But in Hollywood – and possibly in other businesses, too – more often than not, what you’re selling is yourself.
So the smart play is to keep talking, as long as possible, until everyone else in the room is so exhausted from listening to you that they have no choice but to either leave you alone or promote you.
“You like to talk first, don’t you?” a young studio executive asked me once. “After the readings and run-throughs?”
“What are you talking about?” I lied. “I have no idea what you mean.”
“Yes, you do,” the young executive insisted.
“After the reading, when we all look at each other, you jump right in. At first we at the studio thought it was kind of obnoxious.”
“I am just absolutely not following you,” I lied again.
He smirked at me for a bit as I continued to pretend not to understand him.
“Well,” I said, “I’m not saying it’s a strategy. But say, for a moment, that it is. I’ll bet it would work in other places, too – like studio executive meetings.
“When your boss says ‘give me your opinion on this script’ and you all look at each other and wait for the other person to make that first scary commitment, maybe it’s smart to just go ahead and start talking.
“Don’t play politics or try to guess what the boss, just go ahead and dive in.”
“That would be insane,” the young studio executive told me.
“Why?” I asked. “What’s the worst that could happen?”
“I would get fired,” he said.
“Oh come on,” I said. “This business isn’t that shallow and fearful.”
Which, as it turned out was wrong, because a few weeks ago the young studio executive was, in fact, given the sack. No one came out and said why, specifically, but it was hinted darkly that he talked too much and clashed too often with his boss.
Not sure where he is now, but I hope it’s in shoe sales. He has the right instincts for that kind of work. Or had, anyway, before he took career advice from me.
Rob Long is a writer and producer based in Hollywood
On Twitter: @rcbl