Was talking with one of our assistants who has a pitch to prepare for and gave him some advice that he found helpful so I figured I'd share it here in case anyone else did:

(All Twitter caveats apply that this is what has worked for me but you have to find what works for you.)

1) Biggest mistake writers make when pitching is getting bogged down in details. Think about it like a great movie you saw recently that you're telling a friend about. You don't describe every scene. You talk about a great opening, main characters, big moments and the end.

2) People respond to passion. If you're reading from pages that disconnects you. It's okay to have them there for comfort but the more you can tell someone a story and look in their eyes and engage them, the better.

3) The people listening to the pitch are buying your story AND the experience of working with you. In other words, the more comfortable they are with you, the better. You're a smart, funny, engaging writer, don't be afraid to show that.

4) The more prepared you are to talk about your story in a free-form way the better. Some people ask questions, sometimes expected, sometimes from out of left field. Know your story in and out and be ready to engage those questions on the fly without losing your flow.

5) The goal isn't to pre-answer any question they might have, the goal is to have them be engaged. Different people will want to dig in on different areas. Let their questions help shape what you choose to focus on.

6) A meta question behind every pitch is "Why am I the one to tell this story?" If you can, start the pitch there by giving that understanding of your personal connection to your story upfront, which also gives the listener a personal connection to you.

7) You should know a lot more outside the boundaries of what you plan to pitch. Mastery of your story is the thing you have that they don't, and when they ask a random question that you have a smart answer for it gives them confidence in you.

8) Some pitches have kind of a rolling start, some start entirely flat-footed "So, what have you got for us?" You won't know which it'll be, be prepared for both.

9) Anxiety is natural. My writing partner and I have sold many pitches, I'm still nervous every time. The moment that anxiety switches to positive energy (for me) is right before the pitch when I just think about how excited I am to tell this story because I love it.

10) If at the end of the pitch they say "Well told" or some variant, it's highly likely that you didn't sell it. There could be a million reason for that, including that they have something like it. But those people will welcome a future pitch from you, you'll get 'em next time.

Okay, that's all I can think of for now. Hope it helps.

(By the way, most of this applies to TV and Film, but you pitch them both a little differently because one you're explaining why you can make 100 of these and the other is a one-time story.)

I keep getting random likes for this thread. Pitching season is pretty much year round now.

@JoseMolinaTV, Pick one!