Makes: a sendable pitch for speaking, a podcast or press, with its follow-up, and where it goes: the outlet, what they ask for, who to send it to, how, and four steps to send it. Marked used as Sent.
Status: draft. From the Sprint 4 Experience Brief and the Functional Scope (3.2 Pitch Builder), and what the prototype does today. Lines marked Proposed are Claude's, for Kate to confirm. Rules every builder shares are in builders/shared.md; this brief has the same seven sections as the other three.
1. Builder card
| What it makes | A pitch draft; three subject lines; a short version and an expanded version; a one-line angle and why now; a follow-up for when she hears nothing. Above them, where it goes: the outlet, what they are asking for, the contact, how to send it, and Send it in four steps (Kate, 14 Oct). |
| What it is for | Getting her onto a stage, a show or into a publication that the people above her pay attention to. |
| When to use it | When there is a stage, a show or an outlet worth pitching. |
| Use case screen | "A pitch to a conference, a podcast or an editor, with subject lines and the follow-up already drafted." / "Use it when there is a stage or a show the people above you pay attention to." |
One pitch, one history. The follow-up is part of the same artifact, not a separate one, so the Loop shows one pitch with one history.
A pitch is for one place. A pitch with no outlet is only half the job (Kate, 14 Oct). She leaves with the words and with what to do with them: which outlet, what it wants, who receives it, and how to send it.
1.1 How people arrive here
- From an action step whose tool is Pitch Builder:
| Plan | Action step |
|---|---|
| Step Up | 2.1 Choose one relevant visibility channel and create a credible proof-of-value artifact or activity (when the channel is a stage or show) |
| Make Your Mark | 3.2 Send a tailored pitch to one event, podcast or publication on her list |
| Make the Move | 3.1 Prepare the ninety-second version and say it out loud |
| Chart a New Course | 2.2 Talk to people already doing the work in each direction |
- In the prototype's mock plan: "Pitch yourself to a podcast the people above you follow" (arrives with Podcast chosen), "Draft a talk proposal for the leadership forum" (Speaking, the leadership forum), and "Put yourself forward for the Q1 planning review" (Speaking, the Q1 planning review).
- From "What's on your mind?" when what she says names a pitch, podcast, conference, panel, speaking, "a talk", a keynote, press, an editor, a journalist or a call for proposals.
- From the Toolbox or the library, and from her last pitch ("Your last pitch. Start from it instead of a blank page."), which starts a new pitch linked back to it.
1.2 When another builder fits better
Proposed.
- The invitation already came, and she is preparing for the talk → Situation Brief.
- They asked for a bio, not a pitch → Positioning Builder.
- She wants to show her point of view first, so a pitch has something to point to → Thought Leadership Builder.
2. What it knows and what it asks
2.1 What it already has
Shown on the last screen to check, each with where it came from and Edit (the PRD's career direction and plan context):
| Fact | Where it comes from |
|---|---|
| Who it is for ("Marketing and commercial leaders") | Her direction |
| Her role, as she'd say it | Her plan and profile |
| Her positioning statement, as it stands (built out, or as onboarding left it) | Onboarding |
| Her last pitch | Her library, offered as a starting point |
2.2 What it asks
| Question | Short name | Kind | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What are you pitching for? | Pitching for | One choice: Speaking, Podcast, Press | Yes | The first question, on the use case screen. Arrives chosen from an action step. |
| What would you talk about? | Angle | Her words | Yes | "The topic, in a line, as you'd say it to the person deciding." |
| One or two things you can prove | Proof | Her words, long | Yes | "Something you led or delivered. Leave out what you can't share." |
| Who are you pitching? | Who | Her words, or one of ExecHQ's suggestions | Yes (Kate, 14 Oct) | "The event, show or publication." Arrives filled from an action step. Proposed: "Not sure yet" offers up to three that fit her angle and audience, each with one line on why it fits; she picks one. |
| Links or earlier talks | Links | Her words | No | "A post, a recording, a past talk." Goes into the expanded version. |
2.3 Enrichers
None in the prototype. Proposed: "Add a recent talk or post" when Links is empty, since organisers ask for one.
3. The draft
"Here is a first draft of your pitch, with its follow-up. Change anything; it is yours."
3.1 Where it goes
Kate, 14 Oct; the details are Proposed. A card at the top of the draft, above the subject lines, so she reads where it is going before she reads what it says.
| Part | What it says | Where it comes from | When ExecHQ can't find it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlet | The event, show or publication, and the part of it she is pitching (a track, a column, a segment) | Her answer to Who | Never missing: Who is required |
| What they're asking for | The topics they want now, the format and length (a 300-word abstract, a 30-minute slot, a 700-word op-ed), what to include (a bio, a headshot, an outline, past talks), and the deadline or cycle | The outlet's own published guidelines: a call for proposals, a "pitch us" or contributor page, a guest form | "They don't publish what they want. Read three recent [talks / episodes / articles] and pitch the gap." |
| Contact | The route the outlet publishes: a submission form, a pitches address, or a named editor or producer only when the outlet names them | The same page | A question, never a guess: "Who handles guests? Look for a producer on the show's page, or ask someone who has been on it." |
| How to send it | Form or email; which subject line goes in the subject; which version goes where (the short version into the form's summary field, the pitch as the email body); what to attach | Fitted to what they ask for | Email, the pitch as the body, the first subject line |
| Source | A link to the page it came from, and "Checked [date]" | ExecHQ |
Rules:
- ExecHQ looks it up; her guidelines are optional (Kate, 14 Oct). ExecHQ finds the outlet's own pages itself. It may offer "Have their guidelines? Paste them or add the link" to sharpen the card, but the card never waits for them: without them, it is built from what ExecHQ found.
- Published, or a question. Every fact on the card comes from the outlet's own page, linked. ExecHQ never guesses an address, a name or a deadline, and never builds an address from a pattern (firstname@…).
- The draft fits the ask. The pitch follows what they asked for: their length, their format, the topics they named, what to include. Where it can't (a word limit the proof won't fit), the draft says so as a question: "They ask for 150 words. This is 210. What can go?"
- Inside her company (the Q1 planning review, the leadership forum), there is no public page. The card asks her: "Who decides the agenda?" and "How do people usually get on it?"
- Old news says so. A deadline that has passed, or a page checked more than 30 days ago, shows "This may have changed. Check before you send."
3.2 The sections
| Section | What it is for | Her words | ExecHQ's wording | Left as a question when missing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subject lines | Three to choose from | Her angle (the first line) | "A [session / conversation / story] idea for [who]"; "From someone doing the work, not watching it" | What would you talk about? |
| Pitch | The email itself | Her role, her angle, who it is for, her proof | "Hi …, I'm [role], and I'd like to suggest a [session / conversation / story] for [who] on [angle], for [audience]. [proof] It matters now because … I can send a short outline." | Who are you writing to? Why does this matter to [audience] this month? |
| Short version, for a message or a speaker form | One or two lines where space is short | Her angle and the first sentence of her proof | None | What can you prove, in a line? |
| Expanded version | When they want more | Her positioning statement, her links | "About me: … The three points I'd cover: … I can work to your format and length." | Why are you the person to say this? What are the three points you would cover? |
| Angle and why now | The one line to keep in her head | Her angle | "Why now: …" | What makes this timely? |
| Follow-up, if you hear nothing in a week | Sent later, from the same artifact | Her angle | "Hi, following up on my note about … Happy to fit your schedule, or to suggest someone else on my team if the timing is wrong." | None |
Rules for this builder:
- The word matches the kind: a session for speaking, a conversation for a podcast, a story for press.
- Her angle fits the sentence. As the first subject line it keeps its capital; mid-sentence ("…a conversation on how planning…") it doesn't.
- Never invents the person. "Hi" is followed by a question, never a guessed name.
4. Changing it
As the PRD names them: tone (plainer, warmer, more direct), specificity and length, plus emphasis and the conversational follow-up. No audience option: who it is for is an input. Every sentence stays whole:
- Shorter drops "I can send a short outline." and the expanded version's closing line.
- Longer adds "I can also point to [What else can you prove?]", a question, never an invented proof point.
- Emphasis (The angle · The proof · Why now) puts that sentence straight after the greeting; ExecHQ's own sentence there starts with a small letter ("Hi …, it matters now because…").
- Tone and specificity are recorded with the version; the prototype does not rewrite for them (no model).
5. Using it
5.1 Send it in four steps
Kate, 14 Oct; the wording is Proposed. Under the draft, above Copy, numbered, filled in from Where it goes. Each step can be ticked, and ticking them is hers alone: nothing is sent.
- Check it against what they asked for. "[Outlet] wants [format, length] on [topics]. Your pitch is [n] words, on [angle]." Any gap shows here, with the question still open in the draft.
- Get the extras ready. What they ask to include: "Your bio (Positioning Builder has three lengths), a headshot, a link to a past talk." Missing ones link to where she makes them. When they ask for nothing extra, this step says "Nothing to attach."
- Send it their way. The route, spelled out: "Email [address] with the subject line you chose and the pitch as the body", or "Fill in the form at [link]: paste the short version into Summary and the expanded version into Details." Copy buttons sit on each part. Always "Before [deadline]" when there is one.
- Mark it sent, and put the follow-up in your diary. "Mark sent" records where and when; ExecHQ checks back in 5 days and has the follow-up ready for a week from sending.
5.2 Copy, export and the Loop
| Copy | "Copy to send" |
| Export | Download as PDF, Download as Word (Kate, 13 October). The export starts with Where it goes and the four steps, so the file works on its own. |
| Mark ready, then sent | "Mark ready", then "Mark sent", which asks three things, all optional: Sent to (filled with the outlet), Contact (the person the outlet names, else its address or form, from Where it goes; Kate, 14 Oct) and When (today, or an earlier day). Once sent, step 4 says where and to whom: "Sent today to Commercial Leader Quarterly (Dana Okafor, opinion editor, …)". Sending is always hers; ExecHQ never sends. |
| Check back | 5 days after the day she sent it (Proposed) |
| The question | "You sent your pitch for the Q1 planning review on Thursday. What came of it?" "Nothing yet" is the common answer for a pitch, and asks again later. |
| Signal Picture | Once sent, where she sent it and what came of it, under the plan area it serves, tagged with where it went |
| Reuse | "Use as a start" makes a new pitch from this one, with its own Loop record, linked back ("Started from …") |
5.3 After she answers
Her tap is all the feedback: ExecHQ asks nothing more, says her answer back, and always gives the next step (Kate, 13 Oct). One leads, with at most one more. A Plan step goes on her Plan only when she taps Add it to your plan; where a step is already done or passed on, the next step on her Plan takes its place. "Not now" folds it to one line. Built by rules (AFTER_ANSWER in mock/toolbox.ts); no model in the pilot.
| Answer | Next step | Then |
|---|---|---|
| It went well | Prepare for it: a Situation Brief starting from the pitch ("Started from your pitch"; the moment set to Something else, who's there from where she pitched) | Add to plan: Share one result with someone two levels up |
| It was mixed | Pitch the next one: a new pitch starting from this one | Next on your plan |
| Not the way I hoped | Try another stage: a new pitch starting from this one, with a different angle | Add to plan: Draft a talk proposal for the leadership forum |
| Nothing yet | Send the follow-up: copies the follow-up already in the pitch | "ExecHQ will ask again on …" |
| It's no longer relevant | Closed. Next on your plan |
6. How the agent behaves here
Proposed, all of this section. It adds to the rules every builder shares (builders/shared.md, section 8) and keeps the four guardrails (section 9).
- Short. A pitch someone reads in ten seconds. The expanded version is where detail goes.
- Their audience, not hers. Why now is about the outlet's audience this month, not her career.
- Proof she gave, nothing more. It never inflates a title, a team size or a result.
- One pitch at a time. It never suggests sending the same pitch to several outlets at once.
- Their rules, not a template. It writes to the outlet's stated length, format and topics, and says plainly when what they ask for doesn't fit what she has.
- Sourced or asked. Every outlet detail links to the page it came from. A contact the outlet doesn't publish is a question to her, never a guess.
- "Nothing yet" is expected. It never treats an unanswered pitch as a failure, and suggests the follow-up only after a week.
7. Open questions
- Check-back days. 5 days after sending is proposed. The follow-up section says "if you hear nothing in a week". Should the check-back match, at 7?
- Audience. It comes from her direction, shown to check. Should it be asked instead, since an outlet's audience can differ from hers?
- The ninety-second version (Make the Move 3.1) is something she says, not sends. Is Pitch Builder the right tool for it, or the Situation Brief?
- Talking to people in a new direction (Chart a New Course 2.2) is an outreach note, not a pitch. Is Pitch Builder the right tool, or does it need its own type?
- "About me". The expanded version quotes her positioning statement, which for many people says where they are headed rather than why they are the one to speak. Use her short bio there instead, once it exists?
- Looking outlets up. Decided (Kate, 14 Oct): ExecHQ looks the outlet up itself, and may ask for her guidelines, but never needs them (section 3.1). This is the one place V1 reads something she didn't type: public pages about the outlet, never anything about her.
- Suggesting outlets. "Not sure yet" offers up to three outlets. Where does that list come from: a list ExecHQ keeps by audience and plan area, or a look-up each time?
- Named editors. Even when an outlet names an editor or producer on its own page, should ExecHQ show the name, or only the published route (the form, the pitches address)?