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Martin Tanner, 9th October 2025

You rehearsed. You timed it. You built the deck to flow like a story. And then the subject matter expert starts talking.

Not the version you practiced... the version they've been stewing on overnight. Suddenly, they're deep in a technical rabbit hole, referencing material that isn't in the deck, answering questions that weren't supposed to come up until slide 17. The clock's ticking. The client's engaged. And your beautifully structured narrative? It's unravelling.

Now you're making real-time decisions: skip the next two slides? Reframe the close? Hope the client doesn't notice the abrupt pivot?

This is the chaos of pitching with brilliant minds who don't always play by the script. They bring depth, credibility, and energy - but they also bring unpredictability. And when your presentation can't flex, you're stuck choosing between flow and relevance.

The best teams don't just rehearse... they prepare to pivot. They build space for spontaneity. They know that the real pitch often happens in the moments you didn't plan for.