Even the most innovative ideas are interpreted as boring if they are presented in obvious ways. Your pitch needs to be as clever as the concept you are presenting if you want people to buy into it. To get your audience to buy into your idea, there are a few hacks you can try to shift the odds in your favor.

• Start with the setup of the room you’re presenting in. Having your colleagues sit around a conference table signals to them that they are there to judge your idea — not nurture it. Lose the table, or hold your meeting in a space where there’s no separation between you and your colleagues.
• Shift your language. Tell your meeting attendees that they can only respond to ideas with “yes, and.” Instead of shooting down a proposal for a 90-day free trial, for example, the team will be forced to water that seed and grow the idea.
• If you want your idea to feel as real to your audience as it does to you, you’ll need to prepare a pitch that brings every type of learner into the fold. Some of your colleagues might prefer visuals while others prefer listening or interacting.
• The easiest way to do this is to give people several entry points into the concept you are pitching. If you share your idea in a few different ways, at least one of them is likely to resonate.