7 reasons why it’s time to retire ‘pitch’ and ‘pitching’

“Pitch” and “pitching” aren’t going away, but they should. They’re so frequently used in agencies, corporations, not-for-profits and organizations that they appear current, reasonable and viable. But they’re not. They should be retired immediately.

Historic usage, prevalence and pithiness shouldn’t supersede relevance or appropriateness. If it did, words like colored, going steady, secretary, sissy, stewardess and mental would still be in circulation today.

Here are seven reasons why we should drop “pitch”:

1. It’s a dated form of PR. We used to craft our “pitches” and try to sell them to busy reporters. Please Walt Mossberg, notice me, listen to what I have to say, and I hope (and pray) you write something. Those days are increasingly over. The world of top-down media dominance has been replaced with a never ending grassroots conversation that’s lively, engaging, empowering and direct to consumer/customer.