Pitch Your Potential

VICKI JOHNSON, PHD, is a speaker, author, and four-time fellowship winner who helps ambitious professionals achieve elite opportunities. She is the founder of ProFellow, the leading U.S. platform for competitive fellowships, graduate programs, and leadership accelerators, read by more than nine million people globally. As a sought-after speaker and coach, Vicki teaches storytelling strategies that have helped ProFellow members secure more than $500 million in merit-based funding awards. Pitch Your Potential is her first book and serves as an in-depth guide to her breakthrough MATCH ME Formula®, representing the seven elements of a winning application. Vicki invites you to connect with her at www.DrVickiJohnson.com.

• Introduction xiChapter 1 Build Your Winner’s Mindset: Prepare with Confidence, Compete Without Fear 1Embrace Your Fear of Failure and Rejection 8Negate the Impact of Gatekeepers 12Deliberate Gatekeeping 12Well- Intentioned Gatekeeping 14Listen to Guides, Not Gatekeepers 16Lower Your Fear of Comparison 19Develop Your Winner’s Mindset 22It’s Not a Numbers Game 22The Advantage of Authentic Desire 23Writing a Compelling Personal Pitch 25Your Winning Application Story 26The match me Formula® 28Key Takeaways 30How to Use This Book 31Chapter 2 Become Memorable: Stick in the Minds of the Selection Committee 33Why Being Memorable Matters 35Five Factors of Positive Memorability 37Get a Referral from a Mutual Contact 39Make a Self- Introduction to a Selector 43Propose a Memorable Idea 48Use Memorable Anecdotes from Your Life 51Start Practicing 54Key Takeaways 55Your Turn 56Chapter 3 Align Your Mission with Theirs: Win Trust by Championing Their Cause 57Why Mission Alignment Matters 61What the Organization’s Mission Is 63What the Organization’s Mission Is Not 64How to Demonstrate Mission Alignment 65Research the Organization’s Mission 66Define Your Personal Mission 73Show Mission Alignment 76Your Personal Mission Is a Journey, Not a Destination 79Key Takeaways 80Your Turn 81Chapter 4 Make Your Goals Timely: Prove Your Impact Can’t Wait 83Why Timeliness Matters 85Demonstrate Timeliness by Incorporating Current Events 86Demonstrate Timeliness Through Urgency 92Key Takeaways 96Your Turn 96Chapter 5 Capitalize on the Organization’s Unique Benefits: Turn Their Brag Points into Your Bonus Points 97Why Capitalizing on the Organization’s Unique Benefits Matters 101How to Find the Organization’s Unique Benefits 103Ways to Capitalize on the Organization’s Unique Benefits 106Make the Organization the “Hero” of Your Application Story 110Key Takeaways 117Your Turn 118Chapter 6 Be Highly Specific: Use Detail That Captivates Selectors 119Why Specificity and Detail Matter 124Replace Platitudes and Jargon 125Adding Words for Greater Specificity 127Removing Words for Greater Specificity 128Create a Highly Specific Career Goal 129The Match me Career Goal 130When You Don’t Have a Specific Career Goal 135Proposing Highly Specific Projects 136Obtain Highly Specific References 140Key Takeaways 142Your Turn 143Chapter 7 Make Your Pitch Mutually Beneficial: Show How You Win When They Win 145Why Mutual Benefit Matters 150How to Express Your Personal Needs 152Define Your Need for Financial Benefits 153Express Your Need for Educational Benefits 157Show Your Need for Network Benefits 158Paying the Benefits Forward 161Key Takeaways 163Your Turn 164Chapter 8 Master Elegance: Balance Your Tone with Self- Confidence and Humility 165What Elegance Is and Why It Matters 169How a Winner’s Mindset Creates Elegance 171Nix Calling Yourself the “Best” Candidate 173Recognize That Accomplishments Are Evidence, Not Self- Praise 175Have Empathy for Your Selectors 177Key Takeaways 179Your Turn 179Chapter 9 Apply the MATCH ME Formula®: Put the Full Formula to Work in Your Pitch 181How to Create Your Winning Application Story 184Three Frameworks to Help You Apply the match me Formula® 187A match me formula® cover letter 188A match me formula® personal statement 192Match me formula® interview prep 200Guiding questions to apply the match me formula® 206We believe in you 207References 209Work with Me 213Acknowledgments 215About the Author 219Index 221