Who are they?
Getting your manager on board first is a good starting point. Whoever you talk to first, tailor your pitch so it is as relevant and compelling as possible.
Learn how to effectively communicate and present circular economy ideas. The circular economy offers a real opportunity to improve the way that you and your colleagues do things. Here are some tips from people who have implemented circular economy thinking and principles into their organisations.
Pioneering advocates of the circular economy have shared how they succeeded in engaging their colleagues and initiating circular ideas. It’s worth using these examples as a guide to plan your pitch in advance.
Explore the three key steps below, which offer guidance on how to successfully pitch your circular economy ideas.
You can also download the ‘Make a successful circular economy pitch’ worksheet and use it to prepare.
To prepare your pitch, start by thinking about who you want to influence. It is useful to name who they are and explore their objectives, priorities, and motivations.
Different people will have different priorities. These will directly correspond to the functional area they represent in the organisation.
Explore the infographic below to see what items are likely to be on the agenda for senior management, operations, procurement, innovation, and marketing functions.
The next step in preparing your pitch is to think about internal and external context within and outside your organisation.
The third step in preparing your pitch is to articulate a potential circular economy idea you want to establish in your organisation. Ask yourself, what it is you want to implement, practically?
Many companies, both large and small, across many different industry sectors, have adopted circular approaches. Here are just some of the reasons why.
Read through the benefits and see if you can highlight some of them in your pitch.
There are some fascinating facts that brilliantly illustrate the shortcomings of the current economic system and outline the opportunities for new value creation for businesses. They could be weaved into the story to illustrate how your company could benefit from a circular economy or why it needs to change.
There are many examples of how circular economy has opened up great opportunities for personal, professional, and business growth. Watch three circular economy champions share their success stories about how they came up with a circular economy pilot idea, pitched it in their organisations, and achieved scalable results.
The circular economy is often interpreted in a variety of ways by different people. This could lead to various misconceptions which you may encounter from your peers and colleagues during your pitch.
As a way of addressing these misconceptions, it is useful to keep in mind that objecting to or contradicting these ideas may only agitate the conversation. We always suggest to use a “‘yes, and…” approach, which is about expanding and building on the ideas presented.
Read through the article below in which Ken Webster, the former Head of Innovation at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, addresses some common misconceptions about the circular economy.
So you have considered your audience, organisational context, and formulated your circular offering. You have chosen some interesting facts to weave into your pitch and prepared to counter misconceptions.
Now, all you have to do is to bring it all together by considering its structure. Keeping it simple, not throwing rocks at the current system, and embracing the unknown are further useful tips for you to keep in mind.
We asked our colleague Ashima, Government & Cities Lead, to help us put together and then present a circular economy pitch incorporating the ideas above.
Take a moment to reflect on the following questions:
What ideas are coming to you about how to bring circular economy into your organisation?
Who are the right people to talk to?
When could you present your circular economy ideas to them?
What pilot projects could you start?
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