Ok, a little secret between you and me: I do stand up.
No, you won’t find a video of me on the internet. No, I’m not going to have my own Netflix special anytime soon.
I’m the comic they put on when you’ve hit the 2 drink minimum. Around 11pm at the open mic.
It is by far the scariest thing I have ever done in my life. I’m a total wreck before and after. Can’t eat, can’t drink. I’m just focused on getting all the jokes out in the right order.
Why would I torture myself? I do stand up and improv to keep my storytelling skills sharp.
You know who understands storytelling better than almost anyone? Stand-up comedians.
They don’t just tell jokes—they build narratives. They introduce characters, create tension, and time their punchlines perfectly.
And guess what? Product managers and innovative leaders like you need to do the same thing.
Relatable Problem: Ever walked into a roadmap meeting and felt like you were losing the room within the first five minutes?
Let me give you a little hard earned advice from a night of dying up there. Just crickets.
Pro Tip: Use the Comedian’s Setup-Punchline Formula to make your product vision land:
- Set the Scene (Setup): Describe the problem in a way that makes the audience feel it.
- Build the Tension: Exaggerate the pain points (not in a fake way, but in a way that highlights their impact).If your culture is more reserved [talking to you, engineers] or the stakes aren’t life or death, don’t pretend they are.
- Deliver the Punchline (Solution): Reveal the product innovation that solves the problem. Don’t focus on every feature. That’s how you lose them; focus on the features that matter to THIS audience. I don’t tell the same joke in Omaha or Berlin as I do in NYC. I gear the punch that will get the biggest reaction specific to this audience.
- Tag the Punchline: Reinforce the benefit with a killer visual or metaphor.
Example:
A PM at a tech startup was pitching a new passwordless login system. Instead of diving into specs, he started with a joke:
“You ever try to reset your password and the site says, ‘Your new password can’t be the same as your last one?’ Like, buddy, if I knew my last one, we wouldn’t be having this conversation!”
That got a laugh. Then, he seamlessly transitioned:
“That’s exactly why we’re eliminating passwords altogether. Our new system lets users authenticate with biometrics, making security seamless, reducing reset requests by 80%, and saving IT teams hundreds of hours per year.”
…Our IT team is now taking vacations in El Paso, Pasadena and even La Paz, Bolivia, because we’re finally over the fear of the password reset.
Result? A room full of engaged execs who got it instantly.
The best product pitches don’t feel like lectures. They feel like stand-up sets—sharp, engaging, and unforgettable.
