It’s a question many of us heard as kids on the playground. The school bully wanted to make us feel small so he (or she) belittled us by challenging us to tell them, and everyone, why we were special. I don’t know about you, but I never seemed to have the answer back then. But I do now.
And you need to as well. No no, not about you personally. If you’re an emotionally aware guy or a girl who loves to watch sports and eat chips straight outta the bag that’s great, but it’s not what I’m talking about right now.
I’m talking about what makes you and your show special. What is it that separates your show from the others in your genre? What makes it stand out from the crowd?
What’s different about your kids show? What could your cooking show possibly do that hasn’t been done? How is your travel show going to be fresh?
Is it the stories? The on camera talent? The setting? The viewpoint?
You must know this difference, and attack it. There are a million true crime shows out there, and they keep making more. Why? Because people keep coming up with new angles and perspectives to tell the same stories from.
This is a weapon that you must use not only in your pitch, but in the foundation of your show. It must be woven into the fabric of it, because that is your selling point.
Once you have identified this difference you build your show out and up from there. Your pitch materials, and the pitches themselves must highlight this difference to ensure that your show isn’t lost in the myriad of other shows that people are trying to get made.
If you know the answer to what makes your show special when an executive asks, “So what’s your show about?”, it’s the greatest feeling in the world, but, if you don’t know? Chances are you’ll feel like a kid in the schoolyard, stammering to try to come up with something intelligent to say.