Pitching for new business - whether it's a one-on-one conversation or a full-blown presentation to a packed boardroom - can sometimes leave even the sharpest operators feeling off their game.

We've all seen it on Dragons’ Den: confident, passionate, intelligent entrepreneurs walk in with a game-changing idea and walk out empty-handed. Why? They fall apart under pressure.

So what’s going on here?

You’re not stupid. You’re not underprepared. You’re not incapable. You’re just human. And that means you’re hardwired with natural biological responses to high-stress moments. Fight, flight, or freeze. It’s built into your system. It helped keep your ancestors alive when they were being chased by sabretooth tigers or fending off rival tribes. But in the world of modern business? Those instincts are your enemy.

You can’t pitch effectively if your body thinks you’re in danger.

When you start to sweat, your heart rate climbs, your breathing shortens, and your thoughts start to scatter - it’s not weakness. It’s biology. Your nervous system has hijacked your performance. And in that state, even the best idea in the world can fall flat.

So what’s the solution?

Control your state.

State control is one of the most critical, under-rated skills in business, and it’s no surprise that it’s also one of the highest priorities for NASA when selecting astronauts.

Think about that for a moment. Imagine floating in the black vacuum of space, outside a spacecraft, with only a suit separating you from certain death. One wrong move, one misstep, and you’re tumbling away from the station, spiralling at thousands of miles per hour toward Earth with no safety net.

Now that’s pressure.

And yet astronauts are trained to remain completely calm. Why? Because panic kills. They’re drilled to control their breathing, manage their emotions, stay focused, and execute, no matter what’s going on around them.

This isn’t just about space. This is the key to performing under pressure anywhere - on Earth, in the boardroom, or during your next big pitch.

Train Your Brain Like a Pro

So how exactly do we train ourselves to control our state and perform under pressure?

It starts with creating a new mental default, in which you associate pitching with confidence, calm, and control. And it all begins with a simple but powerful technique: visualisation.

Here’s how it works.

Step 1: Breathe.
Before anything else, slow your system down. Take a deep breath. Hold it for four seconds. Exhale slowly. Do this three times. This simple act brings your nervous system back into balance.

Step 2: Visualise.
Now picture yourself in a giant movie theatre. You’ve got front-row seats in a luxury recliner. The theatre is dark except for the enormous screen in front of you. On that screen? You.

You’re watching yourself give the exact pitch you’re preparing for. You look sharp, sound confident, and your energy is calm and composed. You’re delivering every line with poise, clarity, and charisma.

Notice your face. You’re smiling. You’re relaxed. You’re in control.

Now bring colour to that image - bright, vibrant, glowing light surrounding you. Make that light richer, deeper and more vivid with every breath. That glow represents your confidence, your energy and your authority.

Now feel yourself being pulled into the scene.

Float out of your seat, up into the air, and into that screen. Merge with the confident version of yourself. Now you’re in the pitch. You’re the one standing tall, speaking clearly, commanding the room. That coloured glow is all around you, through you.

Look out into the audience. The room is packed, every seat filled with people hanging on your every word. They’re nodding, they’re focused, they’re engaged.

You are the star of the show.

Hold that energy. Lock it in.

Now breathe in deeply three more times and slowly return to the present. This isn’t woo-woo - it’s high-performance mindset training used by elite athletes, special forces, and even astronauts. Do it often enough, and your subconscious will start aligning your real-world behaviour with that powerful, confident version of you.

This is mental programming at its finest.

Layer It with Real Sales Strategy

Now let’s add the human element - connection, honesty, and trust. This is where sales becomes real.

My good friend and colleague, Nathan Siekierski, has sold hundreds of millions of pounds worth of products and services and trained an army of top-performing salespeople. He’s a master of state control and believes in combining it with radical transparency.

Here’s one of his favourite openers. Use it next time you’re pitching:

“I 100% want you as a customer—I mean that.

“And more than that, I want you to never stop being a customer and to spend the maximum amount of money you can with me. I’m just being straight.

“But in order for me to make that happen, I need to figure out if I can give you the maximum value possible that you want -  so I’m going to have to ask you quite a few questions to better understand what you want and need?”

Does that sounds reasonable?

This opener is a breath of fresh air. It’s bold, honest, and instantly removes the “salesperson mask.” It makes people lean in, not lean away.

Nathan says:

“People can sense hesitation. They can feel when you don’t believe in what you’re saying. Or worse - they sense when you’re hiding the fact that you’re trying to sell. So stop pretending. Call out the elephant in the room. Set the tone. Declare your intent. Then take control and get agreement. That’s how you own the pitch from the first second.”

Confidence + Discipline = State

At the end of the day, your pitch doesn’t hinge on your slides, your script, or even your product. It hinges on your state.

To control your state, you need two key ingredients:

1. Confidence
2. Discipline

Confidence comes from belief and preparation. Discipline comes from routine, focus, and reps. Combine both and you can walk into any room and pitch under pressure, deliver under stress, and close deals with clarity.

Because when you're in control of your state, you're in control of the room.

Aaron Surtees is a mindset specialist, clinical hypnotherapist and author of Subconsciously: Powerful Stories of Lives Changed through Hypnotherapy and How You Can Do the Same, out now.