According to Mike Lipkin, pitching your startup or project isn’t all that different from competing in an Olympic sprint or high jump — both require years of preparation, and both determine your success in a matter of minutes. How you prepare for, and how you deliver your performance can be just as important as what you are presenting.

We sat down this week with the speaker, author, motivator and President of Environics/Lipkin to learn about the ideas he will be sharing at his ResolveTO talk in January.

“I’m going to very much talk about the how. The how as it relates to communication, the how as it relates to packaging, and most importantly, the how as it relates to bringing your best message in those clutch moments where you’ve got 5 or 10 minutes sometimes in which to win or not win. And all the years that you’ve spent preparing for that moment and anything that follows is going to be a function of how well you do in those 5 to 10 minutes.”

Mike pairs decades of high level management and coaching with Environics research insights to bring a unique perspective on what it takes to thrive in today’s business environment. Lipkin’s upcoming book is a hands-on guide to presenting your business, project or idea to C-Suite decision makers.

Mike answers our five questions:

What are you working on right now that you are really excited about?

I am working on a new book and program on “speaking truth to power”. This is what I will talk about at ResolveTO. It’s about how to communicate with people at the C-Level in such a way that they choose you as their preferred partner.

Was there a pivotal moment or decision that set you on the path to your current career?

I was asked by a client to share my insights with her team in return for a fee. I realized that I could make a living by talking about my passion: sales, leadership and marketing.

If you could give one piece of advice to a tiny, freshly-minted startup, what would it be?

No matter how small you are, communicate your offering like it’s a smash hit in advance. Enable your prospects and stakeholders to see its impact and power in advance. Radiate a powerful confidence even if you feel the inevitable fear of launching something that is daring and new.

What can legacy organizations learn from startups to keep up with the fast pace of innovation required in today’s economy?

The desire to reinvent the existing status quo and the energy that comes from being always-new. All-in Engagement is the secret sauce of champions.

What do you foresee as the biggest tech innovation to impact business in 2017?

It will be the evolution of “PA — Predictive Anticipation.” Smart technology will evolve into increasingly sentient technology that anticipates our needs, senses/calculates context, predicts outcomes and suggests ways of getting there. This will combine with technology that enables us to consume products and services seamlessly — we’ll go in stores and “shoplift” legally as RFID enables us to pay automatically. Tech will also enable us to focus by curating the information we want and blocking the rest. It will remind us to focus on the things most important to us and interrupt our negative thinking with empowering thoughts and vision.

See Mike Lipkin’s talk How to pitch your promise like a champion at at ResolveTO at 11:20 AM on Jan 27th.