re you pink or blue? This was the first question posed by senior and self-proclaimed feminist Sarah Steinmetz during her April 9 presentation on “Pitch like a Girl: How a Woman can be Herself and Still Succeed,” a book written by Ronna Lichtenberg. The overall theme of the book appeared to be not only that of empowering women to effectively function within the workplace, but also of teaching them how to most easily reach their career-based goals.

After defining “pitching” as getting the attention of investors, expressing an idea and/or asking for a raise or promotion, Steinmetz passed out a 15-question quiz to help attendees discover which color category they fell under, blue or pink. The yes-or-no questionnaire focused on students’ behavior when interacting with others in both professional and social settings.

Steinmetz explained that students who answered “yes” to the majority of “pink” questions typically want to connect with people on a personal level before doing business and enjoy publicly expressing themselves. Students who were categorized as “blue” tend to focus on getting their work done, are proud of their credentials and dress conservatively. This exercise was completed to show the audience how to look for personality-disclosing signs given off by employers and therefore know how to better communicate with them when pitching an idea or project.

According to the book, there are three things that hold women back in the workplace: biology, stereotypes and negative self-beliefs. Biology affects women because they are naturally more likely to value a relationship than men. Stereotypes can also easily contribute to negative self-beliefs because they can affect how women view the world, how they believe they should act within that setting and therefore how others believe they should behave as well. The specific stereotypes that Steinmetz mentioned were that a good woman is always modest, feminine, patient and polite and always puts the needs of others before her own.

After explaining the workplace handicaps that women face, Steinmetz turned to some of the advantages that they can have over men. These included the more natural abilities to multitask, effectively communicate, pick up on nonverbal cues, maintain relationships and access, process and talk about emotions.

In addition to explaining how to accurately understand the thought processes of those one is pitching to, the book also explained the do’s and don’ts when interacting with prospects, which Steinmetz defined as anyone who can help advance one’s goals. According to Steinmetz, anyone pitching an idea should offer benefits to prospects, acknowledge debts and refrain from neglecting those who initially say no, assuming that women will always support a pitch and approaching the most obvious prospect.

She also explained that, when approaching a prospect with a pitch, one should always express passion and happiness while negotiating, describe the benefits of the pitch and remember that no goal will be achieved if it is not actively sought after. Steinmetz also urged students to remember that an impressive appearance, a clear idea and effective communication skills will also help.

With the pitching process explained, Steinmetz then turned to the decision aspect of business deals. If the answer is yes, she said that one should be sure to immediately close the deal and ask how and when the pitched idea should be put into effect and who else should help with the project. If the answer is maybe, she explained that it is important to show additional effort at work in order to impress employers and then pitch the idea again at another time. However, if the prospect declines an initial pitch, it is important not to push for it, but to think of another idea and keep from being discouraged.

Overall, Steinmetz did not place this book at the top of her recommendation list. Although she agreed with the author’s opinion that women must unjustly adapt to the male workforce, she did not enjoy the style in which the book was written. This is because of her personal distaste for what she described as a self-help book.

At the conclusion of her presentation, she reminded the audience that women typically try to do everything for everyone else quickly and perfectly, which could also be harmful to the working woman. She stressed the importance of taking care of one’s own needs before trying to take care of others, as well as never forgetting or disregarding a personal or professional dream.