Yes,we are all in sales. But selling ideas can be hard. And intangibles are devalued right out of the gate.

Concepts can be hard to explain concisely, and hard to grasp completely.

Show and tell, however, is simple and effective. Concrete examples speak volumes.

This is why Jim McKelvey, cofounder of Square, espouses the mantra – “build it first, explain it later.”

That’s how Square broke into the marketplace and disrupted an arcane, complex system. And it can work for you too.

Prototype your ideas. And if they’re not concrete items to be built, like an electronic card reader, make them concrete some other way. Create a demo, draw a sketch, or find some other way to illustrate the concept. Give your audience something to react to in order to spark a meaningful conversation for moving things forward.