Description of the Genre

An elevator pitch is a brief (30 second to 2-minute) "pitch" to a client, supervisor, investor, or peer that succinctly explains the problem you are addressing, your proposed solution, and the benefits of that solution. Formal pitch presentations can vary in length and can be much longer than two minutes, but the idea of an "elevator pitch" is that you present it briefly. The name comes from the practice of meeting someone new in an elevator (at work, at a conference, etc.), and you need to quickly explain your project as you ride the elevator together (thus, this pitch needs to be short, clear, and concise).

Objectives

• Practice pitching an idea.
• Think more about how to communicate your idea persuasively to a real audience.
• Report some of what you learned in the competitive analysis even more concisely.
• Give you the opportunity to get to know your classmates a bit better.
• Help you choose teams and the ideas you want to work with for unit 2.
• Feel more comfortable speaking in front of the class in a low-stakes, quick presentation.

Assignment Requirements

For this short, informal talk, pick something to pitch based on the idea you were working with in the competitive analysis. You might choose one specific recommendation you made and pitch that. You might want to pitch a product if you are planning to invent something new, or you might be asking investors to invest in your new business. You might be pitching a product change, a new business explanation, or that people enter or avoid a particular career. In any case, choose ONE clear thing to pitch to the class. Imagine your classmates are investors, business partners, decision-making executives, or people who might be interested in your idea in another way.

• Talk in front of the class for 1-2 minutes. (Too short will not get credit because you won't have included enough detail; too long will be cut off but could get credit as long as you covered everything. It is really awkward to cut you off, though, so practice keeping within the time.)

• You may read from notes, but do not read from a script the whole time.

• The pitch should be totally oral, no visuals.

• You must include, at a minimum, the following:

  • A clear statement of your idea and at one clear thing you are recommending (e.g., a product change, that people invest in your new idea, that the business pivot to a new market, that people enter or avoid a career field)

  <aside> 💡 Tip: Look at the unit 2 report options and pitch something related to an idea you might like to write about for unit 2. Not required but could be helpful.

  </aside>

  • A brief description of some of the comparison you did in the competitive analysis (including some comparison will give listeners a better idea of where your business, product, or career field is situated - what it is and what it is not)
  • A little information about how you would like to work as a team (things like if you have a lot of availability, which roles you see yourself taking, which kind of report you want to do, or other qualities you bring to a team)
  • OPTIONAL: The type(s) of report you see yourself writing for unit 2

Other Details

PRACTICE your pitch at least twice. Many people think they know how long two minutes is, but in the moment, they realize it's either much shorter or much longer than they thought. Practicing will reduce anxiety.

I will give you a signal at 90 seconds and will cut you off at 2 minutes 🙂  We don't have time for people to go over.

This pitch is not very formal. You do not need to dress up, memorize a script, or stress too much about it. If you cover the basic criteria, you will get credit. Practicing a couple of times will give you a sense of how long you have. You did the competitive analysis, so you should have plenty to talk about. It will be a matter of condensing it down.

Remember that you want to practice good pitch-giving techniques and also give enough information to hopefully attract interested teammates.