The Elevator Pitch - Not a Curve Ball

The Elevator Pitch: Not a Curve Ball

Using elevator pitches as a technique to teach students how to synthesize ideas

into 2-3 minute concise summaries.

Richard Molzer

• John I. Leonard High School– Greenacres, Florida– 39 years teaching Business Education– Academy of Finance teacher for

juniors and seniors– Internship Coordinator

• Curriculum Fellow for Business Economics and Insurance courses

• NAF courses currently teaching: Applied Finance, Financial Services, Financial Planning, and Entrepreneurship

Fran Thew

• John I. Leonard High School – Greenacres, Florida– 39 years teaching Spanish, Biology,

Computer Science, Business– Academy of Finance teacher for

freshmen– Department Chair for Business and

Computer Science• Curriculum Fellow for Financial Services

course• Curriculum Leader for Applied Finance course• NAF course currently teaching: Principles of

Finance

Lucia Gonzalez• John I. Leonard High School

• Academy of Finance– Greenacres, Florida– 2013 Graduate– Interned and currently employed at:

Rent Florida Realty– Industry Certifications: MOS for Word,

PowerPoint and Excel– NAF youth presenter, Washington DC,

2012– National Honor Society, Future Business

Leaders of America, 2013 Class Treasurer

Sharon Ennist• John I. Leonard High School • Academy of Finance

– Greenacres, Florida– 2013 Graduate– Interned and currently employed at:

Publix– Industry Certifications: MOS for Word,

PowerPoint and Excel– NAF youth presenter, Washington DC,

2012– Arise and Shine, Swim Team, Bowling

Team, Class of 2013 Student Government

Why did you want to be a teacher?

What is a teacher?A TEACHER . . . • Wants to make a difference in the lives of the young

people in their classrooms.• Provides students with the tools they will need to be

successful in attaining their future collegiate and career goals.

• Sees student diversity in the classroom as an exciting learning tool rather than as a barrier to learning.

• Challenges students to be the best that they can be.

THE NAF CURRICULUM

Why should I use the curriculum?

• Constantly updated by teams of professionals (no need for expensive and soon outdated textbooks)

• All resources provided from lesson plans to student and teacher resources

• Same strategies used in all courses• Courses springboard off one another• Courses include career exploration• Courses include extensions for interdisciplinary work or further

inquiry• Compliance with the NAF model

POSSIBLE OBSTACLESFamily/ Culture

NAF Curriculum Provides teachers with tools . . .

• To promote cultural literacy– Every lesson begins with anticipation guides– Vocabulary enrichment– Opportunities to explore topics in cooperative groups

to take pressure off ELL students– Career exploration

POSSIBLE OBSTACLESLiteracy

NAF Curriculum Provides teachers with tools . . .

• To promote literacy– Strategies embedded seamlessly within the

curriculums– Opportunities for reading and writing found in every

lesson– Students read and write a variety of different genre

POSSIBLE OBSTACLES

Inability to solve problems – thinking outside the box

NAF Curriculum

Provides teachers with tools . . .

• To develop higher order thinking skills– Lessons developed around real-world theme– Project based learning where skills are applied in new

ways– Extension lessons for deeper inquiry, interdisciplinary

applications

What is the best way to teach the youth of today?

LECTURE

TEAMWORK

• A major soft skill required by business and industry settings

• Many heads together can find solutions to unique problems

• Each individual has his or her own expertise to contribute to the project

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What, exactly, is an Elevator Pitch?

An elevator pitch is a brief overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The pitch is so called because it can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (say, under three minutes).

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When might I need to use an elevator pitch?

• To introduce oneself at the beginning of a scholarship or employment interview or to answer the common interview question, “Tell me a little about yourself.”

• To promote a club or organization when recruiting members.

• To explain why a potential customer should support a fundraiser for your academy.

• To promote a business idea to a possible partner or investor.

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Laying the Foundation

• So how do you structure an elevator pitch so that it works so well in all of these different forms? Think of your elevator pitch as a foundation on which all of the communications mentioned above are built. It is similar to the flat slab at the base of all lego building sets. That base is the same whether you are building a house, police station or office building. The key to your elevator pitch is to get the foundation right.

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Using a Pitch as an Introduction.

• The elevator pitch is so important because it is the first thing that people ever hear / read about you. Even before your resume gets into their hands, your elevator pitch sets the stage for why they would spend the time to look at your resume, which leads to the interview, which leads to the job offer.

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Tips For Writing Effective Personal Pitches.

1. The pitch should be short.– The base of your pitch should take no more

than three (3) minutes to recite or 200 words to write

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2. The pitch should include the following:– 1) Who you are plus a credential• You should think of your credential as either

something that differentiates you from your peers (e.g. varsity basketball player, army lieutenant, Rhodes Scholar) or something that establishes a relationship between you and your audience (e.g. graduate of same college, member of same sorority, from the same home town).

•

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2. The pitch should include the following: – 2) A specific objective• Get to the point quickly about what you are

looking for or how that person can help. There is no need to soft shoe around your objective; however, your objective should be something that the person can directly facilitate either by making the decision himself or herself or connecting you to someone that can get you closer to that objective.

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2. The pitch should include the following: – 3)How you have demonstrated your interest

• There is a difference between "communicating" your interest and "demonstrating" your interest. When you demonstrate your interest, you give examples of things that you have ALREADY completed or committed to that illustrate this interest. Don`t just say that "I have always wanted to be an doctor". You should be able to say, "I have taken pre-med courses". If you haven`t done anything to demonstrate your interest, which might be as simple as talking to people with an expertise, then start doing something!

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2. The pitch should include the following: – 4) Why you are qualified

• This is your chance to communicate what makes you someone that your audience should consider helping. People typically like to help those that they feel will be successful in the process. There are a couple of things you should think about when highlighting your qualifications:– - industry relevance– - leadership– - expertise– - pedigree– - impact

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2. The pitch should include the following: – 5) Give the person two options on how they

can assist• This is an old sales trick. Always give two options. A person

will often flatly turn you down if you give them one option, but if you give them two options, then they often commit to one of them. This is different than communicating your objective. As I mentioned above, the objective is the end goal; here you want to communicate how the person can help you in the process that leads to that end goal.

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Why Is This an Important Skill in Business?

The process of formulating an elevator pitch brings to light many basic things that an entrepreneur must consider about their business or idea. Even if you’re not looking for funding, an elevator pitch can help you figure out what’s at the core of your business or idea.

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Tips For Writing Effective Business Pitches.

1. First, avoid the cookie cutter – “insert your name here” templates that you’ll find littered all over the net. You want your pitch to stand out and be unique, so give it life and personality by allowing your pitch to paint a picture or tell a story.

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2. If possible, use a tag line yet avoid sounding cheesy – your elevator pitch isn’t a sales pitch.

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3. Stick to hard facts and numbers! Avoid assumption or BS’ing; you’ve got to instill integrity in your message. Make the pitch easy to understand; avoid acronyms or any jargon that your intended audience won’t comprehend.

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4. Focus on the opportunity/problem you’ve encountered and why your solution is the most unique in providing value and benefit to the customer. *This part will comprise the bulk of your elevator pitch, so be sure and spend some time figuring out why your product stands head and shoulders above the competition.

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5. If possible, mention the size of your market and who would be willing to pay for it.

6. If you’re pitching to an investor, mention their return on investment and how much funding you’re seeking.

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7. Last but not least, make sure it’s less than 3 minutes long. Doing so will force you to trim the fat from the pitch and only focus on what’s really at the core of your message.

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Leading up the Elevator Pitch: The Lesson

•Identify a problem that requires a solution Example: Plastic bags (Think/Pair/Share)• What are the problems?• What are possible solutions to the problems?

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•Develop a viable business idea Evaluate 5 products used in own lives• Are there any problems with the products?• Is there a feature that could be added or improved?• Is there a service that could be built around

problems or deficiencies associated with the product?

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•Analyze case studies of entrepreneurs as a source of inspiration, for innovating, thinking creatively, and identifying new business ideas.

Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, Donald Trump, Sam Walton, Walt Disney

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•Define elevator pitch as an opportunity to discuss an idea during a short elevator ride with a potential business partner or investor.

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•Show examples of elevator pitches http://www.gottamentor.com/channel.aspx?

chid=DgZHKVBXkECwLeCgRKeCfg== Student videos Student presentation

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Experience the Curriculum

• Activity Name – Elevator Pitch– Course: Entrepreneurship– Unit # 2: Creating the Business Idea and Analyzing the

Opportunity– Lesson #3: Identifying and Evaluating Your Ideas

• Skill or concept objective:– Help students better understand what it means to be

an entrepreneur and what it takes to start a business.

Business Economics

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Group /Cooperative Learning

2-3 Minute Elevator PitchInnovative Product or Service

Possible Roles:• Recorder• Presenters• Timer

• Foley Artist

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Group/Cooperative Learning (10 minutes)• Choose partners (tables?)• Assign roles • Create pitch• Practice

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Group/Cooperative Learning

Share your innovative product or service idea with the other groups

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DISCUSSION

• Think/Pair/Share at tables• Share ideas with total group

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Using Elevator Pitches as a Learning Tool

What are the advantages?

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Using Elevator Pitches as a Learning Tool

What are the disadvantages?

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Following the Elevator Pitch: The Lesson

•In the Entrepreneurship lesson, the elevator pitch would be used to lead into the actual culminating project. As a result of the elevator pitch presentations, students would begin to think about possible partners and ideas for the course’s culminating project – Developing a Business Idea.

RESOURCES

• “Elevator Pitch 101 – Intro to Writing a 30 Second Elevator Pitch.” The Closet Entrepreneur, http://theclosetentrepreneur.com/elevator-pitch-101-intro-to-writing-a-30-second-elevator-pitch (accessed February 10, 2012).

• http://www.naf-curriculum.org/aof/ent/ent_downloads.html#ent2

http://theclosetentrepreneur.com/elevator-pitch-101-intro-to-writing-a-30-second-elevator-pitch

http://theclosetentrepreneur.com/elevator-pitch-101-intro-to-writing-a-30-second-elevator-pitch

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Contact Information• Applied Finance, Financial

Services, Principles of Finance:

Fran ThewJohn I. Leonard High School4701 10th Ave N.Greenacres, FL 33463(561)641-1257

[email protected]

• Applied Finance, Financial Services, Insurance, Personal Finance, Entrepreneurship:

Richard MolzerJohn I. Leonard High School4701 10th Ave N.Greenacres, FL 33463(561)641-1241

[email protected]