One-minute Pitch

Contributed by: Ed Rubesch, Lecturer, Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University, Thailand. Introduction Entrepreneurs have a short time span to get their ideas across to important people such as investors, venture capitalists, financial institutions etc. During this crucial moment, they have to present their idea in a compelling and persuasive manner within the time it takes to cross the street. In the early stages, the entrepreneur is the only one, who sees the opportunity in his/her idea, and it is very hard to convince someone else of it. This exercise simulates such a situation where the student who is a potential entrepreneur, has to sell himself/herself within one minute. The student introduces himself/herself within this time. This is a versatile exercise and you may also use this to help students to try and pitch their product or idea instead of themselves. Learning Objective This exercise aims at developing communication and presentation skills in students of entrepreneurship. When to Use This exercise can be used: During any course in entrepreneurship. After a session in idea generation and opportunity recognition. In entrepreneurial skill development workshops. The Exercise Explain to the students about the situation entrepreneurs usually face when they put their ideas across to a potential investor or someone who controls money. They will have limited time to capture the attention of the person they are presenting to. Tell them that the essence of the exercise is to communicate vital information in a precise, clear and crisp manner. Instructions to students: 1. Ask your students to pair up with one another. 2. Tell them that they will make a one-minute pitch about themselves to their partners. 3. Give them some inputs on the points they should include in their pitch such as Skip the obvious stuff that one can find by reading your resume. Skip the school or spend very little time on it. Get to the things which make you different. What makes you unique or proud? What do you really want people to know about you? 4. Give them a few minutes to first work on their own pitch: a) Ask them to frame the points they want to convey which makes them different or special. b) Tell them to start putting these points into a one-minute pitch. 5. Once they have worked on their pitch, ask them to present it to their partners.

Created September 2006 NEN

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Concluding the exercise: To conclude the exercise: 1. You can ask a few of your students, to come and present to the whole class the oneminute pitch that they made to their partner. 2. You may also check if there are any remarkable pitches which should be definitely shared with everyone in the class. These will serve as examples of a good one- minute pitch. 3. If time permits, you can give a chance to all your students to present their one-minute pitch. Time: 1 hour. Material required: Sheets of Paper and Pen. Other forms of the exercise: There are other variations to this exercise that you may consider using; students can do the one minute pitch exercise for 1. A new business idea or , 2. Potential customers about a product or , 3. An existing business which one might want to sell away. It can even be linked to any other activity focused on effective communication that you do in your class. A lot of such variations are possible and you may modify it to suit your requirements. Evaluating the pitch: To evaluate the one minute pitch your students made, you may use the one- minute pitch rubric which is included at the end of this document. You can also build your own evaluation framework to assess the students during this activity. Format: The one minute pitch need not be in a plain spoken form always. There can be other formats especially when it is used to pitch an idea or a product or a business. It can be presented through a slide presentation with time restriction such as 3 slides in 3 minutes. Students can also use charts or other pictorial representation to make the one minute pitch. Please refer to the one-min pitch Power point presentation that is part of this resource kit. Additional tips for students: While carrying out this exercise, students will have to be guided with some additional tips on communication. They may also have some common doubts and apprehensions. Below are some situations they will face and the tips you can give them: a) When the exercise is used for pitching a new idea, often students have a doubt about sharing an idea which is a secret. You should explain to them that first of all it is only an exercise to improve their communication skills. Moreover, it is far more difficult to convince someone about an idea than it is to steal an idea. This exercise will teach them how to convince people of their idea. b) Enthusiasm while presenting to any audience helps in getting your point across effectively. However students usually equate being enthusiastic with talking in a loud tone, using complicated words/ technical jargon and very fast pace. You can tell them that enthusiasm can be expressed with passion and conviction in what they are saying. It can also be expressed by talking in a soft, precise, clear manner and choosing the right words. c) Tell your students to be prepared to defend their ideas before a group of professionals. The idea that they think is good need one not necessarily appeal to everyone else and most importantly to some one who will fund their project.

Created September 2006 NEN

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Annexure I Evaluation Rubric: How well did the one-minute Pitcher do in convincing you about his or her opportunity? Novice 1 No need is identified, or it is not clear what value a potential customer might gain. Apprentice 3 The customer's need is discussed, but I am not convinced it is a very significant need, and I don't believe customers will spend much or their money or time to try to satisfy it. I am convinced there are some customers with this need. Practitioner 5 I can believe the customer's need is significant and "painful." Expert 7 The customer's need has been so clearly described that I am also feeling the customer's pain. I am fully convinced that this is a significant problem and a lot of potential customers would be willing to spend their money and time to satisfy it. I am fully convinced that the proposed product or service is unique, and one of the BEST ways to solve the customer's need.

Customer's Need

It is not obvious that there are many people who have the described need. Market

I am convinced there are many customers with this need.

Product or Service

I don't see how the suggested product or service fulfills the customer's need.

The proposed product or service may partially fulfill the customer's needs.

The proposed product or service may fulfill the customer's needs, but there are other existing products that do a similar, or maybe even better, job. It seems like this person may achieve some level of success, and I have asked one of my managers to call him/her and follow up.

Enthusiasm for Overall Pitch

I would never call this person to discuss his or her idea, and I may start using the stairs to avoid getting stuck again in the elevator with him/her.

This idea might work; I'll probably at least keep the business card, in case I need to contact him/her in the future.

The pitch is so convincing that I am sure that the idea will be a success.I have cancelled all of my meetings the rest of the day to discuss things in more detail.

Created September 2006 NEN

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