Students prepare and present their idea to the rest of the class or to others from outside.
The method makes students focus on the most important aspects of their idea and how they can make others understand how it will create value.
Present the method to the students. The method is called an elevator pitch, as the presentation should be completed in the time it takes to ride an elevator to the top of a skyscraper. Students can imagine that they are entering an elevator with an investor or someone else to whom they are going to sell their idea. Typically, the time is set to a maximum of three minutes.
Students prepare their elevator speech with the worksheet Elevator Pitch. They can structure their elevator pitch in four points:
- Presentation of themselves
- Presentation of the problem, including who it is a problem for and what their needs are
- Presentation of the idea/solution, including how it will solve the problem
- Presentation of the students’ wishes for feedback, ideas or other things from their audience so that they can move forward enriched
Students take turns delivering their elevator pitch to the class or others outside. Once the three minutes have elapsed, the presentation ends.
Didactic tips
- Students can create speech cards, posters or digital presentations to support their oral presentation.
If the school has a subscription to Pitcherific.com, there are a variety of worksheets there that can support students in building a good pitch. - If necessary, let students learn about their recipient’s needs by creating personas before their elevator speech. Search for a persona checklist for the theme being worked on.
- If necessary, students can rehearse their elevator speech by videotaping it and watching it through.
- If necessary, place a stopwatch that is visible to the students presenting for all 3 minutes. Be aware that this may put undue pressure on some students. Alternatively, let students know when there are 30 seconds or 1 minute left in their elevator ride.
- If necessary, adjust the 4 points for structuring the elevator speech and the length of the presentations (the 3 minutes) so that it matches the didactic focus.
- If necessary, use the method Elevator Pitch to structure the feedback from the audience into 4 feedback categories. The audience writes their feedback and ideas on post-it notes while listening to the presentation.