In the reading you did for Monday and in class we talked about "The Pitch." Guy Kawasaki, the author of those handouts, suggests it takes 25 practice pitches to get it down. It was suggested in class that too much practice might lead to a wooden performance, like the first guy on "Shark Tank." Good point. Obviously, you are not going to practice 25 times. But a few wouldn't hurt. "All of these pitches don't have to be to your intended audiences," he writes. "Your co-founders, employees, relatives, friends, and even your dog are fine auditors." And your classmates are too. I'm not a big Powerpointer, but it can be a powerful tool in certain circumstances and remains ubiquitous in the business world.
So, using the suggestions the Kawasaki handout, combined with the thought you have given to the new company you want to start, prepare a 10- or 15-slide slide Powerpoint pitch presentation with voiceover that you can post to your blogs (we have guests for the next three weeks, so we'll have no time to view these in class.) You can pretend that you would be sending these to potential investors. The presentations should be three to five minutes long and can be as wild and creative as you'd like. If you prefer you can do your pitch in a video, or combine video and stills. Title your presentation with a clever three- or four-word mantra. These should be posted by Monday, Oct. 21, at noon at the latest. Otherwise, there are no particular guidelines -- it's your show.
If you don't have the Kawasaki handouts, there are still a few on my office door. See the handouts for more information on mantras if you weren't in class Monday.
(Powerpoint is one of the products in the Microsoft Office software suite. It is available pretty much everywhere if you don't already have it on your own computer. It is very easy to use, and there are plenty of tutorials online. Here is a tutorial on how to do voiceover or narration. Here is another one on embedding the show in your blog posting.)
No comments:
Post a Comment