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Elevator Speech
An "elevator speech" is a 60-second pitch, persuading someone to
fund your brilliant idea. Your target audience for this speech is
a venture capitalist.
NOTE: I cannot
offer a makeup time for this speech.
Your speech must, of course, contain elements of all good speeches
(speak clearly and confidently, make strong eye contact, and so on).
However, you must go well beyond that.
You must convince your target that
your idea is so wonderful that the target
will actually throw money
your way.
Organize your speech as follows:
- Introduce yourself, "Hi, my name is ___________ and I'm
a Junior/Senior at MIT."
- Describe the problem that your invention or service will solve.
- Describe the magnitude of the problem. How many people have
this problem?
- If possible, make the venture capitalist personally identify
with this problem.
- Describe your wonderful solution to this problem.
- Explain how much money you need to produce
this good or service. Explain (roughly)
how you plan to use the money. (for example, "50% on R&D,
25% on marketing, 10% on production, 15% on distribution").
Your grade will not depend on the strength of your idea but on
the strength of your presentation. In addition, your speech must
last between 50 and 70 seconds.
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