The Pitch Presentation focuses on sharing basic information about the situation you are examining and the actions you recommend in response. Your audience for the presentation is the primary decisionmaker for your report. Think of it as something of a Shark Tank presentation. You have the decisionmaker’s attention and just a few minutes to convince them to let you share more about your recommendation.
Pitch Criteria
You do not need to record your pitch with TikTok. Protect your privacy by NOT posting your classwork on your personal social media.
Length
Aim for 3 minutes or less (the maximum length of a TikTok video) for your presentation. You can run over a few seconds, but not a few minutes.
Checklist Requirements
Your Pitch Presentation should . . .
Check These Sources
From Technical Communication:
- Analyzing the Speaking Situation, on pp. 596–597.
- GUIDELINES: Introducing the Presentation, on pp. 598–599.
- GUIDELINES: Concluding the Presentation, on p. 599.
- Characteristics of an Effective Slide, on pp. 600–603.
- Guidelines: Using Memorable Language in Oral Presentations, on page 615.
- Include about one slide for each 30 seconds (for a total of about six slides maximum).
- Be recorded as a video with an oral explanation of your ideas.
- Focus on this information:
- Introduction: Use the “GUIDELINES: Introducing the Presentation,” on p. 598–599 of Markel and Selber, to plan your opening. Since you are giving a short presentation, choose the items that seem most important to conveying your plan. You don’t need to follow all five of the suggestions.
- Summary. Follow the six-point plan from “The Elevator Pitch” video.
- Conclusion. Use the “GUIDELINES: Concluding the Presentation,” on p. 599 of Markel and Selber, to plan your closing. As with the intro, you don’t need to follow all the suggestions.
- Be easily viewable, without a login or special software.
- Has presentation slides that meet these five characteristics:
- They present clear, well-supported claim(s) (p. 600).
- They are easy to see (p. 600).
- They are easy to read (p. 601).
- They are simple (p. 601).
- They are correct (p. 602).
- Include only images or photographs that meet the following characteristics:
- Clear, well-focused, and relevant to the topic.
- Serve a clear purpose (avoid purely decorative images).
- Free of distractions that are not relevant to the topic.
- Directly related to the topic (avoid clipart, which looks less professional).
- Without watermarks or otherwise indications that the audio, video, or image belongs to someone else.
- Is an original project, written by you, not copied or rephrased from another source. If you copy or rephrase from another source, you will earn zero points for the project.