Cut it short and just KISS!

Heard of the KISS principle of oral communication? No, don't pout and poise the lips just yet, it's a short-hand for Keep It Short and Simple. Personally, I prefer the more cheeky version: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

I bumped into Your Elevator Pitch by chance, and it turned out to be a great resource for my Entrepreneurship class! The idea is neat: Can you summarize and pitch your business idea clearly, and communicate in the time that it takes to make an elevator ride? If not, you may need to understand your own business before presenting it.

The site intro says:

An "elevator pitch" is a quick and concise way to communicate who you are, what you're trying to do and why you do it better. It's much more than a mission statement, it's understanding your business in a way that gets people excited and thinking.

I used the idea in the class today: I asked the students who are making group business plans to give an elevator pitch about their offer. The idea was, if the elevator pitch sounds okay, we have something solid on hand. I have made the elevator pitch the starting point of the class biz plans.

What happened next? The correlation between a good pitch and a plausible business idea was clear. Pitches that raised the most comments, "It's vague!" "What are you trying to say?" didn't have a sound business idea. The idea's bubble burst as questions pointed in.

One pitch about a telecom product created quite a buzz. The idea raised questions about the legality and technical aspects of the product. There was incredulous suspicion in the air, and some of the people, me included, just didn't get the idea until we played 20 questions. As questions and discussions pounded in, it was clear that the biz plan and the marketing plan will have to focus on the product part and educate the consumer about the tech part first.

One Pakistani telco comapny, GoCDMA, could learn from this. The product hasn't worked, and the marketers complain that the customer doesn't get it. Ahan!

For more help on elevator pitches, see sister site: Only 30 Floors

Email: nextbyramla AT gmail.com