Abstract
Given trends in local, national, and global demographics, a need exists for educators in fields that serve older adults to provide innovative and engaging assignments that are relevant and applicable to the diverse contexts in which students are likely to find themselves as they pursue their careers. This article discusses a novel “elevator pitch” assignment that could be implemented in a number of ways to fit a variety of pedagogical methods and courses and further tailored to serve the needs of diverse student populations. For those working to actively and successfully recruit, train, and retain students in fields that serve older adults, such flexibility of assignments and delivery are likely to be acutely important as institutions, instructors, and students continue to adapt to rapidly changing developments such as those imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Recent economic data indicate within in the United States, those over 50 years of age account for over $7.6 trillion in economic activity annually while controlling approximately 80% of household wealth (Irving, 2018). Given trends in local, national, and global demographics, the demand for individuals with expertise in gerontology and related fields will likely increase in the upcoming years. Thus, the need to actively and successfully recruit, train, and retain students in various fields that serve older adults is critical. Consequently, a need exists for educators in such fields to develop and provide innovative and engaging assignments that are relevant and applicable to the diverse contexts in which students are likely to find themselves as they pursue their careers. This article discusses a novel “elevator pitch” assignment that could be implemented in a variety of courses and in different course delivery modalities.
What Is an “Elevator Pitch” and Why Is It Important?
Traditionally, the term “elevator pitch” refers to a rich, yet concise description of what you do, what you have to offer, or what you want your audience to know. Other uses of the elevator pitch include why you may be a good fit for a particular opportunity or what sort of product you are offering. The challenge of creating an effective elevator pitch is in presenting a complex idea or securing a favorable outcome in a short timeframe, often 30–60 s. One way to think about this is as follows: “The elevator doors open and in walks the client of your dreams. They start some small talk and ask, “What do you do?” and you’ve got the rest of the elevator ride to respond. How do you answer that in 20 s in such a way that gets them interested? The answer is simple. You need an elevator pitch for your elevator pitch (David, 2014).”
While the idea may be familiar to most readers, its origins are debated. One account suggests that the history of the elevator pitch began in 1854 at the World’s Fair in New York City (Nichols, 2018). At the time, getting cargo from the ground level to an elevated height, sometimes many stories up, were rudimentary at best. This version of the story suggests that showman PT Barnum and Elisa Otis developed a plan to demonstrate to the world the practicality of their new “elevator” invention, advertised by Barnum as a death-defying creation that would astonish and terrify. Legend has it that when Otis first rode the elevator on the platform and had the rope cut, the crowd gasped in awe; when the car did not fall in front of the stunned crowd, Barnum proclaimed: “All safe, ladies and gentlemen! All safe” (Nichols, 2018).
Although typically less death defying today, elevator pitches remain widely used. Indeed, there are hundreds of websites that offer courses, videos, and books to teach the art and valuable skill of using a persuasive elevator pitch (Pincus, 2007). In fact, the popular current television program “Shark Tank” relies on the premise of entrepreneurs “pitching” their businesses and ideas to a panel of celebrity investors, with the objective of capturing enough interest to launch their products.
Of course, the utility of the elevator pitch is not confined to historical or popular cultural references. Research suggests that the attention span of the average person is just 30 s before their mind starts wandering (Verma, 2014). These fleeting seconds then represent a short amount of time to get one’s point across, which makes it all the more critical to have a succinct and enthusiastic answer (Rezaii, 2012). Furthermore, given the various and ubiquitous competition for our attentional resources, many people simply have less time available. If you have a point to make, you will need to make a connection quickly or risk losing your audience completely. Thus, the elevator pitch forces the candidate to be purposeful with their language and choice of words and intent; indeed, some business professionals have argued that the first two sentences are the most critical to an elevator pitch (Rezaii, 2012).
While the key elements of an elevator pitch should be specified in advance—and, critically, its delivery rehearsed—it is important that the pitch be flexible enough that it can be tailored to different audiences or contexts and updated as needed (Pincus, 2007). Indeed, while the content may be similar, the exact tone and the actual “pitch” one gives in an elevator at a professional conference is likely to differ considerably from that delivered at a more casual networking event or formal job interview. To this end, we describe in the next section (a) the general details of our elevator pitch assignment and (b) how this assignment can be adapted, both to other courses as well as methods of instruction (e.g., face-to-face and online).
Elevator Pitch Assignment Details
We have historically utilized the elevator pitch assignment in graduate gerontology courses, which, at our institution, attract a number of students from underrepresented groups, typically with approximately 60% of enrolled students identifying as non-White. Further, since 2010, courses supporting the graduate degree in gerontology have been offered solely online. Within this program, the elevator pitch assignment has been utilized primarily in a Management of Programs and Services for Older Adults course. The goal of this assignment is for students to provide enough information on the chosen topic to pique the interest of an audience and/or move them to action. We will discuss the assignment in general below; see Appendix for a detailed assignment template that can be modified to better meet the needs of diverse instructors and students.
In its current iteration at our institution, the elevator pitch is the culmination of a team-based (i.e., group) project. Specifically, each team will create, develop, and present an elevator pitch, a “sales pitch” of sorts that could be delivered within approximately 30–60 s. Students are also encouraged to think of this assignment as similar to a very brief infomercial. Each student will deliver a concise, well-organized presentation that “pitches” an innovative idea, product, program, or organization related to aging. As the following “pitch” titles suggest, students’ proposals are often diverse and creative. Previous examples include “Adding years to your life – Adopt A Pet!,” “Connect2Affect: Making social connections,” “A Place for You: Intergenerational interactions,” and “GRandPad: Connecting seniors with family through social media.”
Adaptability of the Assignment
The elevator pitch assignment is highly adaptable, can be modified in a number of ways to fit a variety of pedagogical methods and courses, and further tailored to serve the needs of diverse student populations. Specifically, while we have structured the assignment as a group project within our online courses, the assignment could easily be adapted for individual students in traditional face-to-face courses, as well as courses utilizing both hybrid and “flipped” delivery methods. Such flexibility of assignments and delivery are likely to be acutely important as institutions, instructors, and students continue to adapt to rapidly changing developments such as those imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this section, we discuss and offer suggestions for a sampling of such adaptations.
Flexibility of Pedagogy
As discussed above, we have utilized this assignment primarily as a group assignment within graduate gerontology courses taught entirely online, yet the assignment is conducive to both individual and group work. As John C. Maxwell famously said, “teamwork makes the dream work” (Maxwell, 2008). The value of online group assignments can bring many benefits to the student learner. For example, research suggests that group projects provide environments for individuals to develop effective team skills that carry into the work organization (Brosche & Feavel, 2011). Yet adapting the assignment to the individual rather than group format would confer other benefits. For example, students would have the opportunity to see more of their peers’ pitches (i.e., those from several individuals instead of fewer groups). The instructor could create a set of number of categories for programs (e.g., health, financial, and social) and students could be free to develop their pitches within these domains. Individual students would also have full responsibility for all aspects of the project, perhaps conveying a greater sense of ownership.
In terms of delivery of content, pedagogically, rationales for learning through online discourse typically refer to the collaborative construction of meaning within online communities. This approach to learning offers opportunities for “group-centered” rather than “authority-centered” modes of learning (Lander, 2015). Students in online communities are afforded the opportunity to share ideas, learn from peers, and build knowledge collectively, while reading and reflecting on each other’s thoughts. Through collaboration through a group assignment, students not only have the opportunity to explore concepts on a deeper level over a period of time, but they also get to see other students develop within this process (Testa & Egan, 2016).
With respect to students’ delivery the “pitch,” this assignment is highly conducive to various presentation styles, such as Prezi, PowerPoint, and screencast-o-matic software. As such, this assignment offers the potential for a highly customizable learning experience. Further, by utilizing different presentation techniques, instructors adopting this assignment are likely to foster a deeper understanding of course material and its applicability beyond the classroom, thus providing greater opportunities for substantive student engagement.
Flexibility of Course Content
Finally, while the primary iteration of our elevator pitch assignment was developed and refined within a Management of Programs and Services for Older Adults graduate gerontology course, we believe such an assignment would be well-suited to adaptation for various courses both directly and indirectly related to aging. For example, within our curriculum, the versatility of this assignment would work particularly well within the Medication Issues for Older Adults or Disaster Preparedness for Older Adults courses. To illustrate, students enrolled within a Medication Issues course could work to capture the attention of older adults and caregivers by “pitching” medication safety information, with an eye toward minimizing harmful drug interactions.
Further, as of this writing, individuals across the world are working to navigate the current and emerging challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Because individuals and cohorts are uniquely affected by such normative history-graded events, it is critical that educators are able to adapt their approaches and assignments so that future professionals are able to apply scientific knowledge and critical thinking skills to any situation they may encounter. For example, students enrolled in a Disaster Preparedness course could develop an informative “pitch” on infection risk, prevention, and control and the steps needed to ensure staff and nursing home residents know the plan for their own safety and security. As such, the elevator pitch assignment could be tailored to fit any “current” event so that students would be able to situate their work within the most relevant local, national, or even global sociohistorical context. In turn, this would enable students to actively learn about and respond to current issues facing older adults by creating quick and concise resources that could be disseminated to community officials, older adults, and caregivers. Such assignments would engage students and facilitate deeper learning and application by connecting course material and assignment guidelines to current events facing older adults.
Course-Related Outcomes
One of the key outcomes of the graduate program in gerontology is that students will demonstrate an ability to effectively work with others. Yet prior to adopting the elevator pitch group assignment within the Management of Programs and Services class, no consistent efforts to develop teamwork existed within the course. Instead, the course relied heavily on traditional measures of student learning, including objective multiple choice and essay exams and individual written assignments. Since implementing the assignment nearly 4 years ago, over 90% of students completing the elevator pitch earned an “A-” (≥90%) or better on the assignment. Overwhelmingly, students who complete the elevator pitch assignment are actively developing and improving their teamwork skills and demonstrating their ability to apply course content in light of the student learning outcomes for the course.
The elevator pitch assignment we have described provides a basic framework that is both highly applicable to students’ diverse educational and professional goals as well as easily adaptable to fit instructors’ needs, whether remote, in-person, or otherwise. We enthusiastically encourage those teaching courses related to aging and issues affecting older adults to utilize our assignment template (see Appendix) to develop their own versions of the elevator pitch to engage students as they work to recruit, train, and retain the future gerontological workforce.
Footnotes
Appendix
Author Biographies