We often hear from teachers that they would love to incorporate entrepreneurial learning into their classes but have limited time, especially when teaching remotely. We wanted to give you a quick, easy way to introduce the entrepreneurial process and the associated mindsets and skills.
It requires little time to create a learning experience where your students will creatively generate ideas and confidently pitch to an audience. We’ve provided some helpful discussion points, extension ideas, context and connections to the VentureLab Entrepreneurial Mindsets and Skillsets for this activity after the instructions!
Download the Pitch Game as a free printable pdf
Activity: Pitch Game
1. Tell students they are going to create a new product and persuasively present, or pitch, it to the class.
2. Ask students to give you one example of a noun, adjective, and verb. You can also use our pitch game word generator here!
3. Tell students they will brainstorm a business name and ideas for a product or service that meets the needs of a user and includes an adjective, noun, and verb in some way.
- Example 1: Adjective: Green; Noun: Dog; Verb: Eat
Green, Grass flavored dog food for dogs that like to eat grass or a healthy dog food alternative or a service that paints dogs green while they’re eating. - Example 2: Noun: Runner; Adjective: Round; Verb: Blows
A jacket for a runner that has round cloth flaps which can be opened when the weather is warmer so that air can circulate better (blows) and be shut when it gets colder.
4. Encourage students to think broadly and without limits and constraints (other than the three descriptors).
REMOTE LEARNING TIP: Use the breakout room to give groups work time if using video conference technology. Be sure to provide the instructions in a shared document or the chat feature so students know what is being asked of them.
5. Group students. Groups can brainstorm on their own paper, virtual whiteboards, or a shared document.
6. Share the following guidelines to help develop a 60 sec sales pitch for the product:
- Start with a question.
- What is the problem?
- What is your solution? Why is it unique?
- Who are you selling to? (Your market!)
- How much are you selling it for?
- What is your ask? What do you want us to do?
7. At the end of 10-15 minutes, each group pitches their idea to convince the audience it’s a great idea by delivering a 30-90 second pitch!
Important guidelines to emphasize to students:
- When brainstorming there are no bad ideas and crazy ideas are welcome!
- The point of this activity is to be creative and persuade someone to buy or invest in your product, so focus more on preparing a great pitch, even if the product idea isn’t that compelling.
- Require all members of the group to participate during the pitch.
For more remote learning entrepreneurship activities, check out our Remote Learning Series!
Post-Activity Discussion
- How did it feel to share your idea in front of the group?
- What was the process you used to come up with your business name and product idea?
- How did working in a group help or make coming up with an idea and pitching more difficult?
Key Points
- Teamwork and collaboration are part of being a successful entrepreneur.
- Entrepreneurs need to be comfortable pitching their ideas because it is so important to secure funding or get potential customers.
- A quick, focused, creative pitch is powerful and can convince someone to invest in your product or company.
Extension or Homework
- Have students generate their own adjective, noun, and verb cards.
- Allow students to create a prototype of their idea using materials at home. Share pictures with the class!
Entrepreneur Connection
Entrepreneurs can creatively combine thoughts to generate ideas that fill a want or a need in the marketplace. Their ideas, even if they make it to the product stage, only achieve success when entrepreneurs can convince investors to back them financially or customers to buy their products or services. The Pitch Game quickly provides this experience to give participants an idea of the process. Entrepreneurs communicate and collaborate in a team to bring an idea to market.
