Center for Excellence in Teaching
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Open in new tab Interested in getting started or revising elevator pitch assignments in your course?
Here are some tips for implementation:
Consider scaffolding the assignment using the steps below. (Scaffolding refers to breaking assignments into smaller steps that provide students practice and feedback as they develop a new skill.)
- Develop and model your own elevator pitch for students, making note of grading criteria.
- Encourage students to practice their pitches individually multiple times.
- Provide in-class opportunities for peer-to-peer feedback on their pitches in one or all the following formats: one-on-one, small groups, or whole class presentations
- Grade students’ final pitches, based on the grading criteria.
More resources for collecting and engaging with anonymous student feedback:
- Using elevator pitches to simplify complex proposals for societal challenges, Victor’s talk from CET’s Faculty Showcase of Innovative Teaching Techniques
- CET’s Group Presentation Rubric Resource
- CET’s Peer Feedback Form for Group Presentations Resource
What does the research say?
Mou-Danha S, Yakubova M, Vosen Callens M. Answering the “who am I” question: Raising students’ sense of self-competence with the 30-second elevator pitch. Communication teacher. 2019;33(4):271-275. doi:10.1080/17404622.2019.1575434 (USC Library link)
Lucas K. Oral Self Critique: Raising Student Consciousness of Communication (In)Competence. Communication teacher. 2011;25(1):12-15. doi:10.1080/17404622.2010.513993 (USC Library link)
Braun E. Performance-based assessment of students’ communication skills. International Journal of Chinese Education. 2021;10(1):221258682110062-. doi:10.1177/22125868211006202 (USC Library link)