Batangas State University

College of Engineering, Architecture and Fine Arts

ENGG 401 - INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING

MODULE 5
IDEA PITCHING BASED ON AGREED-UPON
THEMES OR PROBLEMS

Dr. Elisa D. Gutierrrez

Engr. Janice F. Peralta
Engr. Danica Marie B. Mercado
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

ENGG 401 - INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING 1

Course Rationale and Description 1
Intended Learning Outcome 1
Criteria for Assessment 1
Supplemental Content 1

MODULE 5 - IDEA PITCHING BASED ON AGREED-UPON THEMES OR PROBLEMS 2

Introduction 2
Topic Outcome 2
Lectures 2
The nature of ideas 2
When do we make pitches? 3
What makes a successful pitch? 3
Knowing your Audience 4
The Elevator pitch 4
Common Mistakes When Making Pitches 4
Must Haves 4
Elevator Pitch Template 5
Activities 6
References 6
ENGG 401 - INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING

Course Rationale and Description

Introduction to Engineering is a course designed to teach students about the different

engineering fields and expose them to research opportunities, career possibilities, and
coursework that will challenge and engage them. Engineers must be problem solvers, creative
thinkers, and leaders in order to be successful in the profession. For this to happen, students
need to stay in engineering programs, be pleased with their choice of major, and develop
engineering identity. This introductory course provides a framework for the practice of
engineering. This framework is a broad outline of the tasks and responsibilities of an engineer,
and the use of disciplinary knowledge in executing those tasks. Further, this course aims to
stimulate students' interest and strengthen their motivation for, the field of engineering by
focusing on the application of relevant core engineering disciplines. The course also includes
personal and interpersonal skills knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are essential at the start of
a program to prepare students for a more advanced product, process, and system building
experiences.

Intended Learning Outcome

● ILO1 ​- Develop professional behavior and a code of ethics in areas like project
management, teamwork, and leadership.

● ILO2 ​- Demonstrate understanding in design thinking and engineering design

process to create effective problem statements, and design, build, test, and analyze
a simple prototype product that addresses realistic constraints and system
requirements while using basic project management techniques.

● ILO3 ​- Apply appropriate design process, prototyping, and modern engineering tools
in activity/project building.

Criteria for Assessment

Group Project (GP) 45%
Experiential Learning Activities (ELA) 25%
Self and Peer Assessment (SPA) 10%
Midterm Exam (ME) 20%

Supplemental Content
Course Information Syllabus (CIS) (​link​)
Introduction to Engineering Website (​link​)

1 | ​ENGG 401 - Introduction to Engineering

MODULE 5 - IDEA PITCHING BASED ON AGREED-UPON THEMES OR
PROBLEMS

Introduction

This module discusses the task of bringing an idea to someone with the power to do something
with it called ​pitch. ​Pitching is a really valuable skill that all of us need to hone, because only if
we pitch our ideas will people hear us out, adopt them, and believe in our solutions. Students
have to submit an elevator pitch on a given topic / problem assigned by the course facilitator.
This module aims to develop students’ oral communication in expressing their idea.

Topic Outcome
1. Express idea in a multimedia presentation to develop oral communication skills.
2. Define and clarify the concept of the mini project related to their field of
specialization.

Lectures

The task of bringing an idea to someone with the power to do something with it is called a ​pitch​:
software ideas, implementation strategies, movie screenplays, organizational changes, and
business plans, are all pitched from one person to another. It is a presentation of a business
idea to potential investors. Businesses pitch to potential customers to sell their product. Finally,
some organizations pitch because they need a partner or resource to help them accomplish
their mission.

● The nature of ideas

○ Step 0: Create and refine the idea​ - Good ideas include some thinking about
execution and delivery. Most of the time it’s not worth pitching an idea until you’re
able to answer some of the basic pragmatic questions about it, such as: What
problem does this solve? What evidence is there that the problem is real, and
important enough to solve?
○ Step 1: What is the scope of the idea​ - The bigger the idea, the more involved the
pitch. When you’ve identified the scope of your idea, do some research on how
others pitching ideas of similar scope went about it.
○ Step 2: Who has the power to green light the idea ​ - Make a list of the people that
are potential recipients of your pitch. Base this list on two criteria: who has the
power needed to implement the idea, and who you might have access to. If you
have no idea who to pitch your idea to, ask around. There’s no sense developing
your pitch if there’s no one to catch.
○ Step 3: Start with their perspective -​ Consider how the person you’re trying to

2 | ​ENGG 401 - Introduction to Engineering

 pitch views the world, and keep it in mind while developing your pitch. The better
your pitch fits into their needs, perspectives, and desires, the greater your odds
of being successful (or even being listened to).
○ Step 4: The structure of the pitch ​ - Always formulate 3 levels of depth to pitching
your idea: 5 seconds, 30 seconds, 5 minutes. The 5 second version, also known
as the elevator pitch, is the most concise single sentence formulation of whatever
your idea is. Refine, refine, refine your thinking until you can say something
intelligent and interesting in a short sentence. The 30 second and 5 minute
versions should grow naturally out of the 5 second version. In 30 seconds,
there’s enough time to talk about how you’ll achieve what you described in 5
seconds, or provide specifics of the 2 or 3 most significant things about how the
effect described in the 5 second pitch will be achieved.
○ Step 5: Test the pitch ​ - The longer you spend with an idea, the more vulnerable
you are to your own ego. Get out of your office / cubicle / apartment, and go find
smart people you know to give you feedback.
○ Step 6: Deliver​ - TMake sure you spend some time preparing for a positive
response.

● When do we make pitches?

○ Colleagues​ - to argue for a technical direction

○ Management​ - to convince that your idea/project/approach is of value
○ Customers -​ to purchase your product, to fund your project, to change their
requirements
○ ALL THE TIME!

● What makes a successful pitch?

○ Know your objective​ - Provide a focused, succinct, statement of the value

Differentiate yourself from others who offer the same (or similar) value Include
how, specifically, you can provide it Justify the ability (and cost) of your team to
do the work Make it look good
○ Present at a level appropriate for your audience - K ​ now whom you're pitching to
and tailor your pitch accordingly. Even though you're pitching the same service or
product every time, you can't just memorize a few lines and go from there. Each
opportunity is different--you'll need to tailor how you pitch to the person you're
pitching to, the social situation, and his or her level of understanding and interest.
○ Predict and answer the audience’s (unspoken) questions ​- Understand the
person's needs and motivations. To hit the emotional level that will really make
your pitch fly, you need to understand just what motivates the person you're
pitching to and what his or her needs are.
○ Leave your audience with something positive they can remember

3 | ​Module 5 - Idea Pitching Based On Agreed-upon Themes or Problems

 ● Knowing your Audience

○ W ​ ​hat do you want them to learn

W
○ I What is their ​I​nterest in what you have to say
○ S How ​S​ophisticated are they
○ D How much ​De ​ tail do they want
○ O Whom do you want to ​O​wn the information
○ M How can you ​M​otivate them to listen to you

● The Elevator pitch

○ The idea of an elevator pitch is that it's short, just like an elevator ride. If
executed well, this short pitch will spark the curiosity of the client and encourage
them to ask more questions. Because of its brevity, an elevator pitch works great
when seeking investors
○ A short, simple description of your business idea that anyone could understand
by the time you ride up three floors in a typical elevator.
○ Purposeful verbal message as fast as a ride in an elevator (30 -120 seconds) in
understandable language – also for technology areas
○ A concise, carefully planned, and well-practiced “answer” about yourself, your
business, your firm, your project etc.

● Common Mistakes When Making Pitches

○ Misjudging your audience (their interests, background, requirements, etc.)

○ Not adequately motivating your idea Not helping the audience understand the
“big picture” of the area in which your product fits
○ Not covering existing alternatives and what specific novelty you are offering
○ Not presenting a realistic picture of how the cost of the project justifies its value

● Must Haves

○ Hook​ – statement or question that immediately piques the interest of the

recipient. Give people a “hook” by talking about something that really interests
them. The hook should grab the attention of the listener and set the stage for the
concept. Many ways to do this including identifying the problem/need you
address.
■ The hook should simply identify the pain you solve.
■ Tag lines can be used as a form of a hook
■ It must be succinct, to the point
■ Focus on one simple message

4 | ​Module 5 - Idea Pitching Based On Agreed-upon Themes or Problems

 ○ KISS​ - Kill the geek speak, Limit technical terms/details. Focus on customer
benefits, not technical benefits. Tell a story that paints a personal picture for your
audience
■ K​eep
■ I​t
■ S​imple
■ S​tupid
■ Example:
INEFFECTIVE: ​Our medical technology is the first automatic anesthetic
gas scavenging system that will scan patient’s using an anesthetic
vaporizer thus providing analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic techniques
similar to those used by National Laboratories in 2007, but that were
updated in 2011 to include the new immunology reports
EFFECTIVE: W ​ e provide the most accurate medical diagnostic
equipment available on the market.
○ Passion​ – if you are not excited about your business, no one else will be either
○ Request​ – Ask recipient for permission to call, a referral to others, or feedback
○ Short​ – assume you have less than a minute, and sometimes only time for a few
sentences

● Elevator Pitch Template

For​ (target customer) ​ who​ (statement of need or opportunity) ​the​ (product or

company name) ​ is a​ (product or company category) ​that​ (statement of key
benefit / compelling reason to buy).
Unlike​ (primary “competitive” alternative), ​our product ​(statement of primary
differentiation).
EXAMPLE
For ​users of the “pine” email client software on Unix
who​ need to easily find content in their past email correspondence
the​ “pine+” product
is an​ email client software
that​ is backwards compatible with “pine” and also free.
Unlike​ “pine” or other similar Unix-based email clients,
our product​ provides an intuitive way to annotate email messages with
keywords of the user’s choice in order to facilitate subsequent searching by using
one or more keywords in addition to the search functionality that “pine” offers.

5 | ​Module 5 - Idea Pitching Based On Agreed-upon Themes or Problems

Activities
ELA 5 - Idea Pitching (Activity Guide [​pdf​])
Review Quiz 5 [​Google Forms​]

Supplemental Content
Watch the following videos about “Idea Pitching” in Introduction to Engineering website
[ ​link​ ]

References
Berkun, S. (2005, February). ​How To Pitch an Idea.​ Scott Berkun.
https://scottberkun.com/essays/38-how-to-pitch-an-idea/
Business Pitch: Definition, Types & Importance​. (2017, October 27). Study.com.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/business-pitch-definition-types-importance.html
Haden, J. (2017, August 30). ​How to Pitch: 18 Steps to Create and Deliver a Winning
Pitch for Investors and Early Customers​. INC.COM.

6 | ​Module 5 - Idea Pitching Based On Agreed-upon Themes or Problems