Why?
In some editions of iTeams, we get the unique chance of presenting some projects and inspiring a group of inquisitive middle schoolers from the Shady Hill School in Cambridge.
We started in 2020 with Erin Breva, our honorary TA that year, as the MC for the event. It turned out to be the kind of thing that helped us all make the pandemic more manageable.
At first glance, this is a great opportunity for community service: helping up-and-coming generations understand technology for its potential to help us solve problems. But as you’ll soon discover, you stand to benefit more than you think from this preparation.
Not every time you explain a project is it to lure investors. In fact, if your project is worth your time, the so-called “elevator pitch” is the rarest of the presentations you’ll do. While researching your idea, you’ll find yourself in need to discuss it with people who may be curious about what you’re up to. Maybe someone will ask you what you’re up to these days at a social event. Or you’ll have to describe what your company does to potential hires, advisors, and collaborators.
So how do you explain the problem you solve and how in a casual conversation? As a simple response to the question “what are you up to?” And how do you do that in a clever enough way to trigger a valuable and fruitful conversation with people that just happen to be experts at something else? You stand to discover a whole new area of opportunity if you learn to explain your hunch to an unassuming audience.
It turns out that if you prepare to describe your concept genuinely through storytelling and you assume your audience really wants to ask questions, you’ll succeed every time. Even with investors. And that’s what you’ll get to practice while you inspire nearly 300 middle schoolers.
Presentation Guidelines
You may have to work hard to shake off the MIT-startup-obsession handicap: not everything is a pretend-pitch to pretend-investors. Here’s how,
- Aim to make yourself understood by using straightforward language. (Unexplained jargon is your enemy!)
- Distinguish what’s known from what isn’t.
- Aim for a storytelling tone. (Humans love stories much like plants love music!)
- You’ll speak to highly impressionable, critical-thinking minds that are young but not stupid. Talk to them as you would to adults in training. They have less experience but are skilled at genuine direct questioning if you approach this task with the same genuine attitude.
Here’s a list of questions to think about as you prepare your presentation and visuals:
- Consider the problem you want solved. Why is it a problem? Why is it interesting? Why is it worth solving? What’s the story you’re about to tell?
- Which technologies did you get to work on? What makes them cool?
- How is it that we will get to solve that intriguing problem with these cool technologies?
- How will we go from here to there? How hard will it be? What needs doing? It’ll only take 7 years.
- What else can be done with these technologies? What will the world look like once we are done? That’s the world your audience will grow into. What will be possible then? What can they do to know more? Why did you choose to work on this?
You should aim to address all these questions in about two minutes. So you’ll need to prepare well, rehearse a lot, and include visuals. Mind that good presentations invite good questions, no matter the audience. So make it a point to practice storytelling with family and friends.
Good Reference for Storytelling
If you want to know more about effective presentation and storytelling, check out the video of Patrick Winston’s Legendary “How to Speak” Lecture:
