Practise your Elevator pitch with Family & friends
WORK SHEET 11
Do you admire those successful networkers at conferences who charm others with anecdotes about their research, their latest interim reports or even a great breakthrough? Do you want to win potential new cooperation partners, employers or funders with your eloquence? You can practise this with interested laypeople who are well-disposed toward you. Your own family and friends can provide optimal training grounds here. Have fun doing this.
Duration 15 min
At the next family reunion or the next virtual call with your friends, tell them about your latest research findings.
Beforehand, think about answering the following questions:
- What have I (and my team) found out?
- What does this mean to my scientific community?
- What does it mean to the person in front of me now or in the future (“If you at any time do …, then you can now …”)?
- Which problem have you solved for society?
Try out different variations.
Checklist:
- Prepare at least one “So what?” argument (What does my research mean to society and thus the person in front of me?)
- Use at least one anecdote to illustrate what I say
- Use everyday objects to explain things, e.g. cutlery, crockery, fruit, matches (whatever lies around at your familiy reunions and parties)
Congratulations!
Date: September 2020
Questions, comments and notes are welcome at open-science@zbw.eu