Adding to your Introduction, Current Situation, and Qualifications sections due today, you will want to focus on the Project Plan and Methodology and Conclusion/Cost-Benefit Analysis.

The Project Plan is written out in sentences and paragraphs. It creates a narrative for how the proposal will be realized into a real project or service. You will explain what is step one, what does it require to be done, and how will you know that step one is completed. Then, you do the same with step two, three, etc. until you arrive at a testing methodology for ensuring your prototype works/solves the problem. Finally, you explain how you take what was learned in the testing methodology to produce your proposed service or product.

The Conclusion should explain what costs there are to the company or investors to create the product or service, and what benefits there are to the company or investors from creating the product or service. To be convincing, you will need to explain how the benefits outweigh the costs.

The final layout of your document should take this form:

• Introduction
• Current Situation
• Project Plan and Methodology
• Qualifications
• Conclusion: Cost/Benefit Analysis
• Works Cited (most of these sources will likely inform your current situation)

Use headings and subheadings as you see fit to make your document easier to read and follow. Remember to begin with a cover page.

At the beginning of our next class, turn in a printed copy of your complete proposal document. Each student will have an opportunity to give a 60 second pitch of his or her proposal to the class. After all students complete their pitches, you will have a chance to form teams around a proposal selected from your team members to complete the next deliverables in the class.

The pitch is your chance to sell your idea and yourself in a single moment. As you can imagine, many opportunities might begin by happenstance. Having a pitch always at the ready might open a door for you that you will only get that one chance to realize because your pitch is ready to deliver at the right time, to the right person, in the right way (briefly and to the point).

Your pitch should include these things:

• Who are you and where are you affiliated (school or job)?
• What is your idea?
• USP (unique selling proposition)
  • 1-2 key features
  • differentiation from other products or services
• Why is it important/worth investing in?
• What are the benefits and results?
• Avoid too much jargon.
• Keep it simple, direct, and without excess/filler words.
• The 60 second time limit will be imposed.

You can find some examples of elevator pitches here, here, and here.

Bottom line: practice your pitch before coming into class!