102 Elevator Pitch and Peer Review Professor Ramos Blog

102 Elevator Pitch and Peer Review Quick Write Quick Write Elevator pitch. Imagine you have one minute to present yourself and your ideas to someone who can implement your solution or make a change. What would you say in that one minute elevator ride to convince this person that your ideas are worthy of attention. You have ten floors to make a compelling case. Take a few minutes to figure out how to make your proposal professional, succinct, and interesting. Then, write it down. Introductions Writing Effective Introductions Introductions are very important. The link above has some great examples and explanations for writing introductions. Much like an elevator pitch, an introduction has to make a good impression, grab your reader’s interest, and make them want to keep reading. Take the elevator pitch you just wrote and figure out how to work it into your introduction. The elevator pitch can work as the intro, or add to your intro, to make a case for reading the rest of the essay. Proposal Notes For the Proposal, make sure you: Define the problem Recognize an audience Create, explain, and justify a plan of action. Persuade readers of the problem and proposed solution. Problem Solution Example â€Å"The Danger of a Single Story† by  Chimamanda Adichie. To quote a  CNN article on the Danger of a Single Story: Nigerian author Chimamanda Adichie believes in the power of stories, and warns that hearing only one about a people or nation leads to ignorance. She says the truth is revealed by many tales. She illustrates this with a story about coming to the United States, as a middle-class daughter of a professor and an administrator, and meeting her college roommate. Adichie says that her roommate’s â€Å"default position toward me, as an African, was a kind of patronizing, well-meaning, pity. My roommate had a single story of Africa. A single story of catastrophe.† Adichie also tells how growing up in Nigeria reading only American and English children’s books made her deaf to her authentic voice. As a child, she wrote about such things as blue-eyed white children eating apples, thinking brown skin and mangos had no place in literature. That changed as she discovered African writers, particularly the Nigerian Chinua Achebe. This is a great quote that highlights some of the moves we need to do in our article. It summarizes her topic, problem she is addressing, and solution; including examples she uses. Topic:  Many people do not realize that they are getting only one story. A single story is incomplete and she says dangerous. Problem:  Having a single story about an issue or group of people leads to stereotypes and incomplete information. Solution:  To look for multiple stories of whatever issue or topic you are hearing. She recommends we get our news and stories from multiple perspectives. Reasons and evidence:  She gives examples from her personal life to highlight that she has a personal connection. Background:  She gives background information, citing quotes and examples that place her issue in a historical context. She also uses current examples to place the issue in a contemporary context. Quick Write What is your plan of action for revising your essay?