New Assignment: “Pitcher Perfect”
Pitcher Perfect
Group E (-03) proposes a business pitch assignment for future students to exercise the core concepts of group communication. In order to make money, businesses typically have a focus group or project group to collaborate and come up with the most successful presentation of their product and its benefits to investors. Students will be split into groups and act as if they are this sort of group for a business coming up with a new product (and experience several concepts covered by the text). The goal is to have the rest of the class hypothetically invest in your group, because in the end only one group will be chosen!
Throughout the process, which may take half the semester or the whole length, short blog posts can be assigned in which the students report how the topics covered in that week’s lecture were reflected in their group work. For instance, the first one may be about group development: how the forming stage was exemplified, and so on.
The course concepts to be clearly experienced include decision making (voting, consensus, etc),
- Brainstorming/creativity
- Decision making (voting, consensus, etc.)
- Verbal and nonverbal communication (in order to assure a successful pitch, groups put a great deal of planning into how they should present themselves come presentation day: speaking style/language, personal experience, etc.)
- Listening differences (they must be kept in mind so the group can be sure their target audience will accept their presentation)
- Presentation in groups
Instructions:
- Individually, think of what people today—primarily your classmates and instructor—want or need in their lives. You will come up with plenty of ideas.
- As a group, decide which one of those ideas you wish to put your efforts into. The goal is to have your product supported by the majority of the audience so it may launch into production!
- Create a presentation to convince the audience to support your group. This may include a power point, a model, a display board, or etcetera. Choose a medium that you feel best displays your group’s intentions and your product/ideas clearly. You want your product sold, and this is how to achieve that.
Grading
Although the goal is to have your product chosen, grading will depend on the completion of blog posts throughout the course of the assignment, group cohesion, clear presentation of the product (both through language and visual aid), and keeping the presentation within the determined timeframe.
