Elevator pitch
Lesson plan overview
This Business English lesson will help students craft an elevator pitch. It is useful for students who are looking for a job, or to change jobs, entrepreneurs, salespeople, and freelancers. Other lessons you might find interesting are “Small talk”, “Communication styles: assertive vs aggressive”, “Dress for success“, “Phrasal verbs: communication”, and “Phrasal verbs: convincing and persuading”.
The lesson starts with a few conversation questions about introducing yourself in business contexts and first impressions.
Reading: Students read 4 different elevator pitches and then come up with their own definitions of what an elevator pitch is. Then they match the pitches to the role the person has (an entrepreneur, a job seeker, a non-profit leader, a freelancer).
Speaking: Students discuss 5 questions about elevator pitches.
Vocabulary: Students look at adjectives that are commonly used to describe effective and ineffective pitches, as well as how people should deliver their pitch (e.g. persuasive, boring, compelling, generic, concise, confusing, engaging, memorable, lengthy, disorganized). Then they practice the adjectives, discussing 3 talking points given.
After that students learn 5 collocations with the word “pitch” (craft a pitch, tailor a pitch, rehearse a pitch, nail a pitch), and complete a gap-fill practice activity.
Listening: Students watch a video called “Elevator pitch example – How to create a personal elevator pitch”, and fill a table with information from the video.
Functional language: Students learn expressions to help them craft their elevator pitch, related to talking about your passion, mission and vision, accomplishments, target audience, and including a call to action.
Writing and speaking: Students are given a template in order to craft their elevator pitch After completing the task, they practice delivering their pitch in pairs or small groups.
Finally, students look at 3 ways to practice your elevator pitch, and discuss which one they like most.
To review the target vocabulary, and include more speaking practice, you can use the conversation cards.
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Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Pre-class activities
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In-class activities
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Additional resources
Each video-based lesson plan includes links to additional resources (videos and articles), which are FREE can be found online (in the pre-class activities page. These links aim to extend the learning experience, enabling students to connect classroom knowledge with real-world applications.
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Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
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