Breaking the Patterns of Social Anxiety with Elevator Pitch Practice
Are you noticing yourself feeling awkward in social situations lately? You’re not alone. If you’re like most people across the globe, you have been deprived of spontaneous social interactions for about a year now because of the pandemic.
To help bring people’s public speaking skills out of atrophy, we invited Tech Square ATL (TSQATL) Social Club members to a socially-distanced evening at The Clubhouse for Elevator Pitch Practice. Drawing best practices from ultimate presenter Steve Jobs (whose birthday also happened to be that day,) we challenged three members to pitch about something they didn’t know much about – or interact with – until that evening.
After initial introductions, bolstered by a glass of wine, the willing pitch practitioners were asked to pick from a selection of miscellaneous items to do a one-minute pitch about. The unlikely selection of objects included a NASA space helmet, a Tin Can Robot, an Astronaut Ice Cream Sandwich, and an Etch-A-Sketch.
As you would expect from a TSQATL Social Club member, the pitches were equal parts imaginative and informative. After each round, everyone shared feedback on what each practitioner did well, and what they could work on to improve. Here are some soundbytes from the pitch practitioners about their experience:
"It was fun and a bit nerve-wracking! [I got to practice] how to improvise storytelling and connect with new people."
— Shu Jiang, Georgia Tech Graduate Research Assistant, DARPA Subterranean Challenge
"This event was an opportunity for me to see my strengths and weaknesses while I pitch. I was able to learn about the importance of leading with the problem I'm solving to keep the audience engaged. I got to meet others in the community and [I was challenged] to use my imagination and get creative [for my pitch]!"
"I learned how to connect with the audience and remembered how to give different vocal ranges when speaking. [I also] got the chance to learn more about other members."
— Andrew Choi, Software Application Developer, Alexander Babbage
Because of the long period of “unsocial” times we’ve had, it can be difficult to meet new people and make the effort to catch up with those who we already know. Zoom happy hour fatigue is real, and while masked interactions are far from normal circumstances, making the effort to show up may be difficult – but worth it for our collective wellness. As communal beings, we have a biological need to be social — it’s literally hardwired in our DNA.
Our community events are a great way to start easing your way back into social interactions safely and with more confidence. Whether it’s powering up with coffee for a quick Mario Brothers game or putting your memorization skills to the test, there’s something for every comfort level or topic of interest for members and Tech Square-curious people like yourself.
What creative or professional skills are you curious about sharpening or picking up? Let us know in the comments below.
DID YOU KNOW?
The average elevator only moves at about five to 22 miles per hour. The length of the average elevator ride in New York City is 118 seconds.