Produce short scripts, tested on real people, that you can use straight away.
A short spoken script, like a quick introduction or a one-minute pitch, only works if it works on real people. A draft can look fine on paper or on your phone and still fail when you say it out loud, and you can't tell until someone has heard it. The fix is to time each script, try it on a few listeners, and revise it from what they remember.
You'll work with three drafts. The 10-second and 60-second introductions come from Lesson 9.1, "Introduce yourself without reciting your CV". The 60-second pitch comes from Lesson 9.2, "Pitch an idea in under a minute". If you haven't written them yet, go back to lessons 9.1 and 9.2 and write them first. Expect about twenty-five minutes of writing and practice, plus a few short conversations over the following days.
Put the three drafts side by side and check each against its structure. The 10-second introduction is who you are in one line, plus the problem you work on. The 60-second introduction is the 10-second content plus one concrete example and a question back to the listener. The 60-second pitch is the problem the listener cares about, your idea, why it will work, and a small, specific ask.
Arjun works in healthcare on why patients miss appointments and on a reminder trial. He has drafts of all three scripts, including a pitch to extend the reminder trial to more clinics. They look fine on his phone, but he has never tested them on anyone. At a team lunch, a new colleague asks what he works on, and his 10-second introduction comes out as a mumbled job title.
Say each script aloud with a timer running. The 10-second version should come in close to 10 seconds. The 60-second versions should come in under 60 seconds, ideally with a few seconds to spare. Keep cutting until they do. Arjun's first timings are 14 seconds, 72 seconds and 58 seconds. He cuts "senior" and the company name from the short introduction, which brings it to 9 seconds. He drops a line of background from the 60-second introduction, which brings it to 54 seconds. The pitch stays at 58 seconds, already under 60.
Over the next few days, find three people for each script. That is nine conversations in total, three scripts times three people, though some can overlap, since one person can hear more than one script, for example both your introduction and your pitch. Use natural moments where you can: a new colleague, a contact at an event, a friend who asks about your work. Test the pitch on people similar to your real intended listener, such as a colleague at the same level as the person you will eventually pitch to. If no natural moment comes up, ask someone directly to hear a short introduction and give you a reaction.
After each try, ask one question only: "What do you remember from that?" Don't ask whether it was good. People are polite, and "it was good" gives you no useful information, while asking what they remember shows you what actually landed. Write down each answer as close to the person's exact words as you can. A table works well, with one row per person and columns for the script, the person, and what they repeated back.
Once you have three tries for a script, compare what was remembered across them. Three patterns usually show up:
Parts everyone repeats are working. Keep them and consider moving them earlier. Parts nobody mentions are not landing. Cut them, or rewrite them in plainer words with a more concrete example. Parts repeated wrongly are confusing. Rewrite them and test them again.
When Arjun tests his 60-second introduction, all three listeners remember "why patients miss appointments", but none remembers the detail about Monday. Two of them ask what kind of healthcare group, which suggests he was too vague. He replaces the Monday detail with a simpler example and adds "private clinics" to his first line. With the pitch, one listener repeats the ask back as "you want a budget", although he asked for fifteen minutes. He rewrites the ask so the time request is explicit.
Revise each script once based on the patterns you see. If possible, try the revised version on at least one more person.
Save all three final scripts in one note in your phone's notes app, where you can find them quickly. Read them over before events, before meetings with new people, and on any day you might meet someone you want to pitch to.
Use at least one script for real before the month ends: at a meeting with a new team, a networking event, a client introduction, or a corridor conversation with someone senior. Afterwards, notice how it went and whether the person asked a follow-up question, which is the best sign that a short script has worked. Keep your table too, because it shows which of your words people actually remember and carry away.
You're finished when you have final timed versions of all three scripts, each tried on three people, the table of what each person remembered, and notes on what you changed and why. You also need at least one script used in a real meeting or event before the month ends.
Open your notes app now and put the three drafts in one place.
Try each of your three scripts on three people, revise them, and use one at a real meeting or event this month.
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