You will produce tested short-form scripts you can use straight away.
Arjun had drafts of all three: a 10-second introduction, a 60-second introduction and a 60-second pitch for extending the reminder trial to more clinics. They looked fine on his phone. Then, at a team lunch, a new colleague asked what he worked on, and his 10-second version came out as a mumbled job title. The drafts had never been tested on anyone.
Short-form scripts only work if they work on real people. This exercise takes your three drafts from lessons 9.1 and 9.2, tests each one on three people, and revises them based on what those people remember. It takes about twenty-five minutes of writing and practice, plus a few short conversations over the following days.
Start with the three drafts. If you have not written them yet, go back to lesson 9.1, Introduce yourself without reciting your CV, and lesson 9.2, Pitch an idea in under a minute, and write them now.
Check each one against its structure. For the 10-second introduction: who you are in one line and the problem you work on. For the 60-second introduction: add one concrete example and a question back. For the 60-second pitch: the problem the listener cares about, your idea, why it will work and a small, specific ask.
Say each one aloud with a timer. The 10-second version should be close to 10 seconds. The 60-second versions should come in under 60, ideally with a few seconds to spare. Arjun's first timings were 14 seconds, 72 seconds and 58 seconds. He cut "senior" and the company name from his short introduction, and dropped a line of background from the long one, bringing them to 9 and 54 seconds.
Over the next few days, try each script on three people. That is nine conversations in total, though some can overlap: the same person can hear your introduction and your pitch.
Use natural moments where you can. A new colleague, a contact at an event, a friend who asks about work. For the pitch, try it on people similar to your real listener, such as a colleague at the level of the person you will eventually pitch to. If natural moments do not come up, ask directly: "Can I try a short introduction on you and get your reaction?"
After each one, ask a single question: "What do you remember from that?" Do not ask whether it was good. People are polite, and "it was good" tells you nothing. Asking what they remember tells you what actually landed.
Write down what each person says, as close to their words as you can. A simple table helps: one row per person, with columns for the script, the person, and what they repeated back.
Look at what people remembered across the three tries for each script. Three patterns usually show up.
Some parts get repeated by everyone. These are working. Keep them, and consider moving them earlier.
Some parts nobody mentions. These are not landing. Cut them, or rewrite them in plainer words with a more concrete example.
Some parts get repeated wrongly. These are confusing. Rewrite them, then test again.
Arjun's 60-second introduction: all three people remembered "why patients miss appointments", but nobody remembered the detail about Monday. Two people asked what kind of healthcare group, which suggested he had been too vague. He swapped the Monday detail for a simpler example and added "private clinics" to his first line. For his pitch, one listener repeated back the ask as "you want a budget", when he had asked for fifteen minutes. He rewrote the ask to make the time explicit.
Revise each script once, based on the patterns, and try the new version on at least one more person if you can.
Save the final versions of all three scripts in your phone's notes, in one note you can find quickly. Read them over before events, meetings with new people, or any day you might bump into someone you want to pitch to.
Then use one of them for real this month: in a meeting with a new team, at a networking event, in a client introduction, or in a corridor conversation with someone senior. Notice how it goes and whether the person asked a follow-up question. A follow-up question is the best sign that a short script has worked.
You are finished when you have final versions of your 10-second introduction, 60-second introduction and 60-second pitch, each timed and each tried on three people. Alongside them sits your table of what each person remembered, plus notes on what you changed and why. Before the month ends, at least one script should have been used in a real meeting or event. Keep the table, because it shows which of your words people actually carry away. Open your notes app now and put the three drafts in one place.
Try your three scripts on three people each, revise them, and use one in a real meeting or event this month.
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