A couple of posts ago I highlighted the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine’s (CIRM’s) elevator pitch challenge for its fund recipients. I linked to
CIRM’s #sciencepitch web page that contains links to the grantees’ videos. But I failed to draw your attention to the video on the front page that depicts CIRM’s Director of Public Communications, Kevin McCormack, introducing the challenge. He asks, “Do people’s eyes glaze over when talk about your research?” and “Do reporters hang up on you when you talk about your work?” Check out the video for amusing scenes of researchers struggling to hold a co-worker’s or a reporter’s attention. Do Extension advocates ever struggle in the same way?
In the video, McCormack offers tips for constructing an effective pitch: make the pitch “short, simple, clear, articulate, informative, engaging, even entertaining.” All of those adjectives could apply to an effective public value message for an Extension program, with a few more suggestions shown in the slide below
