What students do
A team plays a small business with something to sell and a specific ask. They prepare a five-minute pitch and deliver it to an audience, a buyer, lender, or panel, played by a facilitator or another team. The audience does not just listen: it raises real objections from an objection deck, and the team handles them live. Then judges score the pitch and run a debrief.
The skill it builds
Persuasion. Translating features into benefits in the audience's terms, handling objections without getting defensive or caving on price, and closing with a specific, low-risk ask.
Benefits, not features.
A beginner pitches what they love: tasty, all-natural, locally made. But a buyer does not buy features, they buy outcomes for themselves, more margin, faster sales, less risk. Every pitch is built so the audience's real priorities are not what the pitcher is tempted to talk about, and the objection deck forces the team to confront them. Pitch your features and you lose; pitch the buyer's margin, velocity, and risk and you win.
- Their priorities, not yoursLead with the benefit that matters to the buyer.
- Handle the objectionReframe the real concern without caving on price.
- Close low-riskMake the yes specific, small, and easy to approve.
Fair, and the same shape every time.
Four criteria, 25% each, scored live as the pitch and the objections unfold.
A strong opening in the buyer's world, and an instantly clear ask.
Leads with margin, velocity, and risk, turning every feature into a benefit.
Calm, honest, reframes the real concern without caving.
A specific, low-risk, time-bound ask that is easy to approve.