he topic of this week’s learning segment is “The Art of Persuasion”. You will learn the ability to persuade others to understand your viewpoint and to agree with you.

Knowing how to convince people of your perspective is very important in business communications. As it says in your Week 5 syllabus description, “Persuasion requires more than the ability to mold an opinion; it requires the ability to inspire action.”

Think of a new product, idea or proposal to start a company you would like to have a Shark invest in. It can be real or imaginary.  For your Discussion post, you will be asked to imagine you are actually on “Shark Tank,” and are trying to get the sharks to invest in your idea, product, and/or company.

If you are not familiar with Shark Tank you can check this out to get a sense of how a pitch goes in this venue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq3fwHwgB9g

As you begin your readings, watching the videos, and thinking about your Discussion Post this week, I would like to offer you some items that you should consider including in your response:

• who you are (be personable when you introduce yourself; engage)
• include your name, the name of your company and the name of the product
• why you are here
• tell me my problem that you want to solve
• introduce your hook
• tell a story: empathy, get me interested (*I often lead with a story when I am pitching to hook my audience in.)
• describe your product or service
• mention its differentiating advantages
• use a pitch as described in this week’s reading material
• make up data and statistics: is the product in production; is the service being offered;  how many have you already sold; costs, profits, revenue, where (city, states, countries); how is it being used; consumer excitement, etc.
• tell me what you will do with the money you get from me, i.e. build the item or App, more marketing, build a factory, speed up production, hire more people, etc.
• describe your persuasive technique and why you chose it (from the reading)
• do not forget the ask or call to action; how much money you want and what percentage of the business you are offering them

Remember, you only have 1-2 minutes to make your “elevator pitch”. This is an imaginary scenario, so use your imagination with the product or service you have invented.

After your pitch, remember to tell us about the persuasive techniques you used and why you chose them. Please include the application of and references to both this week’s reading material and external sources.

Please have fun with this discussion and let your imagination run wild.

 RE: Week 5 DiscussionCOLLAPSE

Greetings, classmates, and Professor Elias: below is my shark tank pitch.

Hi, Sharks, my name is Hubert Brown. I am an impactor & entrepreneur; My goal is to leave a functional footprint on the world. And with your help- We can make it happen

My company Waterworks has discovered a new technology to test, filter, purify water on the go, and in the home at a price affordable to all. 

I am here today to seek your help in getting this new portable water filtration system in the hands of all worldwide.

We have a right to live in a world where food and clean water is accessible to every human on this planet. It is a human right that should not barter or compromised with the well-being of all. As of right now, 780 million people don’t have access to a quality water source (www.cdc.gov ) I want to fix that.

As a father, I think a lot about my kids and the world I want them to grow older in. It’s hard to relay the promises of the great wonders of this world when there are kids without the basic necessity of clean water. I read about people traveling miles by foot to access water that not even cleaned. I think of the diseases that people contract due to the lack of clean water. So, I thought about how I can use solar light combined with low Ultraviolet light to power and clean water from any source. This product will allow anyone, anywhere, and any point to use this product with the power of the sun, and the ultraviolet light to purify the water.

This Waterworks product is clear, portable, and lightweight. You can see the water filtration activate within three minutes. It can filter a gallon of water at a time. It also has a self-cleaning mode that allows for reuse. The product’s shelf life is five years. And you don’t have to change a filter within this system.

This water filtration system using the sun to operate, so the cost of using this product after purchase is free. It also leaves less of a carbon footprint on the environment. The low cost of manufacturing the outcome yields a higher margin.

It has been reported that up to 1.1 billion people lack access to clean water supply, including cities in the US. This lack of clean water has killed 1.8 million people a year. 94% of these deaths were preventable if they had access to clean water(World Health Organization 2007). So what I am asking you today is to be part of the statistic that helps decrease this preventable problem. My product Waterworks could help prevent those deaths. It is an affordable, portable watering system that uses the power of the sun and the UV rays from the sun to clean the water.

We are currently in production, as of right now we are manufacturing out of a small factory in Virginia. Due to the size of the factory, we are only able to produce 5,000 a day, and we need to produce a minimum of 50,000 a day to meet the need. We are currently working with the local governments in Cambodia, so far, we have provided them with a 100,000. The cost to manufacture this product is $3.00 per unit. We would like to sell the product for $9.99; therefore, it’s at a price point that is affordable and profitable for all. The bulk price per unit will be $6.00.

Your investment will allow us to grow into a much bigger facility, therefore allowing us to increase our product and distribution. 

Please join me if you want to help save lives and leave a lasting footprint on this water. Give the right to clean water to all with an investment of $500, 000.00 for 15% share of my company Waterworks.

Describe your persuasive technique, and why you chose it (from the reading), I used the persuasive technique of Social Proof. The idea behind Social Proof to appear the Social Awareness of how they could contribute as a whole to being part of the solution and not the problem. In this pitch, I want the Sharks to see themselves not just as investors, but has solver/contributors to the lack of clean water problem (Keller 2015) 

References:

Global Water, Sanitation, & Hygiene (WASH). Center for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/wash_statistics.html

Combating Waterborne Diseases at the Household Level. World Health Organization. 2007. Part 1.

Keller, Larry. The Science of Persuasion. 2015. https://www.success.com/the-science-of-persuasion/

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