Interview

The Elevator Pitch Training Experience

Interview

with Igen Debrecen participants at Kazánház, following John’s Elevator Pitch training.

Igen Debrecen is a practice-based innovator and start upper course. The 12-week course focuses on teamworking and provides training in useful entrepreneurial practices to the residents of Debrecen who are looking for self- and team-development. Their distinctive value is in cooperation and building an entrepreneurial community, and they believe that with responsible and effective teamwork successful businesses are born.

Dénes Zombori

Hello Dénes, please introduce your team’s project to us!

Hello everyone, I am Dénes Zombori, one of the four members of the Lookin team. (www.facebook.com/lookin2014). Lookin is a mobile application enabling its users to find out what is happening in clubs in real-time from uploaded photos. It means that those who install our application will be able to search for clubs within a specific area to see what their atmosphere is like. Our goal is to put an end to the uncertainty people feel when deciding where to go to have fun. Without our app, people have been wandering around, visiting 4 or even 5 different clubs a night, standing in lines and wasting money on entrance fees.

Revellers who take a lot of pictures when they are enjoying themselves just need to upload the photo(s) of their choice to the application and from these photos people can easily decide which club to go to.

A trial version is already available in Google Play and our team is continuously working on developing the application further. It’s important to note that the app is not just for the people of Debrecen. People will be able to use it all around the world, from Los Angeles to Tokyo.

What did today’s training give you?

Since we are planning on entering the international market soon, it was very useful for us that the training was in English. Regarding the training itself, it was a great opportunity for us to clarify our main idea. The members of the Lookin team met here in the Igen Debrecen course for the first time. This means that we are in the process of getting to know each other’s personality and work style. Besides, the idea of this app is so new to us that there are a lot of different directions we can take. Preparing our elevator pitch was a perfect opportunity for us to clarify what we want. In addition, by standing in front of a camera, we had a great opportunity to make a conscious effort to use what we learnt and practiced during the training. It was very exciting. We’ve heard about the tools of nonverbal communication before, but today we had the chance to practice the use of these tools and more: to prepare what we want to say in English and emphasize our message with gestures, posture and voice.

Preparing our elevator pitch was a perfect opportunity for us to clarify what we want.

What did you find the most useful from today’s session?

For me that was the opportunity to practice what we have learnt. In addition, John’s personality and the way he delivered the training provided a great example to all of us on how to present ideas.

László Szabó, Dénes Zombori, György Tordai, László Mészáros

Ágnes Bujdosó

Hello Ágnes, please introduce your team’s project to us!

Hello, I am Ágnes Bujdosó. I work on the DebrecenHUB project (http://debrecenhub.hu/ , https://www.facebook.com/debrecenhub) within the Igen Debrecen course. Basically, DebrecenHUB is a coworking office. What we are working on is the creation of a special environment for working and more. Our aim is to provide networking opportunities, inspiration and freedom to young entrepreneurs, knowledge workers, startups and freelancers in a 21st century office space with additional services.

Anyone will be able to use this inspiring atmosphere to work on their own projects even for an hour a day. Of course, the office is equipped with all the necessary machines. Besides, our basic and premium services contribute to business development. By holding training sessions, organising cultural and business events, DebrecenHUB offers not just a room for growth and improvement, but also countless opportunities to make valuable connections.

…DebrecenHUB offers not just a room for growth and improvement, but also countless opportunities to make valuable connections.

What did you think of today’s training?

This training was very helpful for me. Although I have given presentations many times, today I had the chance to squeeze all my thoughts into a minute which was quite a challenge. I found what we learnt here about vocal and visual communication very useful. The best thing about John’s training was that it was absolutely practice-oriented. In these two hours, John managed to bring dry theory alive. Usually, trainings on presentation techniques start with the explanation of what communication is etc. However, John didn’t do that. In fact, he demonstrated everything and, as a result, we managed to write and prepare for our pitch in two hours which was an amazing experience. It became clear for us that although the result is a one-minute speech, it takes a lot of effort and hard work to make that minute perfect.

What will you take away from this two-hour session?

I think it is the importance of volume when speaking while using appropriate gestures to support your message. It was very intriguing for me to see how we can use pauses to emphasize keywords.

Bence Varga, Ágnes Bujdosó, Arnold Gulyás, Imre Töviskes

Péter Bojtos

Hello Péter, please introduce your team’s project to us!

Hello, I am Péter Bojtos, member of the “Connector” team (http://mindensync.com).

Our Startup is building a European eCommerce integration service/platform. We aim to integrate all major eCommerce solutions used in the EU. We provide a solution for SMEs who are using various different software products at the same time but facing a problem because one software is unable to communicate with the other (such as WebShops, ERPs, billing and booking systems, delivery and payment solutions, etc.). Basically, anything with an API or some sort of data import/export ability.

We are creating a connection between the different types of software so that communication can become possible among them. As a result, the very same data can be handled from the various programs without the need for entering the data separately to each and every one. This way companies can save a lot on their resources. For instance, there is no need for an admin assistant to enter the same data into three different systems. Instead, they can create more value by simply working on more important tasks.

Our project helps software developer companies as well. The software developed by them will be able to work with other solutions without these companies using their own resources to the same end. Yet they will have their own development made more compatible with other programs.

What’s your opinion about today’s training?

I really liked it. It clarified for me what pitching is all about. In addition, we learnt practical tricks that you cannot learn from books. During the training, we practiced a lot which helped the numerous presenting techniques sink in.

When pitching we have to be somewhat like performers …

What was the one thing you heard today and found most useful?

For me, that was to dare to perform. When pitching we have to be somewhat like performers who are not afraid of using things such as their voice, body and eye contact.

Ákos Barta, István Almási, Péter Bojtos, László Mudrony

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