Pitch Your Story

Explain to students that journalists have to PITCH stories to their editors or bosses to get their approval to work on a piece. These pitches have to be quick, detailed, and compelling in order to convince editors that the story is worth the time and investment.

Explain that a PITCH is…

• A description of what your story might be and WHY it’s important
• An outline of your story idea and the steps to achieve your goal
• A summary of what you hope to accomplish in your story

Estimated time to complete: 20 Minutes

STEP 1: Ask students if they have ever “pitched” a plan to anyone. They may not be sure if they have. Then ask students if they have ever tried to convince a parent or teacher to let them do something (go to a friend’s house, sign up for a sport or activity, get an extension on an assignment, etc.). Young people are actually pitching all the time!

STEP 2: Ask for a student volunteer to talk briefly about a time they successfully pitched a plan to someone. What made their pitch successful?

• Did they include important details (who/what/when/where)?
• Were they quick to the point?
• Did they include why their plan/request mattered--why they cared and why the other person should care too?

STEP 3: Ask students what similar (or different) elements a journalist might include when pitching a story to an editor.

Answer: a news pitch includes:

• What is the STORY? (beginning, middle, end, plus conflict and resolution)
• Who are the CHARACTERS and why are they ideal for the story?
• Why is the story IMPORTANT and interesting? (i.e. newsworthy)
• Is producing the story DOABLE?

Ask students what they think an elevator pitch is.

Answer: a pitch that could be delivered during a short elevator ride (30 seconds or less)

Estimated time to complete: 30 Minutes

STEP 1: Break students up into their production groups (unless students will be producing stories by themselves).

STEP 2: Give students five minutes to brainstorm and make notes about how they could turn their story ideas into elevator pitches.

STEP 3: Ask groups to choose one member to present.

STEP 4: Ask one student in the class to be the timekeeper and put 30 seconds on the clock.

Each presenter has 30 seconds to give their story pitch to the class and must stop when the timer goes off.

After each pitch, ask the rest of the class these questions about the presented pitch.

• Is this a STORY? What is it?
  • Does it have a beginning, middle, and end?
  • What is the conflict? The resolution?
• Who are the CHARACTERS and why are they ideal for the story?
• Why is the story IMPORTANT and interesting? (i.e. newsworthy)
  • Will people care about this?
  • Will the audience learn anything from this story?
• Lastly, is producing the story DOABLE? Will students be able to really produce this piece in the time allowed?

STEP 5: After the pitch presentations, give groups the SRL PITCH TEMPLATE. Students should make a copy then take their time filling this out, making it as strong as they can, based on the feedback they received from their classmates.

Optional: Once students have started production, do the elevator pitch activity again. Practicing their elevator pitch at any time in the process can always help students figure out the best direction and the real heart of their story.

During the next week or so, or whenever they are ready to get started on their pitch, students should do as much RESEARCH as they can.

• Read about their story’s topic.
• Talk with potential interview subjects to confirm that they are willing and able to participate.
• Do pre-interviews with your subjects (see Art of the Interview) to learn more about them and their story.

REVISE your SRL PITCH SHEET as you learn more information about the topic, story, and characters.

Remind students a pitch is just a plan. It’s very likely things will change once you start reporting and filming. That’s okay! Having a solid plan will help you as you make choices along the way.

Estimated time to complete: 10 Minutes

Ask students: Why is it important to create a pitch before you start producing or writing a story?

Ask students: How can sharing your pitch with other people help make your story stronger?

Estimated time to complete: 5 - 10 min

Self-reflection is important. Distribute copies of the Exit Ticket for Pitch Your Story.