Students with any major can participate in the entrepreneurial Springboard Elevator Pitch competition.

The elevator pitch is a two-minute persuasive sales pitch of an original product or business and this year’s Audience Choice winners could win $500.

The concept behind an elevator pitch came from the idea that a person only has the time that it takes an elevator to go from the bottom floor to the top to sale their idea to a potential investor.

Karen Heflin, Springboard program coordinator, shares a YouTube video to all those who might be interested in participating in the competition. The video is presented by Chris Westfall, a motivational speaker, entrepreneur and author, who discusses all the components needed in an elevator pitch to capture an investor. “It is a message that focuses on you, your story, and your unique value proposition,” said Westfall in the video when describing the elevator pitch.

Teams will be made up of 1-2 people that will present their elevator speech, 15-16 teams are expected to compete this year.

There will be 10-15 judges this year that will be made up of alumni and friends of the university with entrepreneurial experience.

In the second and final round the audience will take part in judging as well, they will be asked to vote for their favorite team. The team that receives the majority vote from the audience will win the audience favorite award.

The first round will take place Nov. 9 and 10, a participant will attend just one of the times to compete in first round. The second round will take place Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. and will be open to the public.

Deadline to register is Nov. 9 at 5 pm. If interested you can email griggscenter@acu.edu.

“Entrepreneurs come from all fields, if your art and design and you want to start a graphic design firm, you are an entrepreneur .” said Heflin.

Watch the full video by Chris Westfall here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7FYli5nOeg