60 Second Business Pitch Step 1: CERCA Organizer

Scenario: Each person in the class will create a 60 second persuasive pitch informing the
class of their business idea they have developed. You will use evidence to persuasively
communicate that you have a successful business idea. The class will be representing
investors interested in helping your company and will vote on the ideas they feel are most
likely to succeed. Last year, I (Mr. Harwin) attended a conference with Kevin O'leary from
the television show Shark Tank. He stated that if an entrepreneur cannot get their idea
across in the first 60 seconds, they are unlikely to ever receive an investment. Complete the
organizer below to help you develop the content of your business pitch because you will
only have 60 seconds to persuade the class of your idea.

Instructions:
Step 1: Learning the CERCA Model.
CERCA is a model used to develop informative and argumentative critical thoughts.
It helps you to make sure you are considering your audience and how to best inform
or persuade them of the topic you are covering. The breakdown for how the CERCA
model will work in this business pitch presentation is below.
C Stands for Claim
● What are you claiming? (example: Your business will be a successful idea
because ….)
E Stands for Evidence
● What evidence do you have to support your claim? (You should have a
minimum of 2 sources of evidence. Evidence can be a fact, statistic, claim
from a source other than your own opinion)
R Stands for Reasoning
● Reasoning-Explaining why your evidence supports that you have a successful
business idea.
C Stands for Counter Argument
● Counter Argument-What concerns will the audience have about your
business idea. How can you use evidence to eliminate those concerns?
A Stands for Audience Appropriateness
● Audience Appropriateness- Your audience for this presentation is investors.
This means the language you pick for your presentation and how you say it
needs to appeal to this audience

Step 2: Use the organizer below to help you think through using the CERCA model for your
business idea.
Claim: ____Generative A.I______ Will be successful because it ____High deman_________, and _____Less capital expense______.

Reason 1: High demand Reason 2:

Evidence: Evidence:
Primary and/or secondary data that supports your claim.

“54% of organizations are seeing cost savings

and efficiencies from using AI in IT, business,
or network processes. 52% are seeing
improvements in IT or network performance.
48% are seeing a better customer experience.
67% of executives do not expect generative AI
to significantly disrupt their industry.”

Source of Data:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&
source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjy_IGVs_SDAxVtC3kG
HYrHANQQFnoECBEQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fblog
.hootsuite.com%2Fartificial-intelligence-statistics%2F
%23%3A~%3Atext%3D54%2525%2520of%2520org
Source of Data: anizations%2520are%2520seeing%2Cto%2520signifi
https://images.app.goo.gl/Jae2gE2Ad9GRvtsf7 cantly%2520disrupt%2520their%2520industry.&usg
=AOvVaw1mFdQwDPkRkI7xpH0GIvxg&opi=89978449

Reasoning
How does this evidence support why your business will be
successful?
The graph succinctly encapsulates the expansion of A.I
market size. It accentuates the high probability of getting
success in this business by showing the growth of market
size.
Reasoning
How does this evidence support why your business will
be successful?
The evidence clearly elucidates how most of the
companies are profiting by using A.I. It clearly implies
that the business of producing A.I by using A.I would
derive tons of profits because there would not be any
any employee charges, or almost no employee charges.
Counterargument :
Who are your competitors? How are you better/different from them?

Source of data:

Why might some say this business concept wont be successful? How can you use evidence to
answer these questions?

Source of data:

Communication

4 3 2 1
Exceeds Mastery Demonstrated Approaching Mastery Developing
Mastery Functional Skills

Students persuasively Students effectively Students adequately Students moderately

Communicate their Communicate their Communicate their Communicate their
objective objective objective objective

Essential criteria for mastery:

Follows the CERCA model:
● Claim: You are claiming that you have a successful business idea
● Evidence: You need to find a minimum of two types of secondary evidence to support
why your concept is the best
● Reasoning: Explain how each type of evidence makes your business idea a successful
one
● Counter Argument: Addressed at least one concern an investor would have about
your business supported by evidence
● Audience Appropriateness: Your audience is investors, so the vocab and visuals
should be professional