Speaking Visually
Hello and welcome to Speaking Visually, the online arts integrated modules that address the need for learners to develop 21st century literacy skills including: visual, critical thinking, and creativity skills. To learn more about this venture you can view the elevator pitch and review the venture pitch.
Elevator Pitch
Venture Pitch
You’ll also find a reflection that addresses some of the strengths and weaknesses of Speaking Visually.
Posted in: Venture Forum
vawells 4:14 pm on July 30, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Claire
I really enjoyed viewing your elevator pitch. The images and music were beautiful and held my attention throughout the pitch. Your idea is original and certainly would have a niche in our education system. One suggestion that I think would improve your elevator pitch would be delivering your pitch in person on the video. This would, I think lend more credibility to the CEO, and give investors a chance to see firsthand your commitment and passion for your venture.
Good luck with your future ventures
Valerie
Claire Burgoyne 11:25 am on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Thanks for your suggestion Valerie.
There’s much to consider in preparing a presentation. After viewing many of the presentations in the venture forum I have to say having video of the CEO does add credibility. To improve my pitch a blending of images and video of me presenting might be a good solution.
Claire
janetb 8:14 am on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Claire,
Your elevator pitch worked. Your proposal is so far out of my area of expertise, that I watched the elevator pitch three times before I caught on to what the venture was about (not because you didn’t explain it well, but because I am so unfamiliar with art education). That speaks volumes about your elevator pitch because even though I didn’t understand at first, it made me want to watch again and figure it out. In fact, it really worked because I went on to read your venture pitch.
Your venture clearly outlines a need in the art education market and identifies why your solution will meet that need in a unique way. You have a well laid out plan for marketing and the personal credentials you have outlined give me confidence that you can lead this venture. Your overall plan for development was comprehensive – I appreciated how you explained the proposed teacher to student ratio and at which points you would need additional teachers, admin and tech support. It is clear that your venture is well thought out and extremely organized. It was a pleasure to read.
I think this venture has real merit. After reading your proposal, you have me convinced that there is a need in the education system, but I am somewhat concerned that it might be a hard sell to school districts or students who may not see that need. Finding the right angle and venue for marketing it would be key to its success.
Overall, an impressive proposal.
Janet
Claire Burgoyne 11:49 am on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Janet,
I agree that generally speaking districts don’t pay a great deal of attention to art education. However, with the current trend toward personalized learning and the push for educational reforms, they are paying attention to options that contribute to students developing 21st century skills. I can see that a marketing goal needs to be to very quickly communicate that this venture goes well beyond offering art instruction and describe how modules are designed to aid students in gaining the skills they need for success in the conceptual age.
Claire
Leonora Zefi 7:07 pm on July 31, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
What a unique idea Claire!!! The stats you provided added “weight” and made the venture concept more appealing.
An in-person pitch would have been even more impactful. I myself filmed two versions, one just voice and then another one with video but finally decided to use the video version.
Concept and team
The venture concept “a solution to enhance visual literacy” is very clearly articulated.
The detailed information about team roles and the thinking behind supporting the future growth convey confidence and competence in carrying out the plan successfully.
Marketability
I like the idea of tying this to essential skills because that to me sounds promising in terms of market opportunities. The competition is well researched – my only suggestion would be to probably elaborate a bit more on what differentiates Speaking Visually from the competition.
Venture Plan
A very well thought-out plan Claire. As an investor I would have liked to see a larger profit share and if not possible then maybe a rationale would be helpful.
Great work.
Leonora
Claire Burgoyne 11:57 am on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Leonora,
I appreciate your comments and agree that some in-person segments would improve my pitch. I actually began by creating a video of myself but it didn’t seem to fit my venture idea so I switched to presenting images and me speaking. Now that I’ve had more opportunity to reflect I think a combination of in-person video and visuals would have worked well.
As I understand it an investor is looking for a return equal to or greater than the initial investment. I might not be clear on that though. It would be helpful for me to participate in discussion regarding expectations in that area.
Claire
chrisaitken 12:12 am on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Claire
I really like this idea. I have always thought, that with the recent improvements to web-based digital media, that high quality education in fine arts would become possible. I got the sense from your elevator pitch that a quality learning experience would be offered.
My hesitation regarding this venture and other tuition based ventures surrounds facing the emerging competition from Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCS). There are some major university partnerships in the US such as the $60 million dollar edX partnership of MIT and Harvard. I would need to know more about how this service would be differentiated from existing MOOCs and platforms like Udemy and Coursera which are attracting the big universities.
Claire Burgoyne 12:11 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Chris,
Whenever the idea of selling online courses comes up so too does the fact that some of the major universities offer open online courses. It’s my understanding that what these courses offer is content. While they include video instruction and demonstration, they are in fact the equivalent of online texts. The modules I’m marketing are designed for learning communities and the construction of knowledge. My approach is to encourage learners to pull content rather than having content pushed at them. Each module encourages students to be creative as they define problems and work collaboratively to find logical solutions. Once they’ve arrived at a solution or solutions the next task is to go beyond spoken or written forms of communication and use visual forms to articulate their findings.
Claire
ping 11:52 am on August 1, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Claire,
I really like your elevator pitch, which is so engrossing and passionate. It does work to lead me into your venture proposition, though I wish there could be a few key words in the pictures to give me a quick idea of the story behind (forgive my poor hearing).
I love the cover of your venture pitch. That shows a great sense of art. I have no doubt that your credit and capability can make you a qualified leader for this venture. I would hope to see a clearer story for how the “visual” and “speaking” parts work together. Do students orally speak out opinions for presented pictures, or do they “speak” in the form of visual pieces? What kind of arts can be considered as “ill-defined”? Does the “illness” mean in art sense or in social sense? In my understanding (not professional), art is perceptual which values creativity and innovation, how to associate it with very rational “problem solving” and “critical thinking”? I think you have a very thorough plan for operating the venture, including human resources, but I would like to see a more detail description of your potential users. In the competition paragraph, a brief comparison could help to clarify the differentiation advantages of your venture to the others.
Well done, Claire!
Ping
Claire Burgoyne 12:23 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Ping,
You offer something for me to consider when you suggest that I use text as well as images and audio to communicate my idea. My idea highlights the fact that visuals offer a language of their own. We’re so accustomed to communicating through spoken and written language that we easily overlook the power of the visual language that is everywhere.
In my competition paragraph I don’t compare my idea with the art options listed as these options teach technique and aren’t offering arts integrated education. Perhaps I should add a sentence to that section to make it clear that to my knowledge there currently are no online arts integrated options.
Claire
maybacon 9:15 am on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Claire,
This is a very interesting idea, as I think it is very challenging to get school-aged students to reflect on art in more ways than saying that they “like” or “dislike” it. I believe this venture would be quite beneficial to art education curriculums. I was wondering, however, whether the learners are working collaboratively on problem-solving through art, on understanding problems represented through art or on creating art that represents current problems … or a bit of all of those. I also wonder how you might market this course as superior or different from existing art education courses, or art-centric blogs.
Great work!
May
Claire Burgoyne 12:47 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi May,
As you suggest students are problem-solving, gaining understanding of problems, and representing solutions to problems through art. The difference between existing face-to-face art education courses and my proposal is that the students go beyond a focus that is personal in nature to explore issues that are relevant to their cultures and communities. This means that modules offer arts integrated options to students at the grade 10-12 level. Students learn to communicate through a range of art forms but also earn credit for disciplines other than visual art. When comparing Speaking Visually to online art options the differences are greater as the online options’ primary goal is to teach technique. With an increasing number of students at the grade 10-12 level electing to learn from home and seeking online courses there is a need for quality online art options.
Claire
lisamallen 11:14 am on August 2, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Claire,
I thought your elevator pitch was excellent and I really like your venture concept. After reading your full pitch, it’s clear that this venture is needed and different than many other products out there on the market today. I wonder how you would gain entrance into schools with this product tough – and would you target school districts – or ?
Overall, great pitch,
Lisa
Claire Burgoyne 12:58 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Lisa,
I think that endorsement from national, provincial, and state organizations such as the Canadian Society for Education through Art (CSEA) and the National Art Education Association (NAEA) in the US would prove valuable in marketing to schools and districts. In the public system the decision to purchase Speaking Visually might be made at the district level but I would also market to school administrators and art educators. Marketing to Independent schools should be primarily to administration and art educators.
Claire
gillian 8:20 am on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Claire,
Your elevator pitch was visually intriguing which of course is perfect for the venture you are proposing. However, I must admit that I found myself distracted from your words by the imagery – perhaps, as Ping suggested, a few key words of text for emphasis may help to keep your viewers focused.
Your venture pitch was well laid out and I was especially impressed by how clearly you communicated the need to expend visual communication and its oft overlooked benefits of critical, collaborative and critical thinking skills. I was also impressed by the structure of the service from an educator standpoint. I have seen many students fail to complete self-paced courses due to lack of structure and isolation – your plan seems to resolve these issues. Your proposed orientation process is very comprehensive and it appears your team is more than capable of implementing it.
On the money side, I was somewhat confused. I found your start-up costs very low – it seems to me that you are under-valuing yourself and your team. It was also unclear to me how you are actually ‘selling’ your product to your customers – what is the cost to them?
Overall an idea worth investigating. Well done
gillian
Claire Burgoyne 1:11 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Gillian,
Thanks for offering your thoughts concerning my pitch. I have some things to consider if I choose to move forward with this venture. I agree that I could be more courageous when it comes to launching this venture. While I’m trying to be practical and keep things manageable, and therefore small scale, I hadn’t considered how this might be perceived as communicating a lack of confidence or under-valuing the idea and the team’s capabilities.
Costs to customers varies depending on whether it’s an individual or a group signing up and the level of the students participating. You’re right a summary of student fees should be included with my proposal.
Claire
Chelsea M Woods 9:31 am on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Claire, I found your elevator pitch highly effective, engaging, and clear. I would have liked to see more about how the courses would be designed: I liked the idea that students would engage in visuals relevant to their communities: how will connections with people from other communities be moderated? Great idea with excellent potential. Thanks, Chelsea
Claire Burgoyne 1:27 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Chelsea,
If I had a few more weeks to prepare for this presentation I’d create at least one module and include a preview of it in my proposal. The opportunity to see how modules are organized and presented would certainly help to convince investors that this is a worthwhile venture.
Students participate in a placement interview prior to beginning a module. The purpose of the interview is to ensure that learners with similar interests and skill level are placed together. While learners will have the opportunity to address issues of relevance to their culture and community this does not mean that cross-cultural groups will not occur. Many topics will lend themselves well to contributions from learners from varying backgrounds.
Claire
karonw 6:40 pm on August 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Claire,
Good job on your venture pitch and proposition. Your elevator pitch was very well-designed as you tried to use pictures to reflect your venture and the opening phrase “a picture represents a thousand words”. You did a very good job in articulating the core benefits and what your venture does, although in your elevator pitch you didn’t quite state what is the current challenges that people are facing but your detailed proposition has presented that information which made up for that and it acts quite nice as a follow-up document to your elevator pitch. As an EVA, I would suggest that you incorporate a brief introduction for your elevator pitch and perhaps having a scene or two with yourself leading the elevator pitch would have been more convincing as that would help you gain credibility and accountability, I think it is important to the investor in knowing who is actually presenting the venture to them.
Karon