Be an EPIC Advocate?

It is extremely useful to be able to explain your initiative in a concise and engaging way. Can you deliver a message about what your project aims to achieve in less than a minute? Can you do so in a persuasive and attention-grabbing way?

One approach doing this is to come up with an EPIC message (also known as an ‘elevator pitch’).

There are 4 elements to an EPIC message:

1. ENGAGE your audience: Get your listener’s attention with a dramatic fact or short statement. Keep this opening statement to one sentence if possible.
2. State the PROBLEM: Present causes of the problem you introduced in the first section. How widespread or serious is the problem?
3. INFORM on the solution: Inform the listener about a solution to the problem you just presented.
4. CALL to action: Once you’ve engaged your listener, presented the problem and told them about a solution, be specific about what you want them to do. This enables you to follow up to find out if they’ve taken this action. Present this action in the form of a ‘yes or no’ question.

Let’s put this into practice. Can you be EPIC in pitching your project? Let’s find out in the next few steps.