Public speaking was the most common and greatest fear found by a Croatian survey of ten fears published in April 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an interesting article by Kamilo Antolovic, Mario Fraculji, and Sinisa Kovacic in the Proceedings of the Tenth International Scientific Conference: “Finance, Economics and Tourism – FET 2022” that was held on September 22 to 24, 2022 and published in April 2023 titled Research on stage fright and fear of public speaking.

 

The sample for their online survey consisted of 181 students from higher education institutions (under 30 years old) and another 355 people over the age of 30. Overall there were 536 adults, 47% female and 53% male.

 

They were asked how much they feared ten things, which in alphabetical order are: animals, bad weather, the dark, death, disease, flying, insects, other, public speaking, and strangers. Fears were reported on seven levels: 1 = none, 2 = barely noticeable, 3 = noticeable, 4 = medium, 5 = very noticeable, 6 = high, 7 = extremely high. Figure 3 of the article lists intensity of fears for all the percentages. We can rank them based on the sum for very noticeable, high, and extremely high.

 

As shown above in a bar chart, the most common Top Five percentages are: public speaking (36%), disease (27%), death (22%), insects (19) and flying (13%). (The margin of error is 4.2 percent).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But we also can rank them based on the sum for barely noticeable, noticeable, and medium, as shown in a second bar chart. Then the ranking is completely different - disease (59%), animals (58%), death (57%), public speaking (52%), and a tie at 51% for bad weather and insects.

 

We also can report Fear Scores on a scale from 1 to 7 where:

 

Fear Score = [ 1x(% None) +2x(% Barely Noticeable) +3x(% Noticeable) +4x(% Medium) +5x(% Very Noticeable) +6x(% High) +7x(% Extremely High)]/100  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As shown above in a third bar chart, the greatest Top Five Fear Scores are for public speaking (3.72), disease (3.40), death (3.13), insects (3.05) and animals (2.45). The order for the top four matches that based on the sum for very noticeable, high, and extremely high.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4 of the article lists Fear Scores (intensity of symptoms) for women and men. For women a fourth bar chart shows the top five Fear Scores again are for public speaking (4.10), disease (3.71), death (3.44), insects (3.09) and animals (2.52).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For men a fifth bar chart shows the top five Fear Scores yet again are for public speaking (3.18), disease (2.92), death (2.62), insects (2.14) and animals (2.11). Scores for women are consistently higher than those for men.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Figure 5 of the article lists Fear Scores (intensity of symptoms) for younger people (30 or less) and older people (>30), which I have shown above on yet another pair of bar charts. For younger people a sixth bar chart shows the top five Fear Scores are for public speaking (4.43), insects (3.57), death (3.27), disease (3.17), and strangers (2.67).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For older people a seventh bar chart shows the top five Fear Scores are for public speaking (3.57), disease (3.37), death (3.04), insects (2.53), and animals (2.32). Fear scores of younger people are higher than for older people.  

 

 

Pronoun Trouble is a 2025 book by John McWhorter which tells the story of us in seven little words

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an interesting little book from 2025 by John McWhorter titled Pronoun Trouble: The story of us in seven little words. It has 225 pages, and is just 7-1/4” tall by 5-1/4” wide. You can find a preview at Google Books. There are five chapters titled:

 

1] The ‘Your Highness’ of I-ness [page 11]

2] Poor Little You [page 53]

3] We Persisted [page 99]

4] S-He-It Happens [page 121]

5] They Was Plural [page 155]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I began with the Proto-Indo-European word eg, which became one of those [page 21] shown above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Old English, there are three second-person pronouns for you – singular, dual, and plural [page 78], as shown above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

The Old English versions for she, it, and they were spelled differently [page 122], as shown above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other languages, like Tok Pisin from eastern New Guinea, have different forms for me and you (or them) [page 106] depending on if there is one, two, or three as is shown above.

 

 

A half-dozen brief YouTube videos from TED-Ed teaching essential communication and presentation skills

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a blog post from TED-Ed on August 21, 2025 titled Public Speaking 101 launched to teach essential communication and presentation skills. It says they plan a series with eleven YouTube videos. So far they have released the first six, which you can watch in less than 45 minutes:

 

1]  What happens when you share an idea? [5:29]

 

2]  How to uncover your best ideas [4:00]

 

3]  How to communicate clearly [7:11]

 

4]  What’s the best way to give a presentation? [8:06]

 

5]  How to speak with meaning [10:23]

 

6]  5 ways to connect with people [8:08 ]

 

Here is a transcript of the first one, What happens when you share an idea?:

 

"Great public speaking is like magic. Whether it’s a presentation for school, a talk for your community, or a video message for family and friends, a good talk can electrify and audience and even change the world.

 

It all starts with an idea. Ideas change everything. They bring people together, spark curiosity, and inspire action. The right idea can ripple across the planet at the speed of light.

 

But what is an idea, exactly? Your number one mission as a speaker is to take something that matters deeply to you and rebuild it in the minds of your listeners. That something is an idea. Think of it like a gift you give your audience; something they can walk away with, value, and be changed by.

 

Your idea doesn’t need to be a scientific discovery or a genius invention to be great. You can share instructions for a special skill you have. Or a story from your life and the lessons it taught you. Or a vision you have for the future. Or just a reminder of the things that matter most.

 

An idea is anything that can change how people see the world. If you can conjure up an exciting idea in someone’s mind, you have done something wondrous. A little piece of you has become part of them. In March 2015, a scientist named Sophie Scott gave a TED Talk [titled Why we laugh].

 

‘What I’m going to do now is just play some examples of real human beings laughing. And I want you just to think about the sounds people make and how odd that can be, and in fact how primitive laughter is as a sound. It’s much more like an animal call than it is like speech.

 

So here we’ve got some laughter for you – the first one is pretty joyful.’ Within minutes, Sophie had the entire audience cracking up. She’s one of the leading researchers on laughter. She was showing the audience just how weird a phenomenon laughter is.

 

‘Now, this next guy, I need him to breathe. There’s a point in this when I’m like you’ve got to get some air in there, because he just sounds like he’s berathing out. This hasn’t been edited, this is him.’

 

‘More like an animal call than speech,’ as Sophie put it. Sophie’s talk was a lot of fun to listen to, but she gave her audience something more than just a good time. She changed the way they think about laughter. Sophie’s core idea is that laughter exists as a way human beings form bonds with one another. Her research shows that laughing strengthens relationships.

 

Nobody who listened to Sophie’s talk will ever hear laughter the same way again. A laugh isn’t just a silly sound in reaction to a joke – it’s a biological process through which we can connect with one another. Sophie gave her audience a gift. She gave them an idea that will be part of them forever.

 

In order for an audience to receive the gift of an idea, a speaker has to deliver the idea in a way that the audience can understand. How does a speaker do that? Well, it can be helpful to think of a talk as a journey that a speaker and an audience take together. You, the speaker, are the trusty tour guide. To be a good tour guide, a speaker must start where the audience is, and must be careful not to lose anyone by rushing ahead or constantly changing direction. The goal is to lead the audience to a beautiful new place, step by step.

 

And this is done by using language. Language is a very powerful tool. Let’s prove it. Imagine an elephant with its trunk painted bright red, waving the trunk to and fro in sync with the shuffling steps of a giant orange parrot, dancing on the elephant’s head and shrieking over and over: ‘let’s do the fandango!’ You have just formed in your mind an image of something that has never existed in history, except in the minds of people who have heard that sentence. A single sentence can do that.

 

The fact that we can transfer ideas in this way is why speaking skills are so important. Language builds our world. Our ideas make us who we are. And speakers who have figured out how to spread their ideas into others’ minds have the power to make an incredible impact. Do you have ideas that deserve a wider audience? Focusing on what gift you would like to give your audience, or what journey you might lead them on, are two great ways to start preparing your talk."  

 

The cartoon was adapted from this one at Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

 

Building low-cost lab equipment using LEGOs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an interesting article by Diane N. Jung, Kailey E. Shara, and Carson J. Brunsat at PLoS One on August 12, 2025 titled LEGO as a versatile platform for building reconfigurable low-cost lab equipment. They discuss three creative examples, as is shown above in Figure 5 of that article. They are an orbital shaker, a syringe pump, and a microcentrifuge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A pump shown in detail via Figure 1, which has a motor and gear drive that push to empty syringes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

A second is an orbital shaker, shown above in Figure 2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A third is a microcentrifuge, shown above in Figure 3, which has arms for holding spinning tubes.

 

There is a second article by Elizabeth Fernandez at the MIT Technology Review on June 25, 2024 titled Lego bricks are making science more accessible. It begins by showing a cell stretcher.

 

 

Using histograms for visualizing statistics from playing a hundred games of solitaire

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It often is helpful to show the details of data rather than just a mean and standard deviation. Recently I played a hundred games of Solitaire to generate the game times shown above via a histogram (created using Excel with bins ten seconds wide). The mean time to complete a game is 221 seconds (3 minutes and 41 seconds), and the standard deviation is 31 seconds. But the range goes from 160 to 335 seconds. The distribution is roughly symmetrical, with three longer outliers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also kept track of the number of moves per game, as shown above via another histogram using a bin width of five. The mean is 133 moves, and the standard deviation is 13 moves. The range goes from 116 to 170 moves. The distribution is skewed positively (to the right) with two outliers.

 

A very good book on how to read a room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a very good 2025 book by Dr. Mike Bechtle titled How to Read a Room: Navigate any situation, lead with confidence, and create an impact at work. His

chapter titles [and starting pages] are:

 

Introduction [9]

1] Why it matters [13]

 

Part 1 The Three Essentials (for Success) [21]

2] Master Your Mindset – You Can Do this [25]

3] Master the Process – It’s Worth the Effort [35]

4] Master Your Perceptions – You Can learn to See Others Accurately [45]

 

Part 2 How to Read a Room (for Confidence) [57]

5] Observe the Setting, Part 1 – Get the Big Picture [61]

6] Observe the Setting, Part 2 – Get the Small Picture [69]

7] Engage with People, Part 1 – Connect with Anyone [81]

8] Seven Engage with People, Part 2 – Converse with Anyone [91]

9] Plan Your Approach – Customize Your Strategy [103]

10] Execute Your Strategy – Work the Room [115]

 

Part 3 How to Lead a Room (for Influence) [125]

11] Leading the Room [129]

12] Leading by Influence in a Virtual Room [139]

13] Leading by Influence from the Front of the Room [151]

14] Leading by Influence through Written Communication [163]

 

Part 4 How to Serve a Room (for Impact) [173]

15] The Life-Changing Vision for Serving a Room [177]

16] The Challenge of Change [185]

17] Ten Steps Down into Greatness [193]

18] Legacy Time [205]

 

Conclusion [211]   

 

At the end of Part 2, on pages 120 to 122, he finally describes these twelve things (which you can find at Google Books):

 

How to Work the Room: The Basics

 

So, what are the most important things to consider when you’re ready to jump in and work the room? Here are some ingredients you can easily adapt to your own style and personality. They’re not a guaranteed approach but rather reflect commonsense things that humans respond to.

 

Smile. I mentioned this one earlier, but when we’re nervous, we usually don’t know how other people see us. The simplest way to show that you’re open for conversation is to smile whenever you make eye contact with another person. It’s a universal connecting point. Don’t be like the person avoiding eye contact on a bus so no one will choose the seat next to them.

 

Pay attention. When you’re talking to someone, give them direct eye contact to show you’re listening. Ask deeper questions to explore what they said. Don’t glance at the door or over their shoulder. If you’re ready to end the conversation, wrap it up graciously while still being completely attentive, then move on.

 

Encourage honesty. Avoid flattery like a pandemic, Share encouragement and things you admire and respect about them, but only if it’s completely honest, People sense flattery, and it builds a barrier between you.

 

Assume that others want to connect at a large event. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be there. It’s not risky; the worst thing that can happen is that they don’t engage, and you can move on. The best thing that can happen is that you’ll make a new friend.

 

Talk about them. Make them comfortable by focusing on what they’re saying instead of one-upping them with your own story. If they ask, respond. But in general, focus on them. They’ll remember you for it.

 

Say thanks. If there’s a genuine reason for gratitude, don’t just feel it – express it. Your casual, honest affirmation can make someone’s entire week because they probably didn’t know their words or actions had impact. Be the person who makes a difference.

 

Be generous. If there’s a resource you can provide or someone you can introduce them to, do it. If you connect them with things and people they can benefit from, you’ve gone up in value with them.

 

Focus on names. When you hear someone’s name, repeat it. If it’s a name that’s tough for you to pronounce, ask them for help. Names are important to people, and they’ll appreciate the effort to get them right. When meeting someone you haven’t seen for a long time, don’t assume they remember your name; reintroduce yourself.

 

Follow up. If you make a positive connection with someone and want to stay in touch, send an invitation via LinkedIn or another appropriate site as soon as possible after the event. Don’t accept their invitation to lunch or coffee under pressure if you know it’s not going to happen. Just say, ‘I don’t want to say yes now and not be able to make it happen. Let’s stay in touch on LinkedIn and go from there.’

 

Plan on learning something new. Each person you connect with has a unique experience and background. If you’re meeting them for the first time, it will all be new. If they are a colleague you work with every day, don’t assume you know everything about them. Make it your goal to dig deeper and glean something you don’t know. You’ll be enriched by it, and they’ll respect you for drawing it out.

 

Approach non-celebrities. It’s tempting to try to connect with the key players in a room, but the most meaningful connections often come from those who others aren’t approaching. They might be quieter on the outside but noisy on the inside – filled with rich experiences and ideas that haven’t been tapped.

 

Stay positive. Your attitude will set the tone for the conversation. Don’t get sucked into negative talk; divert them into a focus on the positive, optimistic side. You have the ability to influence the way people feel with your approach.

 

The cartoon showing a group of workers came from OpenClipArt.

 

 

Ten simple rules for attending your first scientific conference

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a useful article by Elizabeth Leininger et al. in PLoS Computational Biology for July 15, 2021 titled Ten simple rules for attending your first conference. That article is a 13-page pdf with 23 references. Their discussion includes both in-person and virtual scientific conferences, and advice for mentors. Those ten rules are:

 

Rule 1: Select a conference that aligns with your goals.

Rule 2: Find others to foot the bill.

Rule 3: Know your logistics.

Rule 4: Prepare for the environment.

Rule 5: Learn how to take in the science.

Rule 6: Make a conference strategy.

Rule 7: Make new friends but keep the old; be ready to communicate.

Rule 8: Prepare to (safely) get out of your comfort zone.

Rule 9: Take charge of your social interactions.

Rule 10: Tie up loose ends after the conference.

 

Under Rule 6: Make a conference strategy the third paragraph says:

 

“How do you prioritize what to attend? First, it is good to attend keynote and panel sessions as they provide perspective into the wider concerns of your field and often are forward looking to emerging challenges. Second, definitely attend technical presentations related to your specific area of focus in order to know what research is being done and become part of that community of researchers. Reading papers or watching videos in advance and thinking what questions you might like to ask about the work are great ways to prepare so that you can contribute to the discussion in a positive way. Third, the poster sessions are often short, so make sure you know which posters you want to visit while the presenter is there. Fourth, if the conference offers any first-time or new attendee events, plan on attending those as you will make some connections with other attendees that will make the conference more enjoyable and less lonely. Finally, attending the networking events (see Rule 7) helps you get to know your colleagues as individuals on a personal level (not all discussions are about the research) and also exchanging your research ideas.”

 

And there also is an 18-page pdf article from 2025 at Thompson Rivers University titled The Student Presenter’s Guide to Conferences.

 

On September 7, 2025 I blogged about another article from PLoS Computational Biology  on Ten simple rules for improving communication among scientists.

 

The graphic was adapted from this one at OpenClipArt.

 

 

How many members and clubs does Toastmasters International currently have?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On October 3, 2024 I blogged about how In 2024 membership in Toastmasters International finally began to grow again, after having dropped for three years in a row. In August 2025 Toastmasters International released a 26-page CEO Report as a pdf. As shown above (on page 6), from 2024 to 2025 membership dropped slightly again by 7,077 from 272,338 members to 265,261 members. (From 2021 to 2025 membership dropped by 11.6% or 34,945. At the end of 2020 it had hit a peak of 364,212).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Also, as shown above (on page 8), the number of clubs had dropped from 15,875 in 2021 to 13,833 in 2025. The number for 2025 was just slightly below (13) the 13,846 for 2024. At the end of 2019 it had hit a peak of 16,856.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, as shown above (on page 11), the average number of members in a club rose from 16.5 in 2022 to 17.9 in 2025.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Some demographics are shown on page 19. The most common age group, shown above, is 35 to 44 (22.4%). Only 4% are aged 18 to 24, but 19.7% are over 65.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most common education level, shown above, is a Bachelor’s degree (38.7%). The current status of Toastmasters is relatively stagnant.

 

 

Seven tips on how to write a great speech

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an excellent short article by Kulamkan Kulasegaram, Douglas Buller, and Cynthis Whitehead in Perspectives on Medical Education on pages 270 to 272 of the July 13, 2017 issue titled Taking presentations seriously: Invoking narrative craft in academic talks. They give the following seven speechwriting tips:

 

1] The act of writing a presentation can yield a clear academic presentation and provide clarity on the topic of presentation.

 

2] Work backwards from key message or conclusion you want the audience to understand at the talk.

 

3] Plot the most efficient and engaging route to this conclusion when writing your presentation. Remove extraneous information that distracts from this conclusion; focus the presentation on the salient points that lead up to your conclusion.

 

4] Each element of the presentation must serve the dual purpose of conveying information and facilitating engagement with the presentation. The effectiveness of conveying information depends on the level of engagement or interaction with the audience.

 

5] Interaction with the audience in a talk means engaging their attention and memory on the concept(s) you wish to convey.

 

6] You can more effectively engage with the audience by designing your talk around instructional design and information processing principles that address the audience members’ capacities for attention and memory.

 

7] Creating presentations is an exercise in creating meaning out of slides, words, and concepts. Revisit your talk once you have completed it and evaluate whether the meaning you want to convey is delivered effectively through the elements of your presentation.

 

The image was adapted from this one at OpenClipArt.

 

 

Ten simple rules for improving communication among scientists

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an excellent 14-page article by Carla Bautista et al. in PLoS Computational Biology on June 23, 2022 titled Ten simple rules for improving communication among scientists. It has six authors and 31 references. Those ten rules can be grouped into three areas: Speak, Join, and Assess, as is outlined and shown above [Figure 1]:

 

  1] Know your audience

  2] Use social media

  3] Listen how other scientists present their work

  4] Network with scientists and ask for feedback

  5] Get involved with scientific organizations

  6] Create opportunities to practice public speaking

  7] Organize scientific meetings

  8] Identify and enroll in scientific activities

  9] Collaborate with other scientists

10] Pace yourself! Don’t overcommit

 

The sixth section begins:

“Scientists communicate about their research throughout their careers. Learning how to give talks of different lengths and for a variety of audiences is an essential skill. Many platforms offer different types of talks for diverse audiences (e.g., the general public or more specialized audiences) and environments (e.g., academic or less formal interactions). Practicing your public speaking with diverse audiences and settings will teach you to adapt your presentation style and goals for each public speaking engagement. The presentation format is also essential; for example, poster presentations are generally more interactive and a presenter might be stopped and asked questions providing more room for discussion.

Practicing to communicate with broader audiences and communicating your topic without jargon will improve communication with fellow scientists (see Rule 4, especially with those outside your field of study. Therefore, aim to find places (or organize them yourself, see Rule 7) where you can practice presenting longer 1-hour talks or shorter 15-minute seminar-style presentations.”

 

 

 

 

Cracker Barrel made their new logo too abstract and then they dropped it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The old logo for the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain has founder Dave Evin’s Uncle Herschel nostalgically sitting in a wooden chair next to a barrel, as is shown above on the wall of their Boise location.

 

A press release on August 19, 2025 at PR Newswire titled Cracker Barrel Teams up with Country Music Star Jordan Davis to Invite Guests to Discover “All the More” this Fall described the abstract new logo:

 

“Its more popular menu offerings like farm fresh scrambled eggs and buttermilk biscuits even serve as inspiration behind the hues of a refreshed color palette featured in the new campaign. Anchored in Cracker Barrel's signature gold and brown tones, the updated visuals will appear across menus and marketing collateral, including the fifth evolution of the brand's logo, which is now rooted even more closely to the iconic barrel shape and word mark that started it all.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That new logo with the sideways barrel and minus hoops (shown above) was so abstract that the Wikimedia Commons web page said:

 

“This logo image consists only of simple geometric shapes or text. It does not meet the threshold of originality needed for copyright protection, and is therefore in the public domain.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I squeezed it, squared off the bottom and top, and added a pair of hoops to produce the more recognizable version shown above.

 

The new logo got a lot of negative feedback, and it quickly was dumped. For example, an article by Lorraine Taylor at Fox News on August 22, 2025 is titled Cracker Barrel faces customer criticism after ditching iconic 48-year-old logo for new design. A second article by Ali Abbas Ahmadi at BBC News on August 26, 2025 is titled US restaurant chain Cracker Barrel scraps new logo after backlash. A third article by Megan Cerullo at CBS News Moneywatch on August 27, 2025 is titled Cracker Barrel refreshed its logo and paid the price. Here’s what brand experts say went wrong. Experts said they went generic and severed the logo from its roots. A fourth article by Sarah Fortinsky at The Hill on August 27, 2025 is titled White House claims credit after Cracker Barrel reverts logo.

 

 

How to construct and deliver an elevator pitch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An elevator pitch is a brief marketing speech that provides a synopsis of who you are and what you do. There is an excellent specialized article by Leslie A. Caromile et al. at the BMC Proceedings on November 26, 2024 titled How to construct and deliver an elevator pitch: a formula for the research scientist. It has links to the following six figures:

 

Purpose of elevator speech [Figure 1]

Analyze your audience [Figure 2]

Context of elevator speech [Figure 3]

Developing a scientific elevator speech [Figure 4]

Major components [Figure 5]

Example [Figure 6]

 

A blog post at Northeastern University Online MBA on September 9, 2024 is titled 7 Essential Tips for Crafting a Winning Elevator Pitch. They are:

 

Identify your goal

Understand your audience

Keep it concise and clear

Tell a story

End strong

Practice and refine

Be confident

 

There also is another post at the UMass Amherst Iconnect blog on September 20, 2024 titled How to Give a Great Elevator Speech (With Examples) which has the following sections:

 

How to Write an Elevator Pitch

Who are you?

What do do?

What’s unique about you?

Call to action (or What’s your ask?)

Something memorable

 

Finally, there is an undated three-page pdf article from the Princeton University Center for Career Development titled What is an elevator pitch and why do I need one?

 

The elevator door image was adapted from Wikimedia Commons.