The Elevator Pitch That Required a Wizard Hat

How a Dale Carnegie Exercise Turned into a Midnight Marketing Experiment 🧙‍♂️

I took the Dale Carnegie course roughly 14 years ago, and I remember there was one session I really didn’t like. In fact, I disliked it so much that I think I blocked out most of the details. It involved acting.

While it’s true that I survived, it definitely wasn’t my favorite experience.

Fast forward to last Wednesday in the Dale Carnegie course I’m currently enrolled in. We were sitting there when our instructor, Russ, suddenly started performing a skit—for floor cleaner.

Oh yes… it all came flooding back.

But this time, I decided to embrace it with complete trust—and the mindset that sometimes you just have to eat your vegetables. I didn’t merely survive the exercise this time. When I reflected on it later that night from the solitude of my couch, I realized something surprising:

I had fun?

Then it was Thursday 10 p.m. My bedtime.

Except I had the most brilliant idea for my 30-second elevator pitch—an idea that absolutely had to be executed immediately for the 7:45 a.m. Plano Chamber meeting the next morning.

I don’t make the rules. I just follow them.
(Actually, I do make the rules—and my rules are a little nutty.)

The Carnegie floor-cleaning skit evolved into a “Pre-Emergent” skit for Abracadabra Lawn Pest & Weed Control. Suddenly I was spray-painting an empty mouthwash container gold at 11 p.m. It was the perfect prop for the moment. This is exactly why I keep useless things!

Then I noticed an old sign that could be repurposed. A red shoebox made the ideal stand. Artistry and wizardry were coming together in a wonderfully insane way that felt both spooky and exhilarating.

The pièce de résistance? A crazy purple wizard’s hat my friend had lent me.

I even had ChatGPT double-check my script. It had to be tight—I only had 30 seconds to deliver my lines while pretending to be a wizard unveiling a revolutionary solution for weeds.

By 1 a.m., I was standing in the kitchen, earnestly reciting my lines to the refrigerator.

Then I finally went to bed—exhausted and excited for the day to come.

I arrived early at the Plano Chamber meeting and even made a joke: “Can I buy 10 extra seconds for my sales pitch?”

Then it was my turn. I warned them it might be a train wreck and asked them to go easy on me.

It wasn’t perfect. But it was memorable.

Thank you, Dale Carnegie North Texas—I survived… and had fun.

And thank you to the Plano Chamber of Commerce—you are a welcoming and fun group.