For those not familiar with the shows (according to wikipedia);
Dragons' Den is a Canadian reality television format featuring entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas in order to secure investment finance from a panel of venture capitalists. Dragons Den is currently in season 13.
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For the past 5 years, I have incorporated both shows into the curriculum for all my business classes. Some example activities my students have participated in are:
The following is a list of learning skills that students can obtain by watching these two shows!!- "Compare and Contrast" - students watch an episode and compare a contrast between a successful and unsuccessful pitch.
- "What would you do?" - students watch the entrepreneurs pitch and before the Dragons or Sharks begin, we have a class discussion on what we would do if we were the investors.
- Youthrive - my entrepreneur class participates in a venture project with the University of Windsor
- Class or School Dragons Den - students compete in a Dragons Den style competition against classmates
Minus the barrage of insults from Kevin O'Leary!!
Communication Skills:
- Presentation Skills - how the entrepreneurs present their idea or product/service
- Negotiation Skills - between Sharks/Dragons and the entrepreneurs
- Idea Generator - stimulates new ideas and applications from the pitches
Business Concepts:
Each pitch highlights important business concepts like:
- Sales, Sales Forecasts, Cash flow & Margins
- Distribution & Supply Chain
- Differentiation, Copyrights & Patents
- Market Niche, Social and Traditional Marketing
- Royalties, Debt & Equity
Personal Growth:
- Inspirational - pitches that involve helping a community or those in need
- Motivation - the student edition episode highlights young budding entrepreneurs
- Excitement - encourages students to share their ideas
I enjoy watching both these shows. What a great idea to use them to teach business. You've listed a lot of useful skills that can be derived from them. Thanks for sharing. I will be sure to pass along your ideas to our business teacher.
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