One of the most engaging units in our Foundations of Entrepreneurship curriculum begins with a deceptively simple challenge: Sell something.

At first, the lesson is really about getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Selling forces students to speak up, take a risk, face possible rejection, and learn how to communicate clearly under pressure. But underneath all of that is a much more important entrepreneurial lesson: Why would someone want what you are offering?

That question forces students to think about value. And value is almost always connected to solving a problem.

Recently, I was talking with Sonia Sturgeon at Santa Fe Christian Schools about how she is teaching this idea, and she shared a simple classroom practice that I loved.

At the beginning of class, Sonia keeps a bag filled with random objects: sunglasses, hand warmers, a candle, and other everyday items. Students come to the front of the room, reach into the bag, pull something out, and then have to sell it to her and the class.

The object itself almost doesn’t matter . . . what matters is what the student does next.

They have to think about their audience. They have to identify why this particular person might care about the product. They have to communicate a value proposition. And then they have to articulate that value confidently enough to persuade someone else.

Sonia has deliberately made this a recurring exercise rather than a one-time activity. Her students begin doing rough elevator pitches early in the year and gradually refine them as they gain confidence and skill.

And that repetition matters because selling is a skill, and like most skills, students get better by doing it. They learn how to read another person, they learn that features are not the same thing as benefits, and they learn that a good pitch isn't simply talking more—it is understanding what the other person values.

Sonia told me that one of the reasons she introduces this activity immediately is so students understand from day one that it is okay to come to the front of the room, try something, fail, and experience rejection. She wants them comfortable with that process before they reach the larger selling project later in the course.

That is entrepreneurial mindset education in practice. We can teach students about growth mindset, grit, creativity, empathy, and redefining failure. But eventually, they need situations where those ideas become real. And selling provides exactly that.

There is another interesting result Sonia is already seeing. As students repeatedly practice selling and thinking about value, they have started approaching her with their own ideas—things they are inventing, business concepts they are considering, and problems they think they could solve.

As Sonia put it, they are beginning to get “the bug” of being creative, thinking things through, and actually acting on their ideas.

That is the bigger win.

The goal isn't to turn every student into a salesperson. The goal is to help students understand that they have the ability to create value for another person—and then give them enough opportunities to practice communicating that value so that they become confident enough to act on it.

Connect with me to start this program in your school.

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