The 30/70 Reset: What to Do in the 3 Minutes After You Present: College Students
The 30/70 Reset:
Competitive Advantage Is Found Between Plays
THE COLLEGE STUDENT
You just finished your pitch. Your heart is racing. You're sitting down, replaying every word you said, every "um," every moment you lost eye contact. Your classmates are looking at their laptops. Did they like it? Did you bomb? Should you have said that differently?
What happens in the next 3 minutes matters more than you think.
In my Entrepreneurship classes at the University of Denver, students present and pitch their business ideas throughout the semester. They start with a 30-second pitch, then build to 2 minutes, then 7 minutes, back to 2 minutes to qualify for a pitch competition, and finally 5 minutes if they make it.
They get a bunch of reps. The goal isn't just to improve their deck or their business model - it's to evolve their style, comfort, and ability to cause their intended audience to 'invest in', 'join them', or ‘buy’ their solution.
Before I implemented the 30-70 Reset, here's what I noticed as students moved to the next presentation: They'd present, quickly sit back down, get feedback, check their grade, nod along, and then show up to the next pitch making similar mistakes or overcorrecting in ways that didn't help. Most students weren't being deliberate about what happened between presentations.
They were missing the space between what just happened and what comes next.
The Discovery:
So instead of having my students immediately return to their seats after their presentations, I asked them to give me 3 minutes and stay in front of the room.
I started doing three things after each presentation:
I give direct, specific feedback on their style - delivered with compassion and genuine intention to advantage them, not embarrass them
I ask them: "If you could pitch again in 3 minutes, what would you change?"
I ask them to share what they left out or included that they would adjust next time
The forwarding feedback in front of peers united them - they all experienced it and realized it was meant to help, not judge. The second question taught them something critical: the 30/70 Reset. The third part connected them through safe vulnerability.
The Student Responses:
When asked, "What would you change if you could go again in 3 minutes?" students said:
"I would be way more calm. I realize now that my peers aren't there to judge me. They're trying to follow the story to see how feasible and realistic my solution is."
"I would change the way I started my talk."
"I would prepare more and get more familiar with my pitch so I could engage the class with my eyes on them more."
"I would slow down the pace of my talking."
"I would project more loudly and confidently."
"I would come out from behind the podium and be present differently."
And here's what surprised me most: The great majority wanted to go again. Right then. In 3 minutes.
They appreciated the immediate feedback. They liked identifying the adjustments and resets they'd make for their next time up. Most importantly, they felt the benefit of tapping their awareness and using "in the moment" reflection to inform their next play.
The Framework Applied:
Here's what I taught them to do after every presentation (or test, or tough class discussion, or any performance moment):
THE 30% - RESET (First 30% of your processing time):
Physical Recovery - Let your heart rate settle. Take a breath. Get water. Let the adrenaline pass.
Emotional Settling - Whatever you're feeling (embarrassment, excitement, frustration, relief) - let it be there. Don't fight it. Don't feed it. Acknowledge it. Then find calm. Run a quick assessment: What are these emotions trying to teach me? Is there anything I could use to make a quick adjustment before I go again? If not, park it to come back to later or 'dump it' because it doesn't help my next play.
Mental Assessment - Quick scan:
What went well? (One thing)
What was neutral? (What just happened without judgment)
What would I change? (One or two things, max)
Do I need to follow up with anyone? (Professor, teammate, peer)
THE 70% - RELOAD (Next 70% of your processing time):
Now you hunt for opportunity. Using what you just learned:
If I could do this again in 3 minutes, what's the ONE thing I'd change?
What adjustment will make the biggest impact next time?
Plan the adjustments - Be specific
What will I practice before my next presentation?
'Run a quick huddle' with my team to share any changes we are making and who's doing what, as well as just get us excited to go again
Share what you learned - With a classmate, study group, or write it down
You're not dwelling. You're not defending. You're loading your next performance with intelligence from this one.
The Result:
Students who practiced the 30/70 Reset didn't just get better at pitching - they got better at learning. Each presentation informed the next. They learned from mistakes. They weren't held back by limiting thoughts or fear. They were evolving in real-time.
One student told me: "I could emotionally handle the feedback, and that helped me be less guarded each time." Another said: "I stopped being afraid of what I did wrong and started getting curious about what I could do differently."
If you do this well, and are consistent with it, you will find yourself solving challenges not just surviving them. What's better than that?
Next time you finish a presentation, a test, a performance - anything that matters - try it. 30% reset, 70% reload. Get some reps.
Run the same process at the end of the semester.
THE PROFESSIONAL - WHERE DOES THIS SHOW UP FOR YOU?
If you're reading this and you're not a student, you might be thinking: "Okay, I see how this works for them. But does this work in other areas?"
Here's the truth: The 30/70 Reset isn't just for students and athletes assessing play between shifts - it's for anyone who performs, presents, leads, or has to go again.
The question is: Where do YOU have "shifts" in your work? Where do you finish something important and immediately have to go again? Where's the space between what just happened and what comes next?
Think about your professional life. The 30/70 Reset might show up:
After a tough client meeting - when you walk out of the conference room and have 15 minutes before you brief your team on what happened
After a quarterly business review - when you just presented Q3 results to leadership, got questions you weren't ready for, and Q4 planning starts next week
After a failed pitch or lost deal - when the client just said no, your team is looking to you for direction, and you have another pitch in 2 days
Between back-to-back high-stakes meetings - when you have 10 minutes between a board presentation and a team huddle
The pattern is the same: Something important just happened. You have emotions about it. You have information from it. And you're about to go again.
You don't need to overhaul your entire year-end planning process or reinvent your quarterly strategy. You just need to be more deliberate about the 3 minutes (or 3 hours, or 3 days) between what just happened and what comes next.
There is most likely an area in our lives where we all do this well. My goal was to give a framework and to encourage all of us to find new areas to apply the thinking. I implemented this for my lacrosse and hockey teams - then I realized it has relevance in the classroom. So I tried it. I encourage you to do the same.
Try it somewhere new and get some reps.
Phil McCarthy, www.northstaradvisoryllc.com
