Elevator Speech – what is it?

An elevator speech is essentially a short description of who you are and what you do, presented to a key person and takes about 30 seconds or the time it takes an elevator to go up a few floors.  Used for years in the sales and marketing world to “make a pitch”, it is also an essential to job seekers and those who are seeking a promotion.  In those cases, you are the “product”.

The elevator speech is a sound byte to create attention and interest from the listener so you can share more information later in the form of a resume or conversation.

Warning

An effective elevator speech takes time and effort to develop in order to succinctly share the information you want to in such a short amount of time.

• Who am I?  You are a “solution-provider” of xxxxxxx
• What do I do?

Why should I care?

• You are answering the listener’s question of “why should I be interested in you?”
• Make an emotional connection within 30 seconds.  Use your Emotional Intelligence to determine response; look for keys to their receptivity, mood and curiosity

Within the short time to share your elevator speech, you need to create curiosity and provide an answer.

Research

• Know your audience
• Relate to their world & speak their language

Think Marketing 101

• What do you offer to the listener? (cost savings, revenue producing, quality improvements?)
• What contributions can you make?
• What benefits do you bring to the organization?
• What sets you apart? How are you different from others who do the same thing as you?

The Ultimate Question – Answered!

Why should I listen more, hire or promote you?

Once you finalize your Elevator Speech, practice

Once you finalize your Elevator Speech, practice on others.  Ask them if you are:

ü  Convincing

ü  Compelling

ü  Creating interest

Practice, Practice, Practice

Finally, practice until you feel like you can present in any networking or interview situation and do so smoothly.  Last thoughts:

• Don’t memorize to the point that you sound like a robot.  Aim to sound natural and genuine
• Adjust your volume to emphasize key words and phrases
• Don’t talk too fast.  Pause to separate thoughts and avoid running sentences together
• End each sentence with a downward inflection vs upward inflection.  You aren’t asking a question.  You are providing a very valuable solution, product and service – YOU.