Crafting an Elevator Pitch

Introducing Yourself, and What You are About, Quickly and Compellingly 

(Also known as an Elevator Speech) 

With thanks to Keith Jackson and the Mind Tools Team 

© iStockphoto pkfawcett

Stand out with an effective elevator pitch.

You've just bumped into a friend from last spring's team, and she asks what's up. You open your mouth, and then pause. Where on earth do you start?!

Then, as you try to organize your thoughts, the bell rings, and she's on her way. If you'd been better prepared, you're sure that she'd have stayed long enough to plan lunch one day.

This is one situation where it helps to have an "elevator pitch." This is a short, pre-prepared speech that explains what you are thinking- and dreaming about these days, clearly and succinctly.

In this article, we'll explore situations where these types of prepared pitches are useful, and we'll look at how to craft an effective one.

About the Technique

An elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive speech that you use to spark interest in whatever is important to you. You can use it to create interest in a project, idea, or product – or in yourself. A good elevator pitch lasts no longer than a short elevator ride of 20 to 30 seconds, hence the name.

It should be interesting, memorable, and succinct. It should explain what makes you – or your idea – unique.

Some kids use this when testing out ideas for their Persuasive Speech CCA in Emerging Technology class.  Others use it when fishing for Senior Project inspiration or feedback. Other times, it's great practice run for a college essay, or a job interview.

When to use an Elevator Pitch

Lots of people think that this kind of thing is only useful for salespeople who need to pitch their products and services. But I hope you see that they are handy in many other situations.  Here are typical examples:

• to introduce your organization --  to people who care about how you invest a good amount of your personal time (or to potential customers or clients);
• within your club or organization to sell a new fund raising idea to your Directors or your CEO;
• to tell people about the change initiative that you've thought through and are leading;
• to tell people what you (hope to) do for a living  (and why);
• or to our school administrators to ask for their support for a new club you want to start.

We're going to develop an Elevator Pitch, for fun and practice!  To help prepare and guide you, so that you will be inspired to take this chance to help us learn something about you that is important, let's look at the creative process, step by step.  Since it can take some time to get your pitch right, and since you'll likely go through several versions before finding one that is compelling, and also that sounds natural in conversation, you will want to avoid procrastination, and instead, dig right in!

Creating an Elevator Pitch

Follow these steps to create a great pitch, but bear in mind that you'll need to vary your approach depending on what your pitch is about.

1. Identify Your Goal

Start by thinking about the objective of your pitch.

For instance, do you want to tell potential friends about your passion? Do you have a great new product idea that you are working on?  Have you written something you hope to publish?  Do you want a simple and engaging speech to explain what qualities you admire most in people?  Or, what you hope to do for a living?

2. Explain What You Do

Start your pitch by describing the realities you want to share. Focus on any  problems that you do- or have- solved, or on how you help people. If you can, add information or a statistic that shows the value in what you do.

Ask yourself this question as you start writing: what do you want your audience to remember most about you?

Keep in mind that your pitch should excite YOU first; after all, if you don't get excited about what you're saying, neither will your audience. Your pitch should bring a smile to your face and quicken your heartbeat. People may not remember everything that you say, but they will likely remember your enthusiasm.

Here's a corporate example:

Imagine that you're creating an elevator pitch that describes what your company does. You plan to use it at networking events. You could say, "My company writes mobile device applications for other businesses."

But that's not very memorable!

A better explanation would be, "My company develops mobile applications that businesses use to train their staff remotely. This results in a big increase in efficiency for an organization's managers."

That's much more interesting, and shows the value that you provide to these organizations.

3. Communicate Your USP

Your elevator pitch should also communicate your unique selling proposition , or USP.
Identify what makes you, your organization, or your idea, unique. You'll want to communicate your USP after you've talked about what you do.

Example:

To highlight what makes your company unique, you could say, "We use a novel approach because unlike most other developers, we visit each organization to find out exactly what people need. Although this takes a bit more time, it means that on average, 95 percent of our clients are happy with the first beta version of their app."

4. Engage With a Question

After you communicate your USP, you need to engage your audience. To do this, prepare open-ended questions (questions that can't be answered with a "yes" or "no" answer) to involve them in the conversation.

Make sure that you're able to answer any questions that he or she may have.

Example:

You might ask "So, how does your organization handle the training of new people?"

5. Put it all Together

When you've completed each section of your pitch, put it all together.

Then, read it aloud and use a stopwatch to time how long it takes. It should be no longer than 20-30 seconds. Otherwise you risk losing the person's interest, or monopolizing the conversation.
Then, try to cut out anything doesn't absolutely need to be there.

Remember, your pitch needs to be snappy and compelling, so the shorter it is, the better!

Here's how an in-school example might sound:

"Remember my neighbor, Judy? She and I have been developing dance routines at our gymnastics club.  Ideally we would be the stars of our routines, and win the prizes, but our top gymnast, Monica, just came back from Nationals, where she was stoked to medal in Floor Ex  using one of our routines!  Now we have plenty of others, some even outside the Club, who asking for our help. 

"Have you stayed active in gymnastics, or moved to other sports?"

All you'd need to do to change this example for our class would be to depersonalize the exchange it:

"I hope that you all have the opportunity to meet my neighbor, Judy.  She's a 9th grader here, too, and last year, we started developing dance routines at our Gymnastics Club together.  Our top gymnast, Monica, just came back from Nationals -- using one of our routines!  She knows that we worked hard to help her show off her best skills and talents. Thanks to her huge support, we now have lots of other gymnasts, some even outside the Club, who are offering to pay us for our choreography. 

"I'm finding this niche rewarding in many ways, and sharing it with a friend like Judy, adds another whole amazing dimension. 

"Something similarly rewarding is what I wish for all of you."

6. Practice

Like anything else, practice makes perfect. Remember, how you say it is just as important as what you say. If you don't practice, it's likely that you'll talk too fast, sound unnatural, or forget important elements of your pitch.

Set a goal to practice your pitch regularly. The more you practice, the more natural your pitch will become. You want it to sound like a smooth conversation, not an aggressive sales pitch.

Make sure that you're aware of your body language as you talk, which conveys just as much information to the listener as your words do. Practice in front of a mirror or, better yet, in front of family or friends until the pitch feels natural.

As you get used to delivering your pitch, it's fine to vary it a little – the idea is that it doesn't sound too formulaic or like it's pre-prepared, even though it is!

Tip 1:

You may want to have take-away items which you can give to people while you're delivering your pitch. You might simply show this, and then collect it at the end.  Examples here could be business cards or brochures that talk about your product idea or business.

Tip 2:

Remember to tailor your pitch for different audiences, as appropriate.

 

 Key Points

An elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive speech that you can use to spark interest in what your organization does. You can also use one to create interest in a project, idea, or product.
It needs to be succinct, while conveying important information.
To craft a great pitch, follow these steps.

• Identify your goal.
• Explain what you do.
• Communicate your USP.
• Engage with a question.
• Put it all together.
• Practice.

By the way, adults try to keep a business card or other take-away item with them, which helps the other person remember you and your message. Why not consider that, too?

But do be sure to cut out any information that doesn't absolutely need to be there.  You only have 20- 30 seconds, and jibberish-type rapid-speak is counter productive!

GOOD LUCK!