How can body language improve your elevator pitch?

2 Align your posture

Your posture can affect how you feel and how you are perceived by others. A good posture can help you breathe better, feel more confident, and project more authority. A bad posture can make you look nervous, insecure, and unprofessional. To align your posture, you need to stand or sit straight, with your shoulders back, your chest open, and your head up. Avoid slouching, crossing your arms, or leaning too much to one side. You can also use gestures to emphasize your points, but avoid fidgeting, touching your face, or pointing your finger.

3 Maintain eye contact

Eye contact is one of the most powerful ways to connect with your audience and show your interest and attention. Eye contact can also help you gauge the level of engagement and feedback from your listeners. To maintain eye contact, you need to look at your audience directly, but not stare or glare. You can also break eye contact occasionally to avoid being too intense or creepy. You can also use eye contact to signal when you are starting or ending your pitch, or when you want to ask a question or invite a response.

4 Smile and nod

Smiling and nodding are simple but effective ways to show your enthusiasm, positivity, and rapport with your audience. Smiling and nodding can also help you relax, reduce stress, and release endorphins. To smile and nod, you need to be genuine and natural, not fake or forced. You can also use smiling and nodding to acknowledge your audience's reactions, comments, or questions, or to encourage them to keep listening or participate.

6 Adapt and improve

Your elevator pitch is not a one-time event, but a continuous process of learning and improving. Your body language can help you adapt and improve your pitch based on the feedback and reactions from your audience. To adapt and improve, you need to be observant, flexible, and open-minded, not rigid, defensive, or arrogant. You can also use your body language to ask for feedback, express gratitude, or follow up with your audience. You can also use your body language to evaluate your own performance, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and practice your pitch until you master it.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?