How To Write A Great Elevator Pitch

What if you got on an elevator and you found yourself travelling with Bill Gates. Say 16 floors to go and 40 seconds of time with the tech giant! How would you make use of these precious seconds?

You take your seat on a plane. The empty seat next to yours is taken by Narayan Murthy. He politely smiles at you and asks what do you do? The next 10-20 seconds are critical to catch his attention. What will you say?

These scenarios are unlikely but not impossible!

Designations, in such situations, is a waste of time and opportunity.

You need something more creative and interesting.

Come to think of it, the number of networking events we go to and meet similar sounding professionals, it’s easy to lose them in a blur. Not many people stand out.

So creating an elevator pitch for yourself isn’t just for times you run into celebrities inside elevators! It’s worth your time and effort to make yourself memorable and unique even for ordinary mortals!

This post has a step-by-step approach to building an effective elevator pitch for yourself.

WHAT IS AN ELEVATOR PITCH? 

An elevator pitch is a 30-60 second clear speech to convince someone about a product or company.

It is named thus since it should be short enough for you to explain it to someone on an elevator ride.

It is a “10-75 word YOU tagline”

Just so we are clear – what is not an elevator pitch:

Your designation is not your elevator pitch

Your elevator pitch is not a sales pitch

WHY DO YOU NEED AN ELEVATOR PITCH?

An elevator pitch can be helpful in a lot of ways.

An elevator pitch helps you stand out in the crowd

In general, the elevator pitch:

1. Creates intrigue: Apart from telling people what you do, an elevator pitch also creates intrigue. This is what makes you memorable too

2. Creates a good first impression: Think of how people usually introduce themselves. It’s either with a designation or a boring version of what they do. They usually sound mechanical. A creative pitch helps create a great first impression and be captivating from the word go.

3. Opens conversation: And in an interesting manner. The pitch gives a lot more than your designation. It introduces specific elements of your job that makes conversations possible from there on.

4. Serves as a differentiator: Like I said, when everyone else sounds similar to each other, an interesting pitch is a great differentiator. It helps you stick in the memory of people for being such a breathe of fresh air.

5. Catches attention: That’s all we are trying to do in a crowded room, right? While people make the rounds of introducing themselves, catching their attention is a great achievement in itself

6. Gets relevant follow up questions: The resulting conversation that you expect has to be along these lines – centered around what you just said in your pitch. Keep reading to know how to produce this effect! 

EXAMPLES OF BAD ELEVATOR PITCH

I help people make money

 Short

 What people?

 How?

I provide solutions for small business owners

 Short

 Who’s it for?

 What solutions?

 How?

THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND

It’s not about you

It’s about what your target audience needs

The simplest approach could be

PROBLEM → SOLUTION

Also think of your value proposition, your target audience and the next steps to do business with you.

HOW TO WRITE AN ELEVATOR PITCH

1. PREPARE

Going by the problem-solution format, have a clear problem statement. This helps focus your solution on solving that one problem.

Really think about your niche and target audience.

Brainstorm about the value proposition you have to offer

Think of a creative hook you can start your pitch with – something attention grabbing.

Start writing drafts of your elevator pitch to arrange the ideas in the right order

2. LOOK UP COMPETITORS 

Feeling blank? Don’t know where to start?

Look up other people in your niche and industry. Check out what they have as their pitch. How have they differentiated themselves in so few words.

This should give you some idea since the target customers are likely to be similar. You fill in the other gaps.

3. START WRITING

All ideas are abstract till they stay in your mind. Start writing drafts of your pitch. It doesn’t have to fit into the length or the number of words.

Put together your problem statement, your value proposition and your target audience. See what you get. Work around with it.

4. EDIT, EDIT, EDIT

It’s time now to attack it piece by piece. Hack words and phrases that don’t need to be there. Make every word count.

Edit to have a crisp problem leading to a solution for your target audience

(I have some templates you can use later in the post)

5. GET FEEDBACK 

You may think that you got it perfectly. But remember, it is about them and not you!

Let’s test it now!

Run your pitch by family, friends, work friends, acquaintances too, if possible.

Did you get the kind of reaction you had in mind?

Or did they react in unexpected ways? Maybe they were blank about what exactly you do. Did they have give you confused looks? Was you value proposition clear to them? Get feedback and continue editing your draft ruthlessly.

In some cases, their questions might give a new approach to re-write the whole thing so that it makes better sense. Don’t hesitate to do that if it helps you craft a better pitch.

6. MAKE EVERY WORD COUNT

The goal to make your pitch crisp might tempt you to add some high sounding words – so you still sound impressive! But that is not going to do the trick. Replacing easy words with jargon will only be counter -productive. So just a little warning about this pitfall.

SOME ADDITIONAL TIPS

Here are some additional tips that you might find useful:

1. ADD HUMOUR

Add humour, if possible. It really depends on how well you can do it. If it’s alone that only you chuckle at and leave the listeners blinking in confusion, it’s a dud!

So think long and hard about it. It should work with all kinds of people – even they aren’t your target audience, you want them to recommend you to people who are.

2. USE THE INVERTED PYRAMID

This might help you with the writing process. Start with the most important information first and then descend gradually to the details. Your elevator pitch should result in a conversation that gets you to reveal all the details as you go along.

3. WIIFM IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HOW GOOD YOU ARE

This is pretty much the anthem to go by as far as elevator pitches go. It’s not about what “I do” but what “you get” if we work together. People are more interested in what’s in it for them.

4. TELL THEM THE BENEFITS OF WORKING WITH YOU

You might have a money-back policy. Or offer onsite services. Or handle turnkey projects in an industry that doesn’t. These are some examples of unique benefits that might interest people.

You can find templates to work with in the longer version of the post here.

If you'd like me to help you hone your elevator pitch, drop me a line here!