It's Time to Evolve the Traditional Elevator SPEECH

"Remember, you're more interested in what you have to say than anyone else is." - Andry Rooney

I recently spoke at JJ Virgin's Mindshare Collective Summit in Scottsdale. I started by asking, "What do you say when people ask, 'What do you do?'

Have you been taught to use the traditional 'I help ____ do ____ so they can ____.'

That's not very interesting because it's one-way communication.

We want to set up two-way communication so people are genuinely interested in what we say because it's relevant to them.

Jeff Bezos says, 'The only danger is not to evolve.'

It's time to evolve the traditional elevator speech and turn it into an elevator interaction that leads to more meaningful conversations and connections.

I then shared two stories to show how to do this IRL (In Real Life), and reverse- engineered the process so audience members knew how to do this - and how to teach their teams to do this.

Following my keynote, many people came up to me in the halls and we had great fun brainstorming their new elevator intro.

I asked one woman, "What do you normally say when people ask what you do?"

"I tell them I'm a functional medicine doctor who specializes in adrenal fatigue, hormonal imbalance, and gut microbiome."

"Hmmm. What do most people do when they hear that?"

She laughed, "They usually give me a confused look."

"Exactly.

Explaining what we do often ends the conversation because it leads to confusion. We don't want to end the convesation, we want to open the conversation."

She said, "Sounds good, I'm just not sure how to do it."

I asked, "What do your patients complain about? What do they suffer from or struggle with? What are three problems they have that you help fix?"

"Well, many are tired all the time, they can't get to sleep or stay asleep, and they can't lose weight, no matter what they do."

"THAT's what you want to lead with because that's what most people relate to."

"So, I tell them that?"

"Nope, you use a three-part question like this - 'Do you know anyone - could be yourself, a friend or a family member - who is tired all the time, can't get to sleep or stay asleep, and can't seem to lose weight no matter what they do?' - to ask if they know anyone who is dealing with this."

"What's this about a three-part question?"

"Well, there's something called 'the evolution of intimacy.' If you meet someone for the first time and ask, 'Are YOU tired all the time?" that's way too personal. They'll be thinking, 'Back, Back, Back.'

Amy Poehler says, 'I get a little itchy if I don't have some kind of control.'

Face it. We all get a little itchy if we don't have some kind of control.

Giving people three options gives them control of the conversation so they can go wherever they want with it. Plus, it increases the likelihood they know someone who is experiencing this."

"Okay, what next?"

"Put a sock in it and listen to their response. They may say, "Oh, that's my sister. She's exhausted all the time because she tosses and turns all night long."

"Now, link what you do to what they just said. 'Oh, I help people like your sister figure out what's really going on so they regain their energy and can finally get a good night's sleep.'

They'll probably ask, 'How do you do that?' and you're off and running.

The functional med doc said, "Wow, I wish I'd known this years ago. It would have avoided a lot of blank looks and dead-end conversations."

Exactly.

Next time someone asks what you do, don't tell them. Instead:

1. Turn rhetoric into real-world by identifying 3 problems your clients have that you help fix. What do they struggle with/suffer from? What are their wishes/wants and concerns/cares/complaints that you hear a lot?
2. Distill that into a concise/precise 20 second question that has no superfluous words. The longer we talk, the more likely it is we'll lose them at hello. We want to intrigue, not to INFObesity.
3. Ask a three-part question to give them control and options. "Do you know anyone - could be yourself, a friend, or a family member who _____ (is feeling or dealing with these three things).
4. Stop talking after 20 seconds and truly listen to what they say. This is the key to turning a monologue into a dialogue in the first minute of meeting. It is also the key to personalizing your response so it's relevant to the other person instead of just giving a canned, scripted, rehearsed-to-death speech.
5. Link what you do to what they just said. This is when the lights go on and the band plays because people all-of-a-sudden "get" what you do. This is what turns confusion into connection because they know someone who is feeling or dealing with the challenges you solve, the work you do.
6. When they ask, "How do you do that?" give a recent example of how you've helped someone like the person they mentioned. This makes what you do empirical and concrete instead of abstract and conceptual.Author E.M. Forster was asked the meaning of life. He gave a two-word response, "Only connect." Next time someone asks "What do you do?" don't tell them. That's a speech. If you want to genuinely connect with people, use the above approach so you're both talking in the first minute. It'll go a long way to making introductions fun because they're now two-way instead of one-way.- - -Want to see this approach in action? Watch Sam's TEDx talk and share it with your team to brainstorm new, two-way elevator intro's together.