Mastering Your Elevator Pitch

You’re waiting for the elevator. The doors open, you enter, and then you see her—standing before you is the CEO of a major company. You know that this is your opportunity, your chance to tell her about yourself or your business. If you do it right, you have a shot at building a relationship with this CEO. If you do it wrong, you’ve potentially missed out on a really great networking opportunity.

Having a well-crafted elevator pitch is vital for job hunters and business owners alike. Those few moments spent shoulder-to-shoulder with someone in a position of influence could have a lasting impact on your professional future, months and years down the road. However, putting together an elevator pitch is no easy task! How do you summarize the most important aspects of yourself or your business in less than sixty seconds?

To help you compose the best, most compelling version of your elevator pitch, we’ve put together a handy guide just for our Club E readers.

Pitching Yourself

We get it, talking about yourself can be hard. In order to nail your elevator pitch, you have to be able to speak to your skills and goals. You don’t want to ramble—be brief, attention-grabbing, and concise. Keep in mind who you’re talking to and and speak to them according to where they’re coming from.

Try to stay away from company jargon. You want the person you’re speaking to to be able to follow what you’re saying. At the same time, know what you’re looking for! Is it a job? A recommendation? A mentor? Always have an end goal, and let your personality shine through.

As with all things, practice makes perfect. You’re not going to be able to nail your elevator pitch on the first go, so rehearse it in the mirror and see how you sound.

Pitching Your Business

We know your business is your baby. You have nurtured it from the ground up, growing it into something you are proud of. Maybe you’re still in the startup phase and in need of funding—lo and behold, you find yourself in an elevator with a potential investor. What do you say? There are a myriad of ways to start; one option is to pose  a question that you have the answer to:

“Have you ever needed to pick up a bouquet of flowers, but there was no shop in sight? We’re creating a solution for that with Minneapolis’s first ever flower truck! Just like a food truck, we park in prime locations so you have access to flowers when you need them most.”

It’s important to identify a problem during your elevator pitch, and then follow up with a solution. You need to prove the value of your idea. And remember, be succinct and to the point; people lose interest quickly.

Have a call to action—what are you hoping to gain from this quick conversation? Contact info? A meeting? Maybe a social media shout out? Make sure your conversation has a direction.

Above all, know when to listen. You have a lot to say, and not much time, but ceding the floor to your elevator buddy at the right moment matters just as much; nobody likes being talked over.

A Word to the Wise

Whether you’re pitching yourself or your business, there are a few things you should keep in mind. To start, keep it simple: if you had to describe yourself or your company in one word, what would it be? From there, consider what you bring to the table, and what you’re trying to solve. Your story matters, too. What got you to this point? Why should someone invest in you?

You have sixty seconds, a captive audience, and one shot. Don’t waste it.