Your Elevator Pitch Sucks (The Top 6 Ways to Fix It Now)

Okay, maybe your pitch doesn’t suck. Perhaps it could use just a bit of refining...or maybe it really does suck.

Well, whether you pitch in an actual elevator – or, like me, you’ve pitched hundreds of times on trade show floors around the world, there are some tried and true best practices, tactics and ‘tricks’ that have I learned and have worked for me and they just might work for you too. 

First, let’s be clear: A great pitch is like a great movie logline.  

What’s a movie logline? According to Google “a logline is a one (or occasionally two) sentence description that boils the script down to its essential dramatic narrative in as succinct a manner as possible.” 

Have you boiled down your pitch? What’s your narrative? Are you telling a story or just bragging?

Read on and incorporate what works for you and leave out the rest. Below are the 6 tactics I deploy and practice that have been highly effective. 

The Top 6 Ways to Fix Your Pitch Now Are: 

1 - Leave Your Jargon and Acronyms at the Office

We’ve all heard it... corporate speak. The insider business language that proliferates meetings, documents, white papers and presentations. 

It’s boring.

Stop it. 

This doesn’t mean you abandon your vocabulary and revert to 4th grade banter. It does mean that your pitch should be clear, concise and, as Seth Godin says, ”so compelling that the person wants to hear more even after the elevator ride is over.” Or, in the case of selling on the trade show floor, the thirty seconds you have their attention before they get distracted with a trade show booth game or a free beer. 

2 - It’s the WIIFM, Stupid

What’s in it for me, or in this case, them.

Your prospects care about one thing: what’s in it for them? Make sure that you are offering up specifically what the benefits are of your product or service and HOW it will impact them. A great way to do this is by adding storytelling into your elevator pitch. For example if I did this for SummitSync, an elevator pitch for us might sound like “We’re helping companies like [a competitor or similar niche] get up to 300% more meetings at every trade show and conference they attend.” 

While you’re referencing another company, you’re actually highlighting how they could also get upto 300% more meetings if only they had your solution. 

3 - One Word: Focus

As mentioned above narrowing down your pitch is essential As someone once said, “separate the chaff from the wheat”. Easy to say. Not so easy to do. Ask friends, colleagues and who ever will listen what they think your offering is. Then rewrite. And rewrite again. And then rewrite again. Then test it. Try out your words with anyone who will listen. 

Does the pitch make sense? Do they get it? 

Is the pitch one sentence?

Is the pitch compelling enough to make you want to hear more? 

Don’t forget to ask your marketing team if it aligns with the rest of your marketing to ensure you’re aligned in your messaging.

4 - Dialogue, NOT Monologue

Remember, you’re having a conversation — not lecturing. And though we all know you can dazzle your audience with all of your in-depth knowledge about your vertical, don’t do it. You become a talking head and not a human being connecting to another human being. And while we’re on the subject, if possible be funny. Start off with a joke, quip or something amusing that is tangentially related to your pitch. Even ask question, e.g.: “What brought you to [this event]?” Look for future blogs about ice-breakers and Ice-melters! Here are some other great conversation starters to capture your prospect’s attention on the trade show floor.  

5 - Rehearse, It’s What the Pros Do

Put another way, practice. I definitely re-learned the necessity of practicing your pitch as a founder...something I should have done more of back in the day. 

Some people say that if you practice too much you’ll sound robotic or mechanical. Nope. Actually, when you feel 100% confident having honed your pitch and iterated until finally it’s a super-pitch, THEN you’re ready to roll. It’s like a great jazz piano improviser. They play hours of scales, repeating, making mistakes until they can riff off of the scale. The scale still lives in the musical improv but now the musician can be free to play.  

6 - Be Like the Willow Tree...Bend

As Marc Benioff says, "You must always be able to predict what's next and then have the flexibility to evolve." The reason to stay flexible is that you never know what your prospect will say or do. Being present, listening and connecting with your prospect is everything. For instance, what if you quickly find out the person you’re speaking with is an avid salsa dancer. Would you begin your pitch talking about your product? Of course not. Why not bring up the time you made a total fool of yourself at your cousin’s wedding trying to do the samba! The point here is be ready for anything and engage your prospect in a real human and flexible way responding in the moment to what is in front of you.

So there you have it. My top 6 best practices. As with all best practices sometimes they change or I change but I’m always learning, honing and growing.

Got a tactic or strategy that you use when you pitch? I’d love to hear it. Put it in the comments below or shoot me an email - [email protected] 

In the meantime, when all else fails: be funny.