Hey Gang,
Whether you are a student, a service profider or a decision maker, how do you feel about elevator pitches? Below is an email I just received. Do you use them, find them effective, or respond when someone else gives you one? Let's help K. out!
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Dear Dave,
I just came back from a seminar on how to give a 30 second elevator pitch. But it feels very stiff and insincere and I don't feel comfortable doing it. Do you use elevator pitches?
Signed K.
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13 comments:
If your elevator pitch feels phoney and insincere...it probably is!
The 30 second elevator pitch is a great technique for communicating your message (it can be work or non-work related). It provides a framework that allows others to ask questions and to establish a basis for understanding you and your interests (e.g. who you are, what you do, why you do it).
Too often people use their title or their role description as the basis for their elevator pitch...or they try to turbo-charge the 30 second pitch with the latest buzzwords and jargon...("I enable the dynamic interfacing between buyers and sellers of secondary fiber in emerging global markets" - - translation = "I sell recycled newspapers to China").
Some guidelines for the 30 second elevator pitch:
1. Keep it real. Avoid the temptation to try and make it 'larger than life'. It isn't a bragging contest!
2. Keep it simple. If you told your 30 second elevator pitch to you Mom, Dad, or spouse, would they be able to describe back to you (in their words) what it is that they think you do? If not, then you haven't really provided them with an opportunity to engage you and ask questions to learn more about you / what you do.
3. Keep it short. It isn't supposed to be a "verbal resume". If you need more than 2 sentences to describe yourself / your role / your intersts...then you probably haven't spent enough time focusing and refining "what it is that makes you tick".
4. Practice it...ask for feedback...and refine it. When you've got it "right"...it should feel natural, you should believe in it, and when you deliver it, it should come across with confidence and sincerity.
Remember...this is just a "technique". It is often used in an attempt to open up and engage with others in discussion and dialogue. The real value gets unlocked when you get into the discussion and dialogue with others. That's what really matters.
Good luck!
Great insights Blake!
I took a chance during a recent seminar and decided to push a few buttons of my own. The audience was comprised of highly educated entrepreneurial people with science backgrounds. I posed the question:
"how many of you have ever heard of the elevator pitch?"
100% raised their hands
"how many of you have ever attended a workshop or read a book on how to give one?"
75% raised their hand
"how many of you have ever given one?"
5% raised their hand.
"how many of you have ever used one successfully that you know of?"
No one raised their hand.
When folks ask me about elevator pitches my mind goes back to when I taught scuba diving. One of the skills we used to teach was buddy breathing. Before alternate air sources were inveneted, in the unlikely one diver ran out of air, two people had to learn how to share a single mouthpiece and reach the surface safely. We taught it over and over again in the pool but never had high confidence it work work in a real emergency.
The problem with buddy breathing was that you had to practise it so when the moment came, it was a relaxed and rehearsed event. Otherwise, someone was left gasping for air.
The problem with elevator pitches is that no one practices it enough either. And too many decision-makers are bombarded by people pitching their ideas and products.
My feeling about opening relationships and networking effectively is to simply be who you are. Whether it's riding an elevator, sitting beside someone on an airplane, or waiting together at a buffet, you can be much more effective by opening with a compliment or a kind gesture, inquiring about outside activities and then asking what their greatest challenges are.
In reality, you usually have more than 30 seconds to make an impression but the key is to leave a good impression.
Over the past six months our '30 second' elevator pitch has kept changing and changing. We see really well what doesn't work, and what gets people left with a blank stare.
Finding what works hasn't been easy. I do agree with keep the words simple ... and we're getting better ... however we still have a ways to go.
Kamal
Thanks Kamal - for those of you who want to give him feedback...here' his current pitch
"Skymeter is in an in-car device that lets a motorist automatically pay for everywhere they have been that month ... for instance parking, etc."
And here's their website so you can make the connection:
www.skymetercorp.com
Hi K,
Sincerity and research is the key… and if you don’t like the elevator get off, and ride the one that makes you feel comfortable.
If you don’t feel that you are able to “pitch woo” using a “concrete formula” then don’t waste your time as the guy or gal on the other end of the pitch will say thanks and rush you off the call.
“Research is the key; why do I need your product or service and how will it work specific to my business”?
Know your audience!
If you don’t have the passion… why should I?
In every vertical I pitch on behalf of clients in a Business Development capacity… I ask from the list of targets presented which is the 10 clients I could live with out that will tear into me and make me over come objection… and which are must haves.
“The faster we fail the faster we succeed,” as life is a learning process.
Singles and doubles get you there and home runs are few and far between.
There is no set rule book as everyone is different… you on the other hand remain the same… and grow in knowledge and strength over time.
I “pitch woo” for a living on numerous abstract applications, and my experience tells me never pitch what I don’t absolutely believe in, understand or what makes me question the idea it self?
It sounds like you question the seminar presentation and that is great… as the answer to the elevator is do it your own way and incorporate the points you are trying to make.
30 seconds is not a lot of time, and positioning the pitch for a… wait for it a… response which allows you to engage in conversation is the winner!
Like every one, I get calls at dinner… you know the ones . . . scripted calls come into my home… the script does not come with… what do I do if they ask me a question before my pitch is done? Listening for the crack in the door is the key to success and it does not have to be 30 seconds.
Be your self, remember we are all human. I work on the premise that whether my Audience is more senior to my position… “This morning we put on our sox one foot at a time.” Therefore we can’t be that different. He or she may have better sox… but if their buying what I am selling I will be at Harry Rosen’s getting a similar pair!
Good luck!
G.
Good points all! I can't agree more with the sentiment that "elevator pitches" are a fact of life in this busy world and are here to stay.
Practice, refine, run it by your spouse (mine is the BEST at poking holes in my pitches from years of practice) and then try it on unsuspecting passers by. When it feels comfortable you are ready to try to improve it AGAIN! But you will NEVER get completely away from having to make the "elevator pitch"
Adi
To me, the pitch is about three things:
1. Who you are.
2. What you do.
3. The value proposition
That's it. If you don't have a easy to remember message or story, then they won't remember you. And if they don't remember you, then you've wasted the opportunity.
Pat Lefler
Intrepid ideas...and other musings
http://intrepidideas.blogspot.com
I'm not expert in the field, and this may be a very simple answer: your elevator pitch shouldn't be hard. If you believe in what you want and are motivated to achieve whatever it is your are pitching (which should be well known and drilled into your head) then your audience should feel captivated by your story. It helps to leave them hanging slightly so that they want more from you. Give your audience a reason to follow up with you, or you with them to progress the conversation further. Don't bog them down with details, rather, interest them with throught provoking or intreguing ideas during the short time you have with them; it helps to show interest in what they are doing as well. That's my 2-cents ...
Cheers, Josh
Okay...time to wade in.
I had someone give me the elevator speech over the phone last week.
I felt like I had been flattened against the wall of my office. It was a referral and I was initially inclined to NOT want to meet the person after being bombarded.
Personally, elevator speaches only work if you have been introduced to the person or have already begun a relationship with them. In my opinion they are really not meant for total strangers.
Be yourself, meet the person, begin to build a relationship and then tell them about yourself and your business. No one likes to be cornered.
Cheers all,
Bonnie
Great insights everyone. I was chatting with an associate of mine who had attended a recent Knocking down Silos evemt. A few days later, she received an email from another attendee asking her for a few minutes of her time to talk about his career options.
She's truly a "good guy" and likes to help people out. But in this case, it took her about 2 weeks to respond to the email. I asked why and she said she suspected it was an email blast to everyone in the seminar. Why? There was no personalized element in the email; no reference to a conversation or common interests. A lack of personalization dropped it down the priority list.
I agree with the concept of an interesting and engaging response when someone asks "so what do you do?" But I'm still convinced that you should adapt your opening statement to the recipient otherwise you'll be perceived as impersonal and your elevator pitch (and your email) will quickly be placed in the spam folder.
I have done very little new business development over the last 5 years, but when I was a cold-calling machine, I always used a form of the elevator pitch… Usually I tried to give them a quick little overview of why my customers did business with me and tried to frame it in terms of what was in it for the person on the other end of the phone. I also found having a couple of metrics like “this saved my customers on average X% on the cost of doing business” or something along those lines helped, and I always ended it by asking an open-ended question such as “If I could help you realize the same kind of gains, would you be willing to give me 20 minutes of your time?”
Brian Glassey
Account Executive
647-258-3916
True enough...The initial contact/elevator pitch must clear and concise. That being said, no matter what the content is, there has to be a belief in your product and delivered with absolute integrity and enthusiasm!
Hello Dave and all,
In grad school, we've been taught to give the "taxi cab" talk. With all of the conferences that we go to, and thus, cab rides to the airport, I've been taught in several courses to be able to give a 30-60sec spiel about my research and role at UofT since just about every taxi driver likes to chat. I've learned that it can be helpful to have such a framework, not just for cab rides, but also for when others (parents, siblings, etc) want to know what you are doing. But in this case, I am not really trying to sell myself, just pass along information.
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