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Learn how to sell yourself in 60 seconds or less.
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It’s a typical morning, you get into an elevator, and there you are! You find yourself face-to-face with your CEO or a person you’ve wanted to work with forever. They looked over to you and smile and ask, “Hi, what do you do?” Are your mind and heart racing? Or are you ready to give your elevator pitch?
This could happen at any time, maybe even today. Having your 30-second informal brief is pretty handy. Something that sounds good, sparks interest and makes you sound like you know what you’re doing. It’s a great skill to master, especially when you’re introducing yourself during an interview, a sales pitch or at a networking event. People are busy, and being able to communicate who you are and what you do quickly and effectively will ensure that you get your most important points across during a short conversation.
A good elevator pitch should last less than a minute. It should be interesting, memorable and succinct. The elevator pitch should explain what makes you, your organization, product, or idea unique.
This kind of speech useful for salespeople who use it to sell their products or services to customers. You can also use it to introduce your organization to potential clients. An elevator pitch can be used anytime in your organization. Perhaps to sell a new idea to your CEO, or to tell people about a change initiative you are leading.
Here are some of the steps you need to follow when creating an ideal elevator pitch, bearing in mind you’ll need to vary your approach depending on what the pitch is about.
Before you open your mouth, think about the objective of your pitch. Be strategic. What do you stand to gain at the end of this conversation? Think about what you want your potential client or boss to remember. You are aiming at selling yourself, your organization, product, etc. The goal is to tell people what you do for a living in the simplest and most composed way possible.
Here you are describing what your organization does. You might consider stating problems and the solutions you use to solve them. Include how your product is helping people in the community. Furthermore, you might consider including a financial summary of the bills or a statistic that shows the value of what you do. When explaining what you do, consider what you want your audience to remember most about you. Make it exciting. If it doesn’t excite you, it’s probably not going to interest the people you are pitching to.
After you’ve given your elevator pitch, you have to let the potential client or employer know your unique selling proposition. The USP is what distinguishes you from any other person who had a similar idea. Most noteworthy, are the numbers. How many high-value clients do you serve? At what rate of potential growth? What is the demand for your product, etc? Whatever is unique about your achievements, sell it.
While you are giving your elevator pitch, you can throw in a question. To ensure your audience is listening, you can ask them an open-ended question that doesn’t require a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. This will involve them in the conversation and most likely increase the chances of their interest in the matter.
Put all the sections of your speech together and read it out loud while timing yourself with a stopwatch. If it’s longer than a minute you risk losing the person’s interest or monopolizing the conversation. Cut out anything that doesn’t need to be there. Ensure that the pitch is an attention-getter.
It is true that practice makes perfect. How you say it is equally as important as what you say. Also, be aware of your body language. As you practice in front of a mirror, or better yet, in front of a colleague, ask for constructive feedback. Don’t talk too fast. Lastly, try as much as possible to sound natural so that you don’t forget important elements of your speech. Certainly, always carry a business card if applicable. And tailor your pitch for different audiences if appropriate.