Why your elevator speech makes people tune out

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Molly Gordon, Shaboom Inc., http://www.shaboominc.com

If you've ever come upon a deer in the roadway while driving at night, you've seen a deer freeze. Though tragically unsuccessful on today's roads, freezing is a highly effective survival strategy in the deer's native habitat.

That's because, in the backwoods, a flash of light is often moonlight reflecting off the eyes of a predator. The deer stands perfectly still to avoid detection and capture.

Tuning out is the new way to freeze.

Like many people, you've probably learned to tune out the constant barrage of advertising that assaults us 24/7. For the contemporary consumer (don't you hate that word?), tuning out is a strategy for evading "capture."

But why would anyone tune you out?

You're a nice person. You don't especially like marketing. You certainly don't view your prospective clients or customers as "consumers." But when you deliver your hard-earned elevator speech, you can see people's eyes glaze over as they tune out. What's up with that?

They've heard it all before. Your product or service can be utterly unique and perfectly suited to a customer's needs, but your elevator speech sounds tediously familiar. Here's why.

Your customers' eyes and ears have become accustomed to mass-market advertising. Even if what you say is unique, glib phrases, canned elevator speeches, and being too cute or clever makes your message sound about as relevant as a bicycle to a fish. (Thank you Irinna Dunn.)

But wait a darn minute. Don't I teach people to develop elevator speeches? Yes. I even teach them to memorize their elevator speech.

But that's only the beginning. After memorizing their elevator speech until they have it down cold, I assign an acting exercise.

The script is the elevator speech and the actors' only instruction is not to speak until they have a reason to.

Because neither party can start the conversation without a reason, the first thing they have to do – even in this entirely made-up scene – is establish an authentic connection.

Trust me. After that, the elevator speech becomes an entirely different experience for both parties.

I'm not saying that connecting with folks before you speak will turn them into customers. What it will do is establish you as a real person in a real conversation. It will keep folks from tuning you out before they can discover if you have anything to offer.

Besides, an elevator speech isn't supposed to turn people into customers. All an elevator speech should do is tell people what problem your product or service solves and for whom.

But that's another article.

This article originally appeared in the Authentic Promotion e-zine and is reprinted with permission from the author. Molly Gordon is president of Shaboom Inc., a coaching and training company that delivers hope, help, and hilarity to Accidental Entrepreneurs so that they can build a business that fits just-right. For more information, visit http://www.shaboominc.com. Copyright 2007, Shaboom Inc. All rights reserved

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