Crafting a Killer Elevator Pitch

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Ray White, The Dumb Little Man blog, http://

An "elevator pitch" is the 30- to 60-second business description of what you do and why someone should work with you. It's called an elevator pitch because it describes the challenge: How would you explain your business and make a sale if fate placed you in an elevator with your dream prospect and you only had the time it takes to get from the top of the building to the bottom?

Essential Elements of a Powerful Elevator Pitch

Here's a point-by-point explanation of the components that make an elevator pitch truly work. It should be:

1. Concise—Your pitch should take no longer than 30 to 60 seconds.
2. Clear—Use language that everyone understands. Don't use fancy words thinking it will make you sound smarter. Your listener won't understand you and you'll have lost your opportunity to hook them.
3. Powerful—Use words that are powerful and strong.
4. Visual—Use words that create a visual image in your listeners' minds. This will make your message memorable.
5. Tell a story—A short story, that is. A good story is essentially this: someone with a problem either finds a solution or faces tragedy. Either type of story can be used to illuminate what you do.
6. Targeted—A great elevator pitch is aimed at a specific audience. If you have target audiences that are vastly different, you might want to have a unique pitch for each.
7. Goal-oriented—A great elevator pitch is designed with a specific outcome in mind. What is your desired outcome? You may have different pitches depending on different objectives. Do you want to make a sale, gain a prospect, enlist support for an idea or earn a referral?
8. Something with a hook—This is the element that literally snags your listener's interest and makes them want to know more. This is the phrase that strikes a chord in your listener.

Now that you understand what makes a pitch work for listeners, it's time to put pen to paper (or key to keyboard) and put yours together.

* Write down what you do—Write it several different ways. Try writing it at least 10 to 20 different ways. Don't edit yourself; you'll do that edit later. This first step is to simply generate ideas. Don't hold back. Ideas can be goofy, serious, wild, funny or conservative. It doesn't matter. The goal is to get as many ideas as possible down on paper.
* Write a very short story—It should illustrate what you do for people. If necessary, the story can be long. You will boil it down later. Paint a picture with words.
* Write down your objective or goal—Do you want to make a sale, gain a prospect, enlist support for an idea, earn a referral or something else?
* Write 10 to 20 action statements—This is a statement or question designed to spur the action associated with your goal.
* Record yourself—Listen to what you sound like and adjust your delivery until you're comfortable (this is a process worth repeating several times).
* Let it sit—Come back to what you've written with fresh eyes and ears the next day or later on in the same day.
* Highlight the good stuff—Listen and read through what you've recorded and written. Then either highlight or circle the phrases that hook you with clear, powerful and visual words. Obviously not all the words will fall into these categories. You still need "connector" words, but you want them to be as few as possible.
* Put the best pieces together—Again, you'll want to write down several versions of this much tighter pitch. Tell people what you do and why they should want to do business with you. Include elements from your story if you can fit it in.
* Do a final edit—Cut as many unnecessary words as possible. Rearrange words and phrases until it sounds just right. Again, the goal is 30 to 60 seconds maximum.
* Dress rehearsal—Run it by as many people as you can. Get feedback from colleagues, clients you trust, friends and family.
* Done for now—Take your final elevator pitch and write it down. Memorize and practice it until it just slides off your tongue naturally.
* Continue to improve—Over time, always be on the lookout for phrases that you think could make your elevator pitch more clear and impactful. And then test it out. Every once in a while, you will probably benefit by starting from scratch because things always change: you, your business, your goals and your clients' needs.

Remember, you have only 30 to 60 seconds to make a powerful first impression. You need to grab them quickly or lose them forever.

Special thanks to Ray White, author of The Dumb Little Man blog, for his contributions to this article.

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