You want to tell people what you do and how you can help them? Good. Do you want to know how to do it in the best way while taking the least amount of their time? Even better! An elevator pitch is the best way to convey your message in an effective way in a short span of time. And we are here to provide you some insightful tips and tricks on how to prepare an elevator pitch that sticks to your listeners’ minds! Read along folks, this is going to be a good read…
- It’s about what you do, not who you are
Until or unless you are Al Pacino or Robert DeNiro, you need to tell what you do more than who you are. Even the two legends are known for their remarkable work. So when you talk to an audience where you are going to build business relations, remember the good old “what’s in it for me” rule. The trick here is to keep in mind that this is from the audience’s point of view. When they are done listening to you, they should know how you can help them. You should address their problems and offer a solution to them.
In simple words, when you are done talking, they should feel they need you, and not wonder what the point of this speech was.
- Customize and/or Modify
Your elevator speech is not a “one size fits all cap” where you simply change the keywords from speech to another while keeping the whole script intact! You need to understand the needs and nature of your audience. See what kind of people they are. It’s good to lighten up a room with a little casual speech or use a more serious tone when the situation demands. Remember, you can’t woo a hiring manager and a client with same readymade speech. The best speech is like the best suit, tailor made!
- Try to keep it simple
You would try to impress them with your impeccable English and colloquial speech. But you may forget the most important here; the beauty of communication lies in its simplicity. If there’s any detail that won’t make any difference to the audience, leave it at the door. Keep it simple and to the point, that’s how people love it. Clutter what can be said in 5 words with 9 words, and you’ve got an inefficient mash of words.
- What makes you stand out?
There’s nothing in tooting your own horn when you want their attention, and it’s perfect to do so when you want them to have business with you. Tell them what makes you stand a class apart from your competition. Tell them the things you do to help them, things which your competitors don’t do. You’ll have your audience right where you want them.
- Practice!
We’re sure you also want to turn the television off when you see almost everyone using the same marketing pitch in those television marketing commercials? They all sound so prepared, scripted and boring. We hate to listen to a sales pitch the moment we hear one. Make it conversational, engage the audience. It should come out as natural as a day to day conversation, and not as if you’re reading cue cards.
