The famous elevator pitch gets its name from an unusual situation. Imagine you step into an elevator, and bump into a top executive. The big boss who can make all your dreams come true. You have just a few seconds to make a good impression. The time it takes to travel from the bottom floor to to top floor is how long you have to make your presentation.
The elevator pitch is presented completely “off the cuff”. There is no supporting material, no powerpoints, no fancy presentations. Just you, one potential investor, and a very short time frame.
These days, most elevator pitches don’t actually happen in elevators. They are uses at investor events, pitching competitions and networking events, where you need to present what you do very very quickly. Typically you will have between 30 seconds to 2 minutes to make your case.
It can be worth putting some serious effort into crafting a perfect elevator pitch, as you will most likely be using it a lot in social situations, especially if your business relies on networking and meeting new people.
Read this article so that you can create your own Elevator pitch in just a few minutes.
Elevator pitch template.
When I start crafting a nice, sharp elevator pitch, I like to use this basic template, and then add to it or adjust it over time.
[Company Name] [Company Slogan]
[Company name] does [The thing you do] for [Your target audience] so they can [Get a benefit].
Unlike [Competitors / alternatives], [Company name] [Your special process] so you can [Avoid disadvantage] and [Gain advantage].
[Big hairy audacious goal] but we need your help to [Request for help] so that together we can [Measurable and quantifiable goal] and [Company slogan] .
Let’s see how that may work in practice.
Joe’s High speed chicken cannons – The fastest way to fire a chicken.
Joe’s High speed chicken cannons produces the worlds fastest blasting chicken cannons for farmers who just cant wait to move their chickens, so they can move more poultry faster, and with greater explosive power.
Unlike moving chickens by trucks, Joes High Speed Chicken Cannons use a combination of lazer guided missile technology and explosives to blast chickens at high speed, so you can avoid traffic jams and haulage costs, and get your chickens to the customer in record time.
By 2021 we aim to be the worlds fastest chicken delivery system but we need your help to invest in marketing and distribution so that together we can reach 92% market share over 3 years, and truly become the fastest way to fire a chicken.
Now, I’m not suggesting that you use this elevator pitch to promote firing chickens from cannons any time soon, but you see how this can work with any product or service.
It keeps things simple, and focuses on the core of what you do, how you do it, and who you do it for. At the end, you say how you want the person to get involved, and you hit them with your big vision.
Remember that the purpose of the elevator pitch is not to give all the information to a person in 30 seconds. It’s to give just enough information so that they can make a decision if they are interested or not.
Always practice your elevator pitch on people who don’t know you, your business or service. That way you can check to make sure that your message is clear and jargon-free. Sometimes you have the perfect idea for an elevator pitch in your head, but that doesn’t mean it comes across clearly to others.
An elevator pitch is a short presentation that you can give to one person, in an elevator, without any extra supporting materials. It should be short, to the point, and get your message across in the fastest possible time.
Between 30 seconds and 2 minutes. Don’t rush, just be concise. Use easy to understand language.
Construct short, snappy answers that sell your strongest qualities to pitch yourself in an interview situation. You have a very short time to make a good impression, so practice your pitch, write it down if it helps, and don’t deviate.
A good structure to use is: [Company name] does [The thing you do] for [Your target audience] so they can [Get a benefit].
Unlike [Competitors / alternatives], [Company name] [Your special process] so you can [Avoid disadvantage] and [Gain advantage].
GoPublicSpeaking.com gives advanced public speaking advice to new and established presenters so they can improve their techniques.
Unlike other public speaking websites, GoPublicSpeaking.com is written by professional public speakers so you can avoid clichés and spend your time improving the things that really matter to your audience.
Yes. A short elevator pitch can be perfect when speed-dating with other companies, or potential employees. You may want to make one elevator pitch for yourself, and one for your company.
Yes. Asking for an elevator pitch is common practice in a job interview. Make sure you are ready with a good answer.
Follow the guide above, using a simple template structure. Then test it out on friends and colleagues to make sure your message is understandable.
Using two words where one will do. Using jargon or difficult to understand words. Using slang. Using offensive language. Making claims that are too brash or outlandish. Using generic, dull or boring words.
Why don’t you make an elevator pitch and leave it in the comments? I’d love to know if this works for you.
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