Elevator Pitch: Definition, Types, Step-by-Step guide
If you found an investor in an elevator and had a minute or less to wake up your interest, would you be ready for this challenge? This situation helps to think of a quick and direct way to present the value and differential of your company. In the world of startups and investors, the term for this is Elevator Pitch.
In this article, we’ve covered some examples of elevator conversation and tips to help you understand, create, and deliver your second-hand message. What is elevator speech, and how to pitch in seconds?
What is an Elevator Pitch?
An elevator pitch is a short oral communication exercise aimed at arousing the interest of a group, a company, or a nobody. This is to briefly describe your personality, skills, and experience and give specific or original information about your areas of interest in 30 seconds – 1 minute, i.e., the average time you would spend in an elevator with your interlocutor.
Your presentation should show how to point out you are unique, and it must therefore give a quick overview of what you have to offer the group, sponsor, or company. The most effective presentations emphasize two or three skills or abilities related to the group you address, supported by relevant examples.
How to Take an Elevator Step: Step-by-Step Instructions
Your elevator pitch will have a slightly different purpose depending on the situation. That’s why the first thing you need is to identify your purpose.
- Do you want to get a job in a particular company?
- Do you want to land a new strategic client? • Maybe you have a great business idea and are looking for an investor?
- Heck, maybe you want to casually introduce yourself and explain what you do for a living…
Whatever you want to achieve, we have what you need. Here’s how to create an elevator pitch for three different occasions.
(If you want to see examples of elevator pitches for reference and inspiration, please scroll down to the next section.)
In which situations can I use the elevator pitch?
Although the name of the pitch may make your think can only be done in elevators, it can be used in several situations, for example, to get in touch with a particular person, hold the attention of a crowd and convince them in a short time to create a link or obtain an appointment or for a business opportunity. It can also be used to stand out during a personal presentation or a job interview.
3 Types of Elevators Pitch
1. Elevator Pitch for Career Fairs
Job fairs are busy environments. Hundreds of candidates are vying for attention from a few big fish.
Events such as trade fairs and congresses are ideal situations for meeting investors, getting in touch with other entrepreneurs, or even finding new customers. Using the elevator pitch allows you to create links and make contacts.
Whether it is to approach business leaders or to present an idea to investors, it is essential to use a relevant argument. Your presentation needs to be crafted at every opportunity to leave a good impression.
2. Elevator Pitch for Job Interview
During a job interview, using the elevator pitch technique helps you stand out from other candidates. In particular, it allows you to make a short presentation while highlighting your qualities, talents, skills, and professional qualifications.
To persuade your future employer and achieve a perfect pitch, your presentation must reflect who you are. It is a method that allows you to show your motivation and interest in the position and the company.
3. Elevator Pitch in Social Networks
Meetings on professional social networks can be excellent opportunities to connect with potential clients or investors. Indeed, the latter are generally not interested in too long messages.
Using the elevator pitch allows you to make yourself known or present your project while ensuring that your message will be read. This practice makes it possible to sell ideas and attract new customers or investors.
5 Steps to Make an Elevator Intro Pitch
I. Get their attention.
Open your elevator speech with something compelling and relatable. For example, identify a common industry problem with which they will be familiar.
II. Spark curiosity
Tell them you found a solution for that very problem but for that, you need to know WHO you are talking with and what their needs are.
III. Summarize what you do
Then tell how you happen to have the magic solution for their problems or how helpful you might be by explaining what you do.
IV. Be ready for more questions
A good elevator pitch is an invitation to a conversation, not an advertising slogan. So it would be best if you were ready to explain any doubt you crowd might have.
V. Have a business card in hand
If the person you’ve been talking to wants to continue the conversation later, handing them a business card will be more professional than just giving out your phone number.
5 TIPS TO WRITE AN ELEVATOR PITCH
1. Start from Scratch
Before you can sell your idea, you need to have an idea! And it needs to be good. Take a blank sheet of paper and brainstorm how you envision your business: who the customers will be, what market you will be operating in, what demands will be met, etc.
2. Set your Goals
Now that you have a design of your idea and your target audience, define your goals: what are your audience’s needs, and what will you do to meet them? Explain what exactly the service you are creating is and what it does.
3. Shape your idea
Organize clearly and cohesively all the previously defined ideas and objectives. You can use, for example, a Lean Canva to help you with this structuring.
To give shape and face to your idea, do not forget to choose a name for your service or business, even if it is temporary; this helps summarize the concept in a few words. Finally, clarify what makes your idea different and why it deserves to be heard.
4. Create an irresistible hook
You can develop a metaphor, a joke, an anecdote, or ask an intriguing question, but the important thing is that you create something that holds the attention and engages the listener. Remember, you need to present your idea in a few minutes, so you need to make sure you get your message across without being boring. With a square presentation, you lose your chance of success within seconds.
5. Write your speech script
All your ideas are in order. Do you know your differential and still have a fantastic hook to engage your audience? So now it’s time to script your “elevator speech .”.”Please write what you want to communicate, showing the potential of your business, and read it aloud (preferably timing) until you reach a speech of up to 3 minutes. Finally, practice, practice, practice, and practice more!
Leave your speech impeccable and have everything on the tip of your tongue. Perhaps, the first few times you present your idea, you will still choke a little, but each time you will gain more confidence, and this is the essential tip for success: have confidence in your business! Now, wait for that elevator ride that could change your life.
Examples of a Good Elevator Pitch
Let’s look at some examples of elevator conversations for a variety of roles and situations that you might refer to when creating yours:
I. In a Job interview
“Hi, my name is Michelle Catra. Thank you so much for sitting with me today.
After graduating with a degree in Business Administration, I have spent the last three years building professional experience as an Executive Assistant. I successfully managed end-to-end event coordination and generated a solid professional network for my colleagues.
I was excited to learn about this opportunity in the sports management space – I have always been passionate about the way sports unite cultures and would love the opportunity to bring my project management and leadership skills to this position.”
II. Looking for a Mentor
“Hi, I’m Jonathan Barbosa; nice to meet you! I’m a graphic designer at XYZ Ltd., where I’m passionate about creating beautiful and intuitive designs for various marketing materials for our premier clients.
Before that, I did my specialization in Graphic Design. I am looking for experiences to learn more about career paths and ways to take on an art director role in the coming years.
Your work with the WWW brand has inspired me, particularly the way I think about design – I’d love to talk more about potential mentorship with you if it’s something you have the time and are interested in.”
III. Networking
“Hi! It is a pleasure to meet you.
My name is Mark Brown. I have just over ten years of experience creating data-driven solutions for various business problems. Specifically, I love and have had great success in strategically evaluating data analytics with my current work executive team.
It sounds like you do similar work – I’d like to stay in touch to learn more about what you and your company do.”
IV. Looking for a job opportunity
“Hi, I’m Maria Prates. I spent the last eight years learning and growing in my role as a Media Planner, where I developed and optimized strategic media plans for our leading client and managed a subset of planners as a Team Leader.
One of my proudest achievements was a project recognized as one of the top nonprofit campaigns last year. I’ve been interested in switching to nonprofits for a long time, and I love what your company does in education.
Would you mind telling me about any media planning needs you might have on the team?”
Conclusion
There are no secrets to making a good elevator pitch. You need to be brief and create a speech that varies in length from 30 to 60 seconds.
The elevator pitch is so named because it is short enough that it could be used even on a quick elevator ride. So it needs to be very objective, say who you are, what you do, and what you want to do (if you’re looking for a job).
It is not necessary to present all of your professional and academic histories. However, this presentation should briefly recap who you are and what you do.
References and Further Reading
How to Create an Elevator Pitch With Examples. Balanced Careers.
