The Elevator Pitch sometimes called a 30 second commercial seems to be catching on. There are tons of networking events for business people to attend and get to know other like minded folks. Frequently you are asked to stand and tell the group what you do in 30 seconds or less. The Elevator Pitch concept was developed to help you think like that. It assumes that you are in an elevator with an executive or prospect and you have just enough time to pitch from when you enter to when he/she exits. Even if you are not lucky enough to be in an elevator to pitch your business being able to say succinctly what it is you do is important.
Think about some of the nightmares you may have experienced at networking events or associaiton meetings. You nicely ask what it is some one does and they drone on for 2 minutes telling you way more than you had ever hoped to hear. Are you guilty of the same thing?
This morning in Connecticut there was an Elevator Pitch Contest sponsored by the State and Microsoft. 26 business owners and supporters came together to participate in the first (annual?) contest. The rules were strict, you had one minute to get your point across. At one minute you were asked to stop no matter where you were in your presentation. The first 13 people were all cut off mid sentence. It was a great lesson for many in how long they normally go on speaking without even realizing it.
The second half of the group was far more succinct and many had great messages. There were 3 winners who will go on to compete in a State Showcase in September. One of the winners was great because she told the us about the inspiration behind her business and her philosophy. She was totally engaing for the first 30 seconds. Then she went into a bit of a sales pitch but everyone listened because she had us with the story.
Personally I thought this was a great exercise for small businesses because a lot of people got to hear about their business and it really informed the owner about how well/poorly they communicate. I would love to see this type of event repeated for more business owners. They work so hard and sometimes forget that they must sell as well. To often it seems haphazard. Don't be like that, be prepared. Think about a short 30 second commercial that is engaging and interesting to use the next time some one says, "So what do you do?"
www.carolmon.com
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2 comments:
So Carol . . . what was YOUR Elevator Pitch?
Will you share it??
Bill
Ah, a reader knew that not only did I attend the Elevator Pitch contest but I participated as well. Before I give you the pitch let me warn you, it is long because the contest required a 60 second pitch. Far too long for most business situations. I advocate only 30 seconds at the most.
Keep in mind this was "written" to be performed not read so there are vocal changes, pauses and facial expressions to help bring this alive.
Here goes.
Hi I’m Carol Mon and I’m a Corporate Storyteller. You’re probably thinking, a what? What’s a corporate storyteller? I get that a lot. But stories are a powerful communication tool. So what I do is work with individuals and businesses to develop compelling stories that make their marketing message memorable. For instance, recently I worked with a company that was developing a new service and wanted a brochure that was different and would get read. We came up with 6 short stories for the brochure to demonstrate the problems that are solved by their new service. The brochure is captivating and it’s getting read because they are getting great feedback on it. I also work with companies on content for the about us web pages, sales letters, fundraising letters, with people on stories for presentations and team building.
For more check out my website at carolmon.com and Make your message memorable,
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