An elevator pitch is you selling your product or brand in a very short amount of time – the time it might take to ride an elevator.
This guide will show you how write an elevator pitch with the aim of winning over potential customers or clients.
Your elevator pitch could be used at conferences, networking events and even at parties (just don’t expect to be invited back).
1. Introduce yourself (5 seconds)
Tell the your audience who you are and what you do. Seems obvious but you’d be amazed at how many people forget this!
E.g. My name is James and I’m a Public Speaking Coach.
2. Talk about a problem you can solve (15 seconds)
Identify a problem your potential clients have to deal with that your product or service solves. Tell a short story about how people suffer as a result of this problem. It should be a story that connects with those standing in front of you. Try to ‘paint a picture’ by being as vivid as possible with your description of the challenges they face.
E.g. A lot of people get nervous about giving big speeches or presentations and they don’t feel comfortable in their speaking abilities. They spend days and weeks before their speech worrying about it and then when they finally get on stage they just try to get through it as quickly as possible. As a result, they have a terrible time up there and then this negative experience just feeds into their anxieties the next time they have to speak.
3. Talk about your solution (15 seconds)
State how your product or service solves the aforementioned problem. Then tell a story about how it’s helped people. Try to ‘paint a picture’ of what things look like for these people now.
E.g. I break that cycle. I provide my clients with a variety of tools specifically for dealing with nerves and work with them on building their speechwriting and delivery skills. The next time they go on stage it’s a more enjoyable experience for them and crucially a more engaging and enjoyable experience for their audience.
4. Bring in a specific, relevant case study (15 seconds)
Talk about an individual who has benefited from you solving their problem. Mention the specific ways they have advanced either personally or commercially through your intervention (without actually giving away who they are, unless you have explicit permission!). Try to pick someone who the potential clients can relate to – if I were pitching my services to a group of people in media, I might talk about a journalist I’d worked with.
E.g. I recently worked with a magazine journalist who was constantly being offered public speaking opportunities that could raise her profile. She was being asked to give TV interviews and speak on industry panels. But she was so nervous and unsure of her public speaking abilities that she turned all of them down. She came to me and we worked together, one-to-one, on those nerves and those skills. We only had two hours together but now she feels confident enough to take those opportunities and recently appeared on a national TV show talking about an article she wrote.
5. End with a call to action (5 seconds)
Give your potential client something they can do if they’re interested in your product or services. This could be setting up a meeting, trialling your product or something else that brings them on board.
E.g. If you think you might benefit from public speaking coaching, let me know and we can set up a free consultation call.
The above is very much rough guide. You should practice and play around with your pitch until it starts to yield results. Best of luck from all of us at Vensa Coaching!
Image: So-Young Kang. Copyright: World Economic Forum / Boris Baldinger, Licensed the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.