An “elevator pitch,” which does not necessarily have to be inside an elevator, is a short summary used to quickly and simply define a person, position, product, service, organisation, etc. The name reflects the idea that the pitch should ideally be possible to deliver in the time span of an elevator ride, approximately 30 seconds to a minute.
The term comes from a scenario of an accidental meeting with someone useful. If the pitch inside the elevator, in those few seconds is interesting and of value to the listener, the conversation will continue after the elevator ride and result in an exchange of business cards, or in particularly successful cases, a scheduled meeting.
An elevator pitch is ideally brief and persuasive, and used to spark interest. The agenda behind it is to create interest in a project, idea, product, or yourself. The perfect elevator pitch is interesting, memorable and concise, while explaining what makes the organisation, product or idea unique.
It is a misconception to assume that elevator pitches are only for sales people to pitch their products and services. In reality, elevator pitches are more useful when it comes to, for example, introducing your organisation to potential clients or customers, or selling a new idea to your CEO, or to inform colleagues about your new project.
Creating a perfect elevator pitch that sounds natural and not rehearsed will be difficult and you will likely go through many versions before landing on one that is compelling. Use the following step-by-step method to perfect your pitch, but, as it should go without saying, keep in mind to change your pitch as fits your situation:
Identify the goal
Think about the objective of your pitch. Is it to tell potential clients about your organisation? Is it to introduce a great new product idea? Or will a simple and engaging conversation about your work suffice?
Introduce yourself
Start the pitch by explaining what your organisation does, or what you do. Focus on problems that you solve and how it helps people. It is best to lead with a statistic that shows the impact of what you do. For example, a seminar you organised has lead to 20 villages receiving workshops on disaster preparedness.
Make sure that what you are pitching excites you, first and foremost. If it doesn’t interest you it won’t interest the person you’re pitching to. Your pitch should seem passionate, so that even if the audience does not remember much of what you said, they will remember your passion and enthusiasm.
A boring introduction: “I write applications for online courses of different universities.”
A memorable introduction: “I write applications university students use to remotely connect to their lectures.”
The latter is much more interesting, memorable and explains the value you provide and impact you have on your clients.
Point out your USP
The most important part of your elevator pitch is pointing out your unique selling proposition or your USP. Your USP makes you, your organisation, or your idea unique. You should point out your USP after you have discussed what it is that you do.
Example: “I visit each university separately, and review each course individually, to find out exactly what is expected off my applications, unlike other developers.
"While this may take longer, it ensures that my clients are happy with the first version of the application I write for them.”
Ask a question
Nothing engages a listener like a question. Prepare a number of questions that you will use to make your pitch a two-way one.
At the same time, make sure you are prepared to handle questions that may come your way.
Example: “What kind of remote applications does your organisation use?” “Are you satisfied with their performance?” “How are your employees responding to them?”
Practice
Just like you did back in school for presentations, when you have prepared for each section of your pitch, bring it all together and practice.
Practice in front of a mirror and use a stopwatch to time yourself – your pitch introduction should not run longer than 30 seconds or you risk losing the person’s interest.
While practicing, make necessary edits and leave out things that don’t need to be there. You have already covered what you are going to say, but how you’re going to say it is just as important.
You do not want to sound too fast, or sound like you have been practicing the pitch, or sound unnatural.
You want your pitch to be a smooth conversation, not an aggressive sales pitch. Pitch it fast, not hard. Vary your pitch from time to time so it doesn’t start to sound too formulaic.
Example: “I write applications university students use to remotely connect to their lectures. I visit each university separately and review each course individually, to find out exactly what is expected off my applications, unlike other developers.
"This takes longer, but it ensures my clients are satisfied with the first version of my app.
“What kind of remote application is your organisation using?”