FAQs

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Q. What is an elevator pitch?  (What is an elevator speech?)

A. I like to describe an elevator pitch as your personal commercial. It’s meant to be delivered in a moderated business-to-business (B2B) networking meeting, not in a conversational setting, and contrary to popular belief, not in an elevator. 

During your elevator pitch you have an amazing opportunity to, over the course of 30 precious seconds, fully control the information that a captive audience hears about your business. This is not the time to improvise. It’s important to make sure that you’re including as many key points as possible within the allotted time, and that you’re delivering your elevator pitch in the most professional manner possible.

Q. What is the purpose of an elevator pitch?

A. I have a slightly different take on this than other people. In my opinion, the purpose of an elevator pitch or elevator speech is two-fold (again, in a moderated B2B networking meeting):

    1) To let your fellow networking meeting attendees know who you are, and,

    2) To give just enough information about yourself to entice them to have a

         subsequent conversation with you.

A few people in the room may be in need of your products or services, which is always a good thing. But the ideal outcome is that your elevator pitch inspires everyone to think of other people they know who could use your products or services. The goal of networking with other businesspeople is to get referrals from them, not to make them your clients. A good elevator pitch will open the door to many spheres of influence for you.

Q. How to write an elevator pitch? (How to create an elevator pitch?)

A. The key to writing a great elevator pitch (why accept anything less) has more to do with knowing what to leave out than it does with what to include.

To help you with the process, you need a system that lays out the necessary categories and their components, but more importantly, gives you the ability to then prioritize and organize all of that information.

The system also needs to equip you with a decision-making tool that allows you to easily eliminate the things that there simply isn’t enough time for. That is precisely what you will find within the About Your Elevator Pitch workbook.

Q. How long should an elevator pitch be? (How long is an elevator pitch?)

A. The answer to this question may surprise you. Your elevator pitch should be a long as the moderator gives you to speak. It’s not your decision. But you should not have to rewrite your elevator pitch for each meeting you attend, just because of differing time constraints. That would be stressful and time-consuming. [Shameless plug here for the About Your Elevator Pitch workbook… it shows you how to easily shorten or lengthen your 30-second elevator pitch without reinventing the wheel each time.]

Hopefully your moderator lets you know ahead of time how long he or she is allowing for each person’s elevator pitch so that you can prepare accordingly. Please note that you do not have to use all of the time you’re given.

Q. Why is having a great elevator pitch so important?

A. At networking meetings, people have the opportunity to interact with you, to get to know you, and, very importantly, to see how you present yourself, through your elevator pitch.

But if you're still not convinced as to why you need a great elevator pitch, consider this. As much as others may like you, in order to sing your praises they need to have a good, albeit superficial, understanding of what you do for a living. Give them what they need in your elevator pitch! How else can they pass that information on to someone else, who could turn out to be the best (most lucrative) referral you’ve ever gotten?

Q. Why should I spend the money on a course to learn how to create a great elevator pitch?

A. If you are so sure that you already have a great elevator pitch that ticks all the right boxes, that you can deliver with no (and I mean ZERO) ums and uhs, all in 30-seconds, then you probably don’t need this course.

But if you come away from your networking meetings feeling that you haven’t done the best possible job you could have in conveying the most important pieces of information about yourself, or if you find it impossible to do so in 30 seconds, then you have two very compelling reasons to purchase this course.

You may be spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year on business-group memberships and networking events; doesn’t it make sense to ensure that you get the most out of those investments by increasing your effectiveness?

Q. How much time does it take to write an elevator pitch?

A. When you add up the numerous times you will revisit what you are writing in order to refine it, I would estimate that all together, you can expect to spend a minimum of six to eight hours on your elevator pitch. But it shouldn’t be done all at one sitting. 

Initially, I recommend carving out an hour or two for yourself, just to go through the workbook and fill in the blanks in the brainstorming sections. With your next block of time, you can move on to another part of the process, and so on. 

It's good to take a break (a few hours or, preferably, a day or two) in between your sessions once you start putting all the parts together. It will help to dissolve any attachment you might have to what you wrote, allowing you to be more objective. You have to be willing to let things go for the sake of the finished product (and the stopwatch).

Q. How to end an elevator pitch?

A. An elevator pitch should end with what I call the "wrap up". Its purpose is to remind your audience who you are. 30 seconds may seem like a very short period of time, but once people tune in to what you're saying they may not remember what you said your name was. So make sure you restate your name and either your profession or company name, at the end of your elevator pitch. (Note: For information on tag lines see page 21 of the workbook.)