Marketing yourself is never easy. Unless you're the type who adores self-promotion, then selling yourself or your services can be daunting. However, if you're looking for your business to thrive, a polished elevator pitch is vital. It should be short, it should be sweet, and it should hopefully pique the interest of whomever you're making a delivery to. Below are a handful of tips for nailing your perfect pitch.
Define. The first step to a killer elevator pitch is a well-defined opening. What is it you do? What types of clients do you work with? What are your areas of expertise? Spend some time boiling your pitch down to a couple of brief, well-defined sentences – preferably ones that will evoke follow-up questions from interested parties. Avoid fluffy buzzwords void of meaning, and offer up just enough to whet someone's palate. Remember that the point of an elevator pitch is not to close a sale on the spot, but hook an interested party, be it a collaborator or client.
Listen to others. If you want to nail a winning elevator pitch, pay attention while networking and listen sharply to the pitches of other successful people. What interests you about what they're saying? Remember that you can glean help from those outside your industry, too. Talking to a lawyer, engineer or chef to the stars can be just as helpful—if not more-so—than listening to the pitches of eight top real estate agents or brokers, because what they're saying is likely to be different. Which brings us to...
Differentiate. If you've heard the same pitch over and over from different industry professionals, then by now you know that these canned pitches are dry and over-used. They won't help you stand out. Find a way to explain what you do in a way that is different and captivating.
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Practice. Now that you know what you want to say, start practicing. Like you would with any speech or presentation, a well practiced elevator pitch will yield better results. Practice on your spouse, your kids, your cat. Try it out at a networking event and gauge interest – even say it in the shower or to your own reflection.
Polish, polish, polish. Now that you've crafted a well written pitch and practiced it ad nauseam in the mirror and on your spouse, you should have a pretty polished pitch. Still stumbling over one sentence or phrase? Cut it, or if it's necessary, reword it.
So tell us, who do you practice your elevator pitch on?
Zoe Eisenberg is RISMedia's Senior News Editor. An enthusiast for literal meanings, she only practices her elevator pitch inside elevators.
