• Save

What’s your Elevator Pitch ?

I attend a lot of business events that include networking. When meeting someone new, one of the first things we ask each other is “what do you do [for a living]?”

It’s an easy question, right? Providing a clear, direct answer is SO important to build our personal brand, help us find jobs, and facilitate new business…

And yet I almost never get a good answer to this basic query!

You have one minute to explain yourself, your business, your goals, and your passions. Your audience knows none of these. Are your prepared? Can you present your vision smoothly, enticing them to want to know more?

Common Elevator Pitch Mistakes

  • Humor: “I help push drugs” instead of “I do product marketing for a pharmaceutical company”, just isn’t funny and makes a bad first impression.
  • Too broad: “I work in technology” or “I’m a consultant” is useless. “I work for XYZ Company where I manage the help-desk group” is good. “I’m an independent marketing consultant – I specialize in developing sales promotion and direct marketing programs” is good.
  • Underselling: “I’m just an order-taker on the fixed income trading desk”. Way better to just say “I work on the fixed income trading desk”.
  • Too vague: “I help companies unleash hidden value.” What the heck does that mean?!
  • Life story: Your pitch is not the time or place to give the chronology of your career or explain your career decisions. Monologues are bad.
  • Jargon: beware of company/industry jargon until you know your audience.
  • Uptalk: that’s when you’re making a statement but with rising inflection so that it sounds like a question. “I work in finance?” can make you sound weak and flighty.

Best Practices for Your Elevator Pitch

Here are my rules for a good elevator pitch – which by the way is nothing more than your
self-introduction or answer to “what do you do?”

  1. Say what you do at the present time. You may also want to mention what you want to do next. If your job is hard to explain, keep working on it till you find an easy way to convey key information that is consistent with your networking and branding objectives.
  2. If you are in transition, be clear about your target job/employers.  Mention your recent and noteworthy former employers (or clients). Example: “I work in pharmaceutical marketing, most recently as VP for a start-up biotech company and previously for Bristol Myers-Squibb. I’m in transition; my search is focused on mid-sized biotechs, including late-stage start-ups.
  3. Build your brand. Be thoughtful about what makes you distinctive and for what you want to be known. This should be reflected in your pitch.
  4. Test your pitch. If your pitch generates appropriate questions and relevant conversations, it’s a good one. If your listener’s eyes glaze over or silence ensues, you missed your mark.
  5. Always reciprocate. “And what do you do, Mark?” Even better: ask what he does first, so that you can optimize your returning pitch.

And focus on these points :

  • Describe who you are: Keep it short. Hint: what would you most want the listener to remember about you?
  • Describe what you do: Here is where you state your value phrased as key results or impact. To organize your thoughts, it may help to think of this as your tag line. Hint: this should allow the listener to understand how you or your company would add value.
  • Describe why you are unique: Show the unique benefits that you and/or your company bring to business. Show what you do that is different or better than others.
  • Describe your  goal: Describe your immediate goals. Goals should be concrete, defined, and realistic. Include a time frame. This is the final step and it should be readily apparent to the listener what you are asking of him/her.

___________________________

About the Author…

I help professionals optimize their careers through personal assessment, strategic planning, effective job search, and especially resume and cover letter assistance.  

My career experience includes 4 years as a Consultant Engineer in Technology and Air Traffic Management, 4 years in Banking with Lehman Brothers and Deutsche Bank, 2 years as a professor in Business Schools and Universities, 2 years as business consultant in Paris and Bruxelles, and 2 years as a career, leadership and business coach.  Feel free to contact me for personalized advice.

  • Save

1 thought on “What’s your Elevator Pitch ?”

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Newsletter Altitudes!

Join us! Rejoignez nous..

By using this form, you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website.

error: Protected content
Scroll to Top
Share via
Copy link