The purpose of an elevator speech is to give a prospect a short scenario about your business, products and/or services. This speech is commonly used in a business face-to-face networking situation. An elevator speech can be one of the easiest one-on-one tools to use in this type of format by small business owners and sales representatives.
An elevator speech is meant to be limited in scope and delivered in about the time it takes to complete the ride to just one floor or more. The length can vary, but you really want to be able to present your elevator speech comfortably without rushing it. It should take no longer than a minute to deliver. The length is usually about 150 words.
Alyssa Gregory wrote “7 Steps for Writing a Powerful Elevator Pitch” (updated February 2018 & October 2018) that included her 7-step process to create an effective and powerful elevator pitch: See the 7 steps below:
Step 1: Define Who You Are
Write one sentence about who you are.
Example: “I am a small business owner who consults other small business owners.”
Step 2: Describe What You Do
Use your mission statement and product/service listing as a guide, and write 1-2 sentences about what you do every day in your business.
Step 3: Identify Your Ideal Clients/Customers
Use your target audience description as a guide and write 1-2 sentences about who your ideal clients or customers are.
Step 4: Explain What’s Unique and Different About You and Your Business
Use your unique selling proposition (USP) as a guide, and write 1-2 sentences about what sets you apart from every other business owner who does what you do.
Step 5: State What You Want to Happen Next
Write 1-2 sentences that identify what you want your audience to do next.
Step 6: Create an Attention-Getting Hook
Write 1-2 sentences that pull in your audience and gets them engaged in what you’re about to say.
Step 7: Put It All Together
Combine the statements you drafted in the previous steps, putting Step 6 first. Then, add transitions and edit it until it flows conversationally and captures the most important information.
An effective elevator speech can help you introduce yourself in many business situations. You can also use your elevator speech to clarify your target audience and business goals for your own use, and become more confident and self-assured in business settings.
As you write your speech follow Alyssa Gregory’s tips to make it effective when you only have about one minute. Once this is complete you can write it as a speech so that it flows as if you were part of a conversation.
Practice your speech after you have put it all together. You want to “know” your speech you do not want to memorize it. Make it conversational, make it come out naturally, in your own style.
Even though you have created a “hook” in the beginning, you need to “close” the speech leaving with a call to action!
An example could be: I will call you Wednesday to answer any questions you might have about our products/services and our company.”