Ways To Write An Elevator Pitch And Win Your New Boss Over

To have an elevator pitch planned out is to be prepared for any opportunity that might come your way. 

An elevator speech is a short speech that can be about who you are, what you do or any idea you want to raise to a specific person. It’s called so because of its length. The entire pitch should take about the same time you spend on an elevator with the person you’re pitching to.

According to Alejandro Cremades, Author of The Art of Startup Fundraising & Serial Entrepreneur, an elevator speech offers numerous advantages, including keeping you visible and winning the favor of your superiors and colleagues.

Introducing yourself or laying out your big idea before a significant person might sound like a scary concept. But with the right preparation and a good amount of confidence, an elevator statement can be a powerful professional tool. 

Common Elevator Pitch Types

Here are three common elevator pitch types and examples of each.

Introductory Pitch

An introductory pitch is typically used to make an impression during career fairs. Hiring officers usually talk to hundreds of applicants. And it’s up to you to catch their attention and make them see you as a viable candidate for the job.

The key to a successful introductory speech is preparing a pitch that sparks curiosity and summarizes what you do. Instead of introducing yourself by merely telling the person the job titles you’ve held over the years, tell them why they should consider you.

Here’s an example of an introductory pitch:

“Almost 7 out of 10 Americans use Facebook. I took advantage of this fact by creating a marketing strategy that focused on Facebook users. Within three months, our sales doubled, and our website traffic increased by 140%.”

Pitch for a Job Interview

An elevator statement for a job interview is typically the answer to the question, tell me about yourself. Compared to an introductory pitch, this type of statement is easier to deliver. After all, the person you’re talking to is already listening and wants to know your answer.

You can start by saying your qualifications, but be sure not to recite the contents of your resume. Instead of merely saying what you do, highlight how well you do it. 

It’s best to employ the Problem, Action, Result or PAR formula. You identify an industry problem, the action you took to solve it, and the results of your efforts.

Here’s an example of a pitch for a job interview:

“I’m a marketing professional with a creative attitude to problem-solving. As a marketing associate at ABC Apparel, one of our challenges is competing against new eCommerce clothing brands. I crafted a marketing campaign that focused on digital and social media to reach younger consumers and make the brand more visible to our target audience. We managed to increase sales by 70% six months after launching the campaign.”

Entrepreneur Pitch

This type of elevator speech is often used by entrepreneurs to describe their business or a particular product or service to a potential client. This statement also comes in handy in case an entrepreneur would need to pitch to a stakeholder or a prospective venture capitalist.

An entrepreneur pitch would typically contain several components: what the business does, its unique traits, relevant numbers, and an engaging question. When delivering these things, it’s essential to keep everything simple and uncomplicated.

Here’s an example of an entrepreneur elevator speech:

“Our company automates blog content. This service makes it a breeze for clients to have an SEO-optimized website and keep their customers engaged. Just last week, one of our clients reported an 85% increase in website traffic since subscribing to our service. Does your company have any experience with SEO optimization?”

Tips on How to Improve Your Elevator Pitch

Here are a few tips you would want to keep in mind to gear your elevator statement towards success.

Be Clear With Your Goal

Just as with writing a speech, crafting an elevator statement requires being sure about what you want to achieve out of it. Would you want to be invited for a job interview? Do you want to get hired? Do you want to get more funding for your venture? Have a clear goal and craft the pitch to achieve that goal.

Keep Your Pitch As Concise As Possible

A typical elevator statement should only last 30 to 60 seconds. Thus, it’s essential to keep it short and sweet while covering the most important points and ideas. It’s never an easy task to shorten a speech. However, it’s essential to take out unnecessary parts to keep your statement solid.

Have a Hook That Catches Attention

The first few sentences you say will make or break your pitching moment – it can draw a person in or bore them to death. It’s vital to keep your first statements interesting to hook the person you’re talking to so that they would want to know more about your pitch. 

Rehearse Your Pitch

You’ll probably revise your pitch a few times before you come up with a version that you’d be happy with. Instead of merely changing the speech as you write it, practice delivering the speech. Better yet, record yourself as you give the speech. This way, you’ll be able to know which parts could be tweaked and improved.

Practice in an Elevator

Practicing in an elevator would be the perfect opportunity to rehearse your pitch in an actual setting. Don’t have the lift to yourself? Just rehearse the speech in your head. The important thing is that you familiarize yourself with the length of time it takes to get your pitch out. This step would prepare you to sound more relaxed and comfortable when the actual pitching opportunity comes your way.

Allow Yourself to be Flexible

It’s always a good practice to prepare an elevator pitch for when a good chance presents itself. However, it’s crucial to remember that not everything could go according to plan. It’s best to keep yourself as flexible as possible to be able to adjust to possible circumstances.