Skip to main content

How to Create the Perfect Elevator Pitch

Have you ever been to a party, been asked by somebody “So, what do you do for a living?” and had no idea what to say? You need to write yourself an elevator pitch.

How do you react when meeting someone new? Some people down-play their strengths massively, whereas others can launch into a detailed story of how they’re looking for a new job. If you don’t have an elevator pitch ready, you might miss out on that project or opportunity which could be your career’s highlight.

What is a elevator pitch?

Imagine you’re in stuck in a elevator (or lift, as we like to call it here in the UK), and someone you admire walks in and stands next to you – it could be the CEO of that dream company you’ve wanted to work at for years. You have exactly the amount of time it takes to reach the top floor (maybe 30 seconds to a minute) to tell them about you, make a good impression, and hopefully a connection.
However, your elevator pitch isn’t just for networking events or social gatherings – you’ll need it when cold-calling a business prospect or in other similar situations.

Your elevator pitch:

In your elevator pitch, you need to succinctly state what you do for a living and work out how to communicate this to whoever your audience may be. It should be concise and you should be answering 5 questions – 4 Ws and 1H:
  1. Who are you?
  2. What do you do?
  3. Where do you work?
  4. Why do they need to know this?
  5. How are you different from others?
Don’t forget – the way you say something matters as much as what you say – so also concentrate on your:
  • Smile: have a big grin on your face, look the other person in the eye and give a friendly handshake. This will establish sincerity, as well as inspiring confidence and understanding.
  • Body language: watch your posture, as it will be the difference between showing that you’re being truthful and defensive.
  • Expressions: show that you are excited and interested to talk to the other person and speak with an animated voice.


** This post originally appeared on http://theundercoverrecruiter.com and was penned by Laurence Hebberd
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Leader? Who's that...

I'm sure you would have read a zillion blog posts on how to become a successful leader. Many of you would agree with me that these so called 'How To's' bore us to death with each of the authors listing out qualitites according to their wish & will. While a few of these may work for some but not everyobe. A simple google search for 'Leadership Qualitites' pops out 5,56,00,000 results. Add to that a thousand other books which claims to be true stories of leaders around the world writtent by self proclaimed best Selling Authors (sometimes i wonder who isn't one) With all the hype around the web & corporate inc about what makes a true leader, i have collated a few vital pointers that hold's good for just about everyone who wishes to be an effective leader. This bring us to the question Are leaders born or made? As cliche as it may sound leaders are sure made. If you are aware abot the Ice berg model, then you bet i'm right. The ...
Read more

The Broken Recruitment System

It is ridiculously easy for a job-seeker, no matter how qualified, talented & competent, to get beaten down and to start to think there's something wrong with him or her. Its easy to bog down the finest of talents & shatter their dreams. Hundreds & thousands of amazingly well polished Talents are running haywire because of useless recruitment methods. These processes are insane and sucks out our energies. The recruiting process is broken. Qualified people can't get job interviews and if they do manage to get them it will drive them away. Many Talents feel frustrated and sucked out that they discount themselves. They think they do not have what it takes to grab that Offer. In reality, YOU are not alone. You are not defective! You are talented, smart and creative but the recruiting process is designed to beat your confidence out of you and grind you down to mush. The recruiting process is broken from start to finish. The way companies write job ads is ridi...
Read more