4 Steps to Creating the Perfect Elevator Pitch — And Examples to Get You Started
“What do you do?” It’s one of the most common questions we get in our day-to-day lives, yet so few of us have a great answer that we could answer in the time it would take us to ride an elevator with someone.
Entrepreneurs and business owners know how to deliver a targeted elevator speech (perhaps more commonly known as an elevator pitch) to customers, investors or venture capitalists for funding. But you don't have to be a small business owner (or need an actual elevator speech opportunity) to have a reason to have a perfect pitch in hand.
How to Use an Elevator Pitch
While an elevator pitch is a tool for salespeople and public relations professionals pitching products and services, you can also use them in other situations. Maybe you're introducing your organization to potential clients or customers, maybe you're selling your grand idea to an authority figure in your company, or maybe you're just explaining to people what you do.
In job interviews the same question for a job seeker takes a slightly different form with the ubiquitous opening question “Can you tell me a little about yourself?”
Both of these questions give you an opportunity to create a good and memorable impression, but only if you’re adequately prepared with a good elevator pitch. There are a few steps that can help you in crafting a pitch that will open doors, but first a reminder of the simple criteria that make up a good elevator pitch:
- 20-30 seconds long
- It’s clear
- It’s memorable
Ready? Grab a pen and paper and let’s create an elevator pitch so you’re always ready with an answer you’re proud of.
4 Steps to Creating the Perfect Elevator Pitch
1. Start with a basic recipe.
You want your elevator pitch to be adaptable to the person you’re speaking with and the situation, so I like to start with a basic recipe and then build on from there. This helps to ensure that what you’re saying is clear, concise, and gets across the most important information in a limited time span.
The core of an elevator speech will include: “I help (who do you help?) by doing (how do you help them?) so that (why is this important?).”
For example, “I help brands maximize their digital marketing by using analytics around all key digital strategies such as SEO, AdWords, and social media, to optimize performance so they can reach their customers and increase their sales profitably."
2. Make it memorable.
What we’ve come up with in step 1 is clear, but maybe it's not the most memorable...yet. Anyone can throw buzzwords or acronyms around, but the key thing to remember is that in a great elevator pitch, no one is going to remember or care about a bullet point list of your accomplishments. Make it more personable, relatable, and most importantly, memorable by adding in a story or an anecdote, and a couple of compelling highlights.
Something is inherently memorable if it is unique, so be sure not to be generic about your strengths and capabilities. If you will be presenting numbers (such as your sales process for example), be sure to quickly contextualize what you do against the rest of the crowd. In other words, provide a unique selling proposition that speaks for itself. Instead of just saying you were able to increase sales by 200 percent year-over-year, explain that in contrast to the average performer on the sales team who typically grows their accounts by 25% year over year, you were among the top three performers in your cohort.
Something is inherently memorable if it is unique, so be sure not to be generic about your strengths and capabilities. If you will be presenting numbers (such as your sales process for example), be sure to quickly contextualize what you do against the rest of the crowd. In other words, provide a unique selling proposition that speaks for itself. Instead of just saying you were able to increase sales by 200 percent year-over-year, explain that in contrast to the average performer on the sales team who typically grows their accounts by 25% year over year, you were among the top three performers in your cohort.
Or, here's another example:
“I didn’t initially intend to get into this field but as I was working on a marketing launch, I noticed that a huge chunk of our budget was going to digital marketing but we didn’t have a way to accurately understand how that affected our sales. I created tools for my team to use to track and optimize our campaign performance. After using them during the launch we saved approximately $50k, which helped boost our overall profitability significantly. Since then I’ve taken my process and rolled it out to teams all over the company.”
3. Tailor it to your audience.
Surprise! An effective elevator pitch is not about you. Like any good marketing message, your elevator pitch is about the customer and how you can help them. If you have information about the person you’re speaking to, use it to tailor your elevator pitch. In a job interview or when you’re speaking with someone from a company you’d really like to work for, you likely know some of the pain points they are experiencing that they need someone to step in and solve for them. Rather than leave your elevator pitch broad while trying to be everything to everyone, highlight a couple of your past experiences that demonstrate that you’re exactly what they’re looking for.
For example, if they have a really fragmented department and they’re looking for someone who will not just do the job but create a highly functioning team, you might say:
“In focusing on our analytics I also had the opportunity to build an entire team from the ground up. I focused on bringing in the right combination of skillsets and helped create open communication from day 1, which really led to one of the most productive and functional team environments.”
4. Decide what’s next.
If you’re looking for a new career opportunity (or perhaps you’re speaking to a potential employer), you’ll want to finish your story with a glimpse of what’s next. Spend at least a few seconds on what your goals are and what the next step is that you’re looking for at this point in your career.
If you’re networking, for example, you’d want to emphasize exactly what you’re looking for by saying:
“I’m now really focused on finding a future opportunity within a startup or fast-growing small company, that needs to improve their ROI in the digital space and create a strong team, but do so quickly and with a limited budget.”
10 Example Elevator Pitches
Your elevator pitch might look different depending on what your end goal is (read: finding a job or promoting yourself, business or service in some way). Here are ten examples based on different scenarios.
1. "I recently graduated from college with a degree in communications. I've had several internships with online magazines as an editor, and eventually, became the editor of my college newspaper. I'm looking for a job that will put my skills as an editor to work."
2. "I run a travel agency that's adventure-oriented for students and young professionals looking to travel on a budget. We offer anyone ages 18 to 30 payment plans, stress-free booking, and a team of experts to plan their vacation. If you know anyone looking to travel on a budget, feel free to connect them with me."
3. "My name is Andrea, and after years of working for other startups, I'm taking the plunge and developing my own app. The app allows anyone to rent a car by the hour, without having to go through a rental company. They can pick the car up, unlock it and drop it back off all with the app."
4. "I'm an HR rep at a hotel marketing agency. We help hotels across the country find the guests and corporate clients, and we plan their campaign needs."
5. "I just got my Master's Degree in education. I teach first- through fifth-grade students with learning disabilities at a charter school in Hudson County."
6. "I'm Jen, and after years of working as an editor for lifestyle magazines in New York City, I decided to start my own women's fashion blog. I cover street style, trends, and brands to watch."
7. "I'm a certified yoga instructor and holistic health and wellness coach. I run my own practice, teaching thrice-weekly classes. I help people heal through movement and sound, and by listening to their bodies."
8. "I'm Savannah, an independent wedding photographer. I shoot for high-end clients' proposals, weddings, showers, and more in and around the D.C. area. If you know anyone in need of a wedding photographer, please keep me in mind."
9. "I'm a freelance SEO strategist, helping clients across industries boost their online visibility and traffic. I've worked with innovative startups to big businesses alike. If you know any companies looking to rank better in online search engines, feel free to give them my details."
10. "I'm currently studying accessory design at fashion school, and I'm really interested in launching my own jewelry line after I graduate. Now, I'm seeking an internship to help me put what I'm learning into practice."
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What’s your no. 1 piece of advice for crafting the perfect elevator pitch? Share your answer in the comments to help other Fairygodboss members!
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