How to construct and deliver an elevator pitch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An elevator pitch is a brief marketing speech that provides a synopsis of who you are and what you do. There is an excellent specialized article by Leslie A. Caromile et al. at the BMC Proceedings on November 26, 2024 titled How to construct and deliver an elevator pitch: a formula for the research scientist. It has links to the following six figures:

 

Purpose of elevator speech [Figure 1]

Analyze your audience [Figure 2]

Context of elevator speech [Figure 3]

Developing a scientific elevator speech [Figure 4]

Major components [Figure 5]

Example [Figure 6]

 

A blog post at Northeastern University Online MBA on September 9, 2024 is titled 7 Essential Tips for Crafting a Winning Elevator Pitch. They are:

 

Identify your goal

Understand your audience

Keep it concise and clear

Tell a story

End strong

Practice and refine

Be confident

 

There also is another post at the UMass Amherst Iconnect blog on September 20, 2024 titled How to Give a Great Elevator Speech (With Examples) which has the following sections:

 

How to Write an Elevator Pitch

Who are you?

What do do?

What’s unique about you?

Call to action (or What’s your ask?)

Something memorable

 

Finally, there is an undated three-page pdf article from the Princeton University Center for Career Development titled What is an elevator pitch and why do I need one?

 

The elevator door image was adapted from Wikimedia Commons.

 

 

A hollow mission statement from the Idaho Dispatch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On October 1, 2022 there was an article by Sarah Clendenon at the Idaho Dispatch titled Major Announcement for the Idaho Dispatch which began:

 

“New and exciting things are happening at the Idaho Dispatch!

 

Greg Pruett, who started and established The Idaho Dispatch, has now sold the company to Miste Karlfeldt.

 

Miste is a native Idahoan and an entrepreneur. She is married to Dr. Michael Karlfeldt and the mother of four exceptional children. She founded a statewide non-profit organization and has successfully run it for six years with a passionate team of volunteers. Miste’s commitment to the First Amendment and her love for Idaho drives her desire to purchase the Idaho Dispatch.”

 

On April 24, 2023 the Idaho Dispatch had an another article titled Press Release: Idaho Dispatch Owner Miste Karlfeldt Announces New Mission Statement, which claimed:

 

“Idaho Dispatch is a non-partisan, independent, unbiased news source designed to be your local media ally in Idaho. In stark contrast to legacy media, our mission is to bring you political news that offers both sides of the story. Stories that corporate media often refuse to cover find their way into print at Idaho Dispatch.”

 

But her activities belie claims that site could either be non-partisan or unbiased. Under her maiden name of Miste Gardener, she ran for Idaho State Controller in a November 2022 election, representing the Constitution Party. She came in third behind Brandon Woolf (Republican, and incumbent): 69.5%, Dianna David (Democrat): 26.9%, Miste Gardener (Constitution) 3.7%.

 

An article by Kelcie Moseley-Morris at the Idaho Capital Sun on October 31, 2022 titled Idaho controller says he will continue transparency efforts if re-elected described her and her campaign:

 

“Miste Gardner is running as a Constitution Party candidate, but has not raised or spent any funds since declaring her candidacy in March. Gardner, who also uses the last name Karlfeldt, leads Health Freedom Idaho, a group that protests public health measures and vaccines. She owns the website Idaho Dispatch.”

 

Is Sarah Clendenon non-partisan? Hardly! She also ran as a Constitution Party candidate in the 2022 general election, for Idaho State Senate District 15. She came in third behind Rick Just (Democrat) 49.8%, Codi Galloway (Republican) 48.0%, Sarah Clendenon (Constitution Party) 2.2%.

 

The mission web page for Health Freedom Idaho says Miste Karlfeldt is their Executive Director. It has an image of her and her husband, Dr. Michael Karlfeldt. He is a naturopathic doctor who runs The Karlfeldt Center in Meridian, Idaho. An article by Dustin Hurst at the Idaho Freedom Foundation on March 9, 2015 titled After battling excruciating pain, single mom fights for her healer at the Capitol discusses efforts to license naturopaths. And on May 21, 2023 there was an article in the Idaho Dispatch titled Featured Advertiser: Michael Karlfeldt, The Karlfeldt Center.

 

The Wikipedia page about Health Freedom Idaho which has 35 references (part of a series about Alternative Medicine), succinctly describes it as:

 

“an anti-vaccine group that also opposes health regulations, such as mask requirements and restrictions on the operation of businesses due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

  

Back on October 29, 2021 Health Freedom Idaho had a whining article titled How Our Wikipedia SHOULD Read.

 

I tried looking for background on Miste at LinkedIn. A page for Miste Gardener just lists her as owner since June 2006 of Prestige Property Management (and a realtor) in Eagle, Idaho. It doesn’t mention her education. She has another web site titled MISTE4LIBERTY.

 

A more recent article by Sarah Clendenon at the Idaho Dispatch on May 13, 2023 is titled Idaho – who controls the information you’re receiving? That question also should be applied to the Idaho Dispatch.

 

The image of a hollow cube came from here at Openclipart.

 

A mission statement for a Toastmasters club

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A mission statement describes where an organization is pointed. At the beginning of each meeting of Pioneer Club in Boise a member is asked to read the following succinct mission statement (which is printed at the top of our meeting agenda):

 

“We provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.”

 

That’s a good reminder of what our club is about. I got curious regarding where it came from, and looked around. It came directly from page 7 of the current 31-page Toastmasters International Abridged Brand Manual, which you can download here.

 

That manual also has three versions for an Elevator Pitch: 50-word (one minute), 100-word (three-minute) and 250-word (five minute). The 50-word version says:

 

“Since 1924, Toastmasters International has been recognized as the leading organization dedicated to communication and leadership skill development. Through its worldwide network of clubs, each week Toastmasters helps more than a quarter million men and women of every ethnicity, education level and profession build their competence in communication so they can gain the confidence to lead others.”

 

Many mission statements and elevator pitches are mediocre or less. Back on March 2, 2009 I blogged about A “whipped topping” elevator speech: What the heck do you guys really do?

 

The arrow image came from here at Openclipart.

 

What can you communicate in 20 seconds or less?

More than you might guess. You can concisely answer a question, like What can you do for me?

On August 23rd in her Speak Schmeak blog Lisa Braithwaite posted about Storytelling in 30 seconds - can you do it? and showed a TV commercial as an example. But, there also have been 20-second TV commercials which famously were used back in the 1952 presidential campaign series Eisenhower Answers America. Here is one example:



You can find three more videos on a web page at the Museum of the Moving Image. Look at the line of Republican ones and click on the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 7th (which also is shown above). A web page on 5 Most Effective Campaign Ads mentioned that there was a total of 40 in that series.

Why is there a drawing of a fireman with a hose at the beginning of this post? He is a polite illustration of what that roughly 20-second time interval also represents - the average time it takes for an elephant (or any mammal the size of a house cat or larger) to urinate. This year’s Ig-Nobel Prize for physics was won by a 2014 scientific article by Patricia J. Yang et al in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences titled Duration of urination does not change with body size.    

In 2011 I blogged about The 99 (or 100) second presentation, and in 2012 I blogged about 101-word stories and 50-second elevator speeches.

How about ten seconds? Back in 2007 in his HELLO my name is blog Scott Ginsberg discussed networking via 10 different approaches for your 10-second commercial. Sodastream had a 10-second TV commercial.

What can you cram into just five seconds? A Glenn Hartzheim Dodge TV commercial said:

“You’re buying a car and you’re worried about financing. Go see Glenn!

At half that or 2-1/2 seconds we finally run out of room for words. About all that will fit is brief song titles like Todd Rundgren’s Hello, It’s Me or Joni Mitchell’s Help Me. 

Adding the 5, 10, and 20 second TV commercials produces this spectrum of nine brief presentation formats:

The fireman was adapted from this 1858 image at the Library of Congress.

Having to give an elevator speech is the most commonly feared networking situation

There have been two recent surveys about social fears that rank which situations about business networking people find scary. I blogged about one on U.S. adults reported in a 2008 magazine article by Ruscio et al. Also, I blogged about another on adults in both developed and developing countries  in a 2010 magazine article.

A bar chart shown above lists the fears ranked from most common to least common. (Click on it to see a larger, clearer version). For both (US adults) and [adults in 9 developed countries] they come in the same order:

Public speaking/performance (21.2%) [13.0%]
Speaking up in meeting/class (19.5%) [12.5%]
Meeting new people (16.8%) [8.8%]
Talking to people in authority (14.7%) [8.6%]
Talking with strangers (13.1%) [6.9%]
Entering an occupied room (11.9%) [6.7%]

For developing countries the order is slightly different. Both articles also list phobias.

Giving an elevator speech is one kind of speaking up in a meeting. It is the second most common fear, after public speaking/performance. Yet, it is something that is expected when you attend networking events. Thus it calls for lots of your attention. 

Starting in late April on his No Sweat Public Speaking web site Fred E. Miller discussed how to craft an elevator speech. He divided the process into seven floors:

First Floor: Describe who you are.

Second Floor: Describe what you do.

Third Floor: Describe your expertise.

Fourth Floor: Describe why they hire you.

Fifth Floor: Your WHY (the DNA of your elevator speech).

Sixth Floor: More WHY they hire you.

Seventh Floor: What you deliver (Your Ultimate Selling Proposition)

Fred also mentioned an eighth floor, which is where you ask a person you are talking to one-on-one about what they do. 

This post was inspired by a comment in a lengthy discussion on the LinkedIn Public Speaking Network group on the topic of “Is ‘The Fear of Public Speaking’  a misnomer?”  Susan RoAne had commented that our greatest fear was not public speaking, but rather was walking into a roomful of strangers. I think she got that from a three-decade old New York Times article that I have blogged about. Last November I had blogged about fears in networking situations, and even emailed her about that post. 

The image of an elevator door in Vancouver, Washington came from Wikimedia Commons. 

101-word stories and 50-second elevator speeches

On January 4th Boise Weekly published ten winners and judge’s picks from their 10th annual Fiction 101 contest. Those ten writers each managed to tell a unique story using only 101 words.

Coincidentally, on January 5th, Fred Miller blogged about non-fiction elevator speeches. If you speak at a reasonable rate of 120 words per minute, that 101-word limit corresponds to a 50-second speech. Fred described an extremely useful floor-by-floor approach that can work within 50 seconds, or longer as appropriate.  

Two years ago I blogged about elevator speeches, which I described as covering What do you do that can help me? You can find a much more detailed discussion in Terri L. Sjodin’s 2011 book, Small Message, Big Impact - How to Put the Power of the Elevator Speech Effect to Work for You. An excerpt is here on her blog.

A 50-second elevator speech is at one end of a class of very useful, brief presentation formats - which also include 100-second presentations, 200-second Presto presentations, 300-second Ignite presentations, and 400-second Pecha Kucha presentations.

A “whipped topping” elevator speech: What the heck do you guys really do?

In a previous post I discussed how an elevator speech answers the question of: What do you do, that can help me? Writing a good elevator speech to introduce yourself or your company is hard. Writing a bad one is very easy.

Whipped topping is a substitute for real whipped cream. It’s just a garnish for dessert, so it is not expected to be anything substantial. I recently stumbled over the web site for a corporation that is little more than a bunch of fluffy whipped topping. The following statements have been edited just slightly, and the name has been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.

Under the “About Us” tab there is the following Corporate Description, which could be replaced just by saying: “we do stuff for you.”

Enematec is a top-tier provider of business and technology solutions designed to enhance and maximize the operational performance of its customers through the adaptation and deployment of advanced information technology and engineering services. We are an innovative leader in the design, development and delivery of these solutions to commercial and government sectors, from our offices located in major metropolitan centers throughout North America.

Of course, there also is a Mission Statement:
Enematec’s mission is to be in a leadership position in its industry by providing responsive, high-quality, reliable, technologically advanced, and cost-effective services that enable its customers to meet their business objectives, allow Enematec to enhance shareholder value, and afford its employees the opportunity to realize their professional and personal goals. Enematec supports this mission with dedication, resources and expertise.

Naturally there also is a Vision Statement:
Enematec’s vision is to be the #1 choice of customers for delivery of professional services while maintaining a strong commitment to technological innovation, continuous improvement through total quality management, employee career growth, and respecting the integrity of our customers and employees.

Both the Mission Statement page and the Vision Statement page also repeat the Corporate Description paragraph. All of the above might be better summarized by just saying: “We take your money, do great stuff for you, and still make a profit for us.” Maybe they also should have said: “You can trust us”, but would you believe them?

What do you do that can help me?

A short, snappy answer to the question, “What do you do (that can help me)?” is the universal icebreaker for networking. It’s your most important brief business speech whether you are looking for business or looking for a job.

Common business jargon for this is the “elevator speech” or “elevator pitch” – something short enough to introduce you or your business during a ride on an elevator. A brief version might take only 15 to 30 seconds. A more detailed one might take a minute (or even two) and it might instead better be described as an escalator speech. Your elevator speech should discuss the benefits that you or your product can provide, not just features. The speech should be free of jargon, so lose those TLAs (three letter acronyms).

Where can you find examples of elevator speeches? Craig Harrison presents six brief examples in an article on Elevating Your Consulting Practice with Your Elevator Speech. Jay Roy displays an excellent longer job search speech in his article on The gift of the Gab: Becoming a Better Networker. Catherine Hansen shows five examples in her article on how The Elevator Speech is the Swiss Army Knife of Job-Search Tools.

Is it easy to write an elevator speech? No, it is both hard and time consuming. After all, it’s almost like writing a radio commercial about yourself or your business. Chris King ends his article on How to Craft an Effective Elevator Speech by giving his own speech as an example. Terry Dean’s article on how to Create Your Elevator Speech also includes his own speech as an example.

May 10, 2009 update

More recently Daisy Wademan Dowling discussed How to Perfect an Elevator Pitch. She said that you should:

1. Practice, practice, practice - 100 times or till you know it cold.

2. Focus on impact – describe results not years of experience.

3. Ditch the cultural baggage - get comfortable with bragging about your contributions.

4. Be slow and steady - speak at a pace that shows your calm and confidence.

5. See the whole world as an elevator – not just job fairs and interviews.