Elevator Pitch: The 60 Second Chance
An elevator pitch is a presentation given in a short amount of time. Summing up everything about a topic in 60 seconds, especially if it is your business can be overwhelmingly difficult. It may even become more confusing if you decide to talk about your plans and dreams.
Nonetheless, considering the fact that people tend to have a short attention span for new information and a limited amount of time for each person, it is a smart strategy to concentrate everything you want to say in as short as one minute. In other words, design and improve your elevator pitch.
It may take some time to perfect presenting that much information in just 60 seconds. However, it will turn into a skill that becomes quite handy when trying to attract the attention of a busy person in a rush. In addition, the ability to compress useful information can turn into a practical practice for lengthier presentations. It makes the audience remember you more easily due to your presentation skills and good use of time. Here are some tips to put your elevator pitch together.
Brainstorm an outline
First, make an outline of the key points you want to mention and address. The outline should consist of the key points you wish your addressee to know. At this stage, you write down words or phrases central to your 60 second presentation. Leave the omitting and modification for later and write down everything and anything that seems to be important. Modification comes next.
After you are finished with the outline, review the key points and prioritize, ranking them from the most important to the least. Considering the amount of time you have, cut the list to the point you consider essential to your elevator pitch. There is no specific number for key items in an elevator pitch, but since you need to make an argument or explain these items, try to limit them to 5 to 7 points, including main points and supporting ones.
Expand key points to sentences
At this point, you can get into details, explaining each item using a few simple but comprehensive sentences. They can include more information on each point, backed up by examples, figures, or statistics depending on the subject of presentation and your personal style of communication. Keep in mind that every sentence is serving the main subject of the presentation in the end. Therefore, avoid going into too much detail for every subtopic.
Remember not to overcomplicate those sentences. The idea is to make people understand your point of view and become interested in what you have to say, not to be impressed by your set of unique vocabulary and complex grammar. What is most important is a smooth flow of information that leads to a clear conclusion.
Reorder to get the best reasoning structure
After you are done drafting, review the items and see if they are mentioned in the right order. Reorder the points in a way that it turns into a logical sequence. Avoid jumping from one point to another. You can arrange the presentation items using either of the following approaches: inductive or deductive reasoning. It helps create a smooth flow of information without moving back and forth between key points.
The elevator pitch in practice
Feeling a little stressed to give a presentation is multiplied when you have little time to do so. Repetition and practice can boost your confidence and tone down the level of stress you experience. The time limit may compel you to rush, but constantly remind yourself to slow down. Remember to pace yourself, not for you, but for your addressee to take the information in and analyze each sentence while you speak. If you speak too fast, they might hear you, yet not be able to listen.
Also, pay attention to their reactions to your words. If they are interested, you will see it in the way they pay attention or ask for more information. In the end, you can suggest a casual meeting over coffee to go further into detail if they are interested. You can offer a business card or a brochure as well.
It is important to remember that relationships are more important than business deals. Therefore, try to connect with your addressee as you speak about yourself or your business. Even if these introductions do not turn into business deals or jobs, maintain the relationships that result from these short presentations. The least they did was to help you improve your speech.
Tip & Task
Entrepreneur provides many examples of elevator pitches on its Instagram page. The lonk is provided below.
http://instagram.com/entrepreneur
View at least 3 elevator pitches and make a list of the strengths and weaknesses of each. Create and record your own elevator pitch using the steps and examples given.
