What’s Your Elevator Pitch?

I see the deer in the headlights look on your face and the “HUH?” coming out of your mouth.  Let me explain what it is and why you need one.

An elevator speech is a very short 30 second version of who you are and what you are all about.  It’s called an elevator speech because you only have the time it takes to get from the lobby to the floor selected to introduce yourself.  It’s short, meaningful, interesting, and all about YOU.  It’s how you respond when someone asks “what do you do?”.  It’s the summary that goes on your LinkedIn profile and it goes on your resume too.  It’s your personal brand.

And yes, you need one!

It should be true and compelling.  You need to figure out the point you’re trying to make, then tailor it to be concise and clear.  The person to which you’re speaking needs to be able to get your point or career without much thought.  It needs to be easily understood by people that DON’T know you.

You will use the summary you create over and over again.  You might need to adapt it for an interview or on your resume to more closely match something on a job description. The key message about you doesn’t change, just a few points to match the job application.

Practice your elevator speech in the mirror, get comfortable with saying it out loud so it comes naturally.  Make eye contact, be enthusiastic in your delivery, speak with authority and passion about who you are and where you want to go.  Make a believer out of everyone you meet.  They may even remember you when an opening comes up in their place of business!

As an example, here’s mine: I actually have 35 years of IT as my background, but switched careers a few years ago, I’m now a certified coach.  I do workshops for organizations or work with individual clients to help them reach whatever professional or personal goals they want to achieve.  Together we figure out what’s holding them back from success, fulfillment, and growth.  It’s just awesome when they get that aha moment and begin to think differently!  I help my clients thrive and I love what I do.

At this point you’re probably nodding your head and saying “hmmm, what’s MY elevator speech?”.

Get cracking and write it now.

It could land you the job you didn’t even know about!