An elevator speech is your chance to grab attention as a business.
The bad news is:
- You have very little time (you need to make an impact in 10 seconds) to make a great first impression
- Most elevator speeches sound the same
- Your audience is only vaguely interested in what you do at best
So why bother? Well, if you accept these difficulties are real, when you have a GREAT elevator speech you will generate great interest because it is so rare.
However you need to aware of the biggest single mistake most business owners make that plays into the hands of these 3 items of bad news: They waste time talking about irrelevancies that only matter to them.
That might sound harsh. it is not done deliberately but often times business owners, sales people etc. will waste that first 10 seconds with statements like:
"My name is Joe from Acme Inc. I was not expecting to have to give my introduction today and I have only been with the company a few weeks so I am still learning. This is the first time I have ….. ….. etc. etc. "
"I am Joe from Acme Inc and we are a full service, customer driven XYZ company that is based on the corner of 55th and Main. We have been in the city for 50 years, in fact we just had our 50th anniversary celebration last week "
"I'm Joe from Acme, and we are so excited that we just had our best Quarter ever! Even in this economy we are growing rapidly and we just opened up a couple of new offices in the north of the city"
Two things are a problem here:
a) Most people do not care – again, sorry if that sounds harsh but they do not. They have their own issues to deal with: not enough clients, clients leaving, the recession, HR issues, Marital issues, their dog has just run away – anything. They need to know you are a possible solution to those problems, not how long you have been in business
b) Everyone else says the same type of thing – listen the next time you go to a networking meeting. The above examples are exaggerations for effect, but not by much. Listening to the 10th person tell you how long the company has been around is boring and not worth paying attention to.
The solution?
Be ready – you NEVER know when you will have to give your elevator speech. Be prepared to do so at any time
Ruthlessly cut out stuff about you and your company – focus on your ideal client. After you give your name tell the listener (s) who you help and what problems you solve for them.
Stop talking – once you have delivered that message you are done. If you have up to 30 seconds you can expand a little but make sure you get your first 10 seconds down.