6 Tips to Bring Your Elevator Pitch to New Heights
You’re alone in the elevator, the door slides open, and there stands your ideal investor. It's the moment you've been waiting for, to pitch your company but you only have a few floors or so to make a lasting impression. What do you say? How do you sell your idea in less than a minute?
Many people in the business world have heard of the elevator pitch. It's a short, simple overview of your company, one that you deliver in about a minute or so. It's meant to captivate your listener and intrigue him or her into wanting to know more about you and your company. Seems easy enough, right? Actually no, it can be quite tricky if you don’t know it inside and out.
At LaunchHouse, there are no elevators, but we certainly have heard hundreds of quick 1-3 minute pitches and what we have noticed is that some people have no clue on how to speak about what they do. Talking about what you do for a living is one of the most important things you can do as a businessperson and entrepreneur. No one is interested in hearing the complexity of your business and your developments; we want to know who you are and how you make a difference. Here are a few tips that will help you improve your speedy pitch:
- Keep it short. Keep your listener wanting more. Your pitch could range between 15 second to 2 minutes, but keeping it short, simple and concise gives the listener something specific to think about instead of a ton amount of information at once.
- Have a hook. The idea behind at elevator pitch is to grab the person’s attention from the get go. What makes your product or service unique from the others in the market? Think of an elevator pitch as an icebreaker and a sales pitch combined into one. Just like any good book, article, sales pitch or whatever, there is something that keeps us wanting more and if there isn’t, we get bored and move on.
- Don’t overwhelm with terminology. It’s so crucial not to bombard your listener with wordy statistics and useless facts (useless to them). There’s nothing more agonizing that listening to someone rail off charts and numbers, that will rarely keep someone listening. The person wants to know your personality and why he or she should spend the next minute or so listening to you. These seconds are precious, don’t waste them boasting about your company’s growth in the last 4 years. The listener wants to hear something of value, of interest, and something that can get their minds working.
- Don’t forget to pitch. You might be so caught up in selling your company and explaining everything you are passionate about but let’s remember what the whole point of a pitch is- to hopefully get something from the other person after your done. Don’t forget to ask for what you want and tell the person exactly what you need for your company. Get right to the point, it’s not charming to dance around the topic, that will only confuse the potential investor and quickly bore them.
- Ask yourself, “so what?” You might catch yourself going on and on without making any point. It’s important to ask yourself this question to make sure what your saying is meaningful and purposeful to your business and to your listener.
- Stop talking and listen. Now that you’re done after a minute or so, listen to what the person has to say. Ask questions to get opinions, comments, or even advice. It doesn't help to talk the entire time and hear nothing from the other line of conversation. Get some feedback and see if the person is intrigued by what you have to say.
Let's not forget that the elevator pitch isn't strictly for the elevator. A perfected elevator pitch comes in handy at business conferences, networking events and more!