An elevator speech is a way to grab someone's attention in 30 seconds or less.
Sir Winston Churchill once said, "I'm going to give a long speech today. I haven't had time to prepare a short one." An elevator speech is a 30-second promotion used by you as an overview to yourself, your company, or a product, service or idea that you are marketing. Your speech may be the only chance you get to make a good first impression. The secret to writing a captivating elevator speech is to think like your audience.
Instructions
1. Focus on the problem that you, your product, service or idea solves. Ask yourself these questions: If I were in the market, what would be appealing to me about this offering? What would entice me to find out more? Then, write it all down. Let the ideas flow unedited and get them down on paper as quickly as possible before you lose momentum.
2. Review your first draft for clarity, consistency and conciseness. Ensure that nothing you are saying contradicts anything else, that it makes sense and that you sound sincere and knowledgeable. Your potential associate must not only find what you're saying intriguing, but he must also trust you. Once you're happy with the clarity and consistency, start cutting out extraneous words. Your goal is to say what you need to say in 100 words or less.
3. Comb through your speech and find the single concept most likely to grab attention. Make the attention-getter your lead statement, said in close conjunction with your name, as part of your introduction if possible. An example that is simple, short, captivating, creates a clear picture in the listener's mind and is not pushy is "Hi, my name is John Smith. My new slapjack helps everyone save an average of 30 percent on their electric bill and costs less than a movie date. Please let me know if you'd like more information."
4. Practice saying your speech into a digital recorder or some other recording device to get a natural flow. You may find you need to alter the wording or sentence structure for the spoken word. Your goal in this step is to make the speech as natural and as enthusiastic as possible. You don't want to sound corny or fake. The listener should feel like you sincerely have their best interests at heart.
5. Practice your speech on a live audience and refine it based on feedback. Ensure you practice on people who are knowledgeable of the topic and will give you honest feedback.
Tags: elevator speech, your speech, clarity consistency, product service, product service idea
