You jump in an elevator and hit the button for your floor. Someone jumps in along side of you. As the doors close, he asks what you do.

As the elevator quickly climbs to your floor, you know you only have a few seconds to describe your business. What would you say? What is the most important thing about what you do that would make this person say “WOW”? What would make him want to get to know more about your business and invite you into his office for coffee?

Yep, that’s the premise behind an elevator speech. Its putting together words in a magical way that will allow you to quickly and effectively say what you do AND gather attention from the party you are speaking with.

Maybe you’ve heard of the concept of the 30 second elevator pitch. But have you ever truly thought about what you say in the first 30 seconds you meet with someone? Can you quickly motivate them to want more? Or are you more of a rambler?

An elevator pitch is more important today than ever. Not only is it important to make a good first impression, people have less time and more on their minds than ever. Meaning you have a small window to make a good first impression … or lose it forever.

If you have a networking function coming up, or just want to have your elevator speech in place for your next meeting, here are a few things to consider as you are creating it.

Write down what you do

As quickly as you can, write down what you do. Now write it again, only from a different perspective. Do it again. And again. Try writing it 15 to 20 different ways, all without editing. Don’t think about it, just write it from different perspectives. The goal is to get as many ideas as you can down on paper. [Read more…]