If you spend any time at all at networking events you’ll want to pay attention to the personal introduction you use—also called your Elevator Speech. These ten seconds, are a make-or-break moment for your company identity. Read on to discover how to craft an effective audio sound bite for your company.

What is an elevator speech?
An elevator speech is a short description of what you do that is told to someone else in the time it takes an elevator to go from the bottom floor to the top. It’s the traditional way that business associates introduce themselves to one another and answers the question “What do you do for a living?” Good elevator speeches last about ten seconds and contain enough creativity and information so they’re remembered long after they’re given.

The worst thing you can do
When asked “What do you do?”, the worst answer you can give is “I’m an ________________” (accountant, or lawyer, or consultant, or whatever). Answering like this only tells your listener what you are, not how you help others. When you label yourself this way, you forgo any discussion of the benefits you provide to others and leave this up to the listener to figure on their own.
      
The four steps to a winning elevator speech
A good elevator speech is made up of three distinct parts; the hook, deliverables and benefits, and the fourth step is where you put it all together. Follow these next steps to develop an Elevator Speech that turns heads.

Step 1—Develop your own hook

A hook is a catch phrase whose sole purpose is to get someone’s attention. Here are some examples of memorable hooks:

Occupation	Hook
Landscape gardener	I turn the world green.
Midwife	I bring life into this world.
Nutritionist	I teach people how to behave in front of food.
IRS Agent	I’m a government fund-raiser.
Pilot	I shrink the globe.

 Each one of these statements begs the question “How do you do that?”  Now try coming up with your own hook by completing this sentence:

I’m the __________________ (line of work you’re in)  that ___________________ (hook).
     
             
Step 2—Explain your deliverables
In the next section of your elevator speech, you explain what your service (or product) provides.

I specialize in ______________________________  (action verb followed by your

deliverables )  for the  ______________________ (your target market).

Here are some examples of deliverable statements:
• I facilitate off-site strategy development sessions for non-profits...  

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1 comments on this article:

Posted on February 05, 2007 3:13 pm by Ray MacNeil

This article is very well written to understand the concepts and put into a workable template right away. Great job!

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