Much is known about the importance of first impressions, as there is usually no second chance to improve them. That’s especially true in the business world, where a lot of it is about the good performance and attracting attention.

There are many ways to become noticed but not much time. Business people are too busy, so you usually have a minute or less – just enough time to shine or sink. In situations where it’s necessary to ‘sell’ yourself, your company, or a belief, it is essential to master the elevator pitch technique.

To understand why time is money, check the page below:

https://yourstory.com/mystory/f39bea5268-do-you-know-the-phrase/amp

What Is Elevator Pitch?

Formally, it’s a communication tool that will enable you an interesting, convincing performance, lasting no longer than an elevator ride. It should result in the interlocutor getting interested in your products, services, or ideas after showing their uniqueness. The speech must be understandable to a person who doesn’t work or doesn’t know the field in which you work.

And what is it, in a simple language? An elevator pitch is a short and entertaining speech that clearly and concisely explains what you or your organization is doing. You have to act convincingly so that the interlocutor really believes in what you represent. This technique is used in many situations, both in the business and ‘ordinary’ world.

You can often find yourself in situations that require you to present what you represent, do, or sell. You need to do this in a non-commercial way so as not to be too pushy or intrusive. So you will probably need time, practice, and skill to learn from your mistakes and polish the elevator pitch technique.

Know Your Goal

In order to present yourself and your organization in the best possible light, you first need to know yourself well (your product, service, company, or attitudes). It’s a lot easier to learn about using the elevator pitch technique if you know what’s behind you. The more you know about that, the easier it will be. On this link, see how to target the audience.

Of course, you should point out your advantages. Still, you should pay the most attention to the second party. In the business world, it’s crucial to offer the interlocutor some value, not just mere words. You need to know what benefits the party you are proposing has. So before you start with an elevator pitch, it would be good to inform yourself about who is listening to you.

Your interlocutor should get the impression that you actually want to share a new way of looking at the idea and your knowledge. That will sound much better than just trying to convince them. Making the other side a part of your presentation arouses the curiosity of clients, business partners, investors, and all those to whom you apply this technique. And it is this curiosity that increases trust and cooperation.

Know Your Audience

Once you get to know yourself better, you need to get to know those to whom you present what you represent. You can’t do anything well if you don’t know your audience. These can be entire companies or a single person. You will be more successful if you adapt your performance to the interests of those you want to talk to.

It’s not good to have a general speech pattern, as different people require different approaches. Suppose you’re trying to convince someone to invest in your business. In that case, you must know their age, business attitude, and background. If you’re looking for a company to partner with, you should know the demographics and the kind of products and services they might buy.

Make a Sketch

Making a successful elevator pitch can be one of the most nerve-racking tasks. But knowing how to make an excellent presentation starts with being familiar with your audience. Once you know what they want, you can get to work on your message, speech, or video.

You also need to know what to say, when to say it and how to deliver it. It’s all about a good introduction, good closing, and follow-up scripts. And you should pack all that in a speech or video not longer than 2 minutes. So you need a sketch. There are plenty of templates online to help you with it.

Write down the basic ideas you would like to present. List them by item, but do not detail. Write a couple of sentences that best describe what you want to say and serve as guidelines for your presentation. For each of them, determine how you will improve or enhance them (that is what you offer to the interlocutor).

Manner of Addressing

Besides the speech itself, knowing the audience will help you choose the best way to address them. Younger people might be more interested in elevator pitch videos, while middle-aged entrepreneurs appreciate live speech more.

An older audience, for instance, would be interested in your making reference to the Internet. Younger listeners might appreciate the way you mentioned social networking. Well-targeting your audience helps you know what you should say.

Use Understandable Language

A good presentation needs to be organized, well laid out, and easy to understand. You need to know what kind of language you are going to use with the interlocutors. Know who they are before you start using your elevator pitch. Your speech or video presentation will probably go through more variations until you find what really works and sounds natural.

Some words just don’t mix well with certain kinds of businesses or individuals. For example, you won’t use slang when talking to middle-aged people in business suits. But you also won’t be too formal when talking to a younger person of casual attitude. You just have to be on the same wavelength.

You could just find someone who has done elevator pitching before and ask them what they did. Even if it isn’t much, you can get some useful guidelines. They will give you an idea of how to proceed. You can take notes on what they said so you know what to say. But don’t copy their speech.

Don’t Be Too Commercial

The biggest mistake people make using the elevator speech technique is to sound like a boring commercial. Remember, this way of presenting is not about advertising. ‘Me, me, me’ and superlatives can be counterproductive.

Don’t fall into the trap of just talking about how great your service or product is or how good a worker you are. Forget about emphasizing your qualities without providing any extra value. In fact, you should talk about all these great things about yourself but in some indirect way.

For example, if you meet with a potential investor, keep in mind that they are not buying your product/service but your business or idea. Hence, you should explain to the listeners how you plan to start or improve the business, as well as what benefits they will get from it.

Call to Action

Give a personal stamp to your speech and something to grab the interlocutor. Once you have said what makes you unique, you need to include the other side. The best way to do this is an open-ended question, i.e., one that can’t be answered yes or no. It’s the so-called ‘hook’ on which a potential investor, partner, or future employer should be caught.

A great speech is about the first few seconds of grabbing attention. But it’s only one part of your presentation. The other half of it is up to the person listening to you to get excited about your business or idea. So if you know how to make a great elevator pitch, you will go a long way towards making an excellent first impression.

As seen on the following source, you could use elevator pitch as a part of your job interview:

https://www.topresume.com/career-advice/5-tips-for-delivering-the-perfect-elevator-pitch

Keep Up with Trends

Keep in mind that we live in a time when business trends are changing very fast. Remember that your audience has certain expectations, and you are demanded to adapt the speech to their needs. As conditions change, so does your approach to presenting an idea, service, product, organization, or company. What once succeeded in gaining an audience doesn’t mean that it works today.

Knowing how to make a great elevator speech doesn’t have to be hard. It just has to be done with a little bit of creativity. You don’t have to be a public speaker to be good at this. You just have to be willing to put in the time and effort to learn how to do it.