Forget the Elevator Speech — Just Press the Button

I enjoy networking, although, I really don’t care too much for the elevator speech.

‘Good morning, my name is John and I’m a partner at ABC; solicitors, accountants, marketing, training, etc.

We are based in Richmond, have been in business for thirty years and not only offer excellent customer service but we offer great value too.’

And so it goes on…

Who cares?

The world is full of solicitors, accountants and training companies. Does everyone really have their own unique selling point?

Most people use the concept of an elevator speech to communicates who they are. That’s nice, although, if that’s all you say it’s boring. What people really want to hear is how you can make their lives better, easier, happier of positively different in some way.

Those conversations don’t often take place in an elevator, so the term ‘elevator speech is interesting. That said, we all understand it’s about getting to the point quickly.

Author Daniel H. Pink suggests that, “The purpose of the pitch isn’t necessarily to move others to adopt your idea, it’s to offer something so compelling it begins a conversation.”

The question is, what do you have to offer that is so compelling.

Some people still call that offering a unique selling point; USP.

The idea of having a strong USP has been around for decades and for the most part has served us very well. The trouble is, we live in a world today where many people are saying largely the same thing. They use the same words we have been using since the 1940’s; excellence, quality, customer service, speed, etc.

We all want to stand out from the crowd and differentiate ourselves from our competitors. Our customers have evolved faster than the elevator speech. Not only have they heard it all before, the last thing they have time for is the generic spiel.

Many of these have been meticulously rehearsed and often revolve around a model.

Perhaps its — the 5 W’s:

– What does your company do?

– Who does your company do it for?

– Why do they care?

– Why is your company different?

– What is your company?

Or, it may be the 9 C’s:

– Concise

– Clear

– Compelling

– Credible

– Conceptual

– Concrete

– Customized

– Consistent

– Conversational

You could even find yourself on the receiving end of an acronym:

OPEN UP — Organized, Passionate, Engaged, Natural, Understand, Practice

ICEPAC — Interest, Comprehension, Emphasis, Participation, Accomplishment, Confirmation

CREST — Comparison, Reason, Example, Statistics, Testimony

SPIN — Situation, Problem, Implication, Need

SNAP — Simple, iNvaluable, Align, Priorities

NEAT — Needs, Economic, Authority, Timeline

Perhaps its just me but when I’m looking for a service of any kind I want someone who:

– Loves what they do

– Is really good at it

– Can help make my life better, easier, happier or positively different in some tangible way

– I can trust them

– They can it do at the right price for me

It’s no wonder so many people are confused and anxious about the thought of an elevator speech, after all, where do you really start?

Just Press the Button

What does that mean?

Just tell them how you can help make their life better, easier, happier or positively different in some tangible way.

At Mindful Presenter ‘We love to help people to find, value and express their true voice. We do that by showing professionals how to craft and deliver presentations with confidence, clarity and impact. We help people to connect emotionally as well as intellectually in business presentations. It’s the emotional connection which leads change.’

Now the conversation begins…

If you would like to learn how to ‘Press the Button:

Book yourself onto a powerful public speaking course.

Invest in some really good one to one public speaking coaching.

Get yourself some excellent presentation training

If this article has inspired you to learn a little more about how effective your presentation skills are you may want to take a look at our presentation training and public speaking coaching pages to see how we may be able to help you. You will also find a great deal of really helpful ‘free’ information in our Learning Centre.

Image: Courtesy of flickr.com