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Personal Elevator Pitch

True eloquence consists in saying all that should be said, and that only.

– Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld

Breakfast clubs and similar business networking organiza­tions are becoming an increasingly popular tool for service providers and other salespeople. In many cases, a key part of the morning’s program is for each person to give a 1-minute elevator pitch that explains who they are and why they are there. When I attend such an event, the elevator pitch that I use goes like this...

My name is Chris O’Leary and I teach entrepreneurs, salespeople, project champions, and others how to communicate their ideas to investors, customers, senior executives, and co-workers.

For the past five years, I have been holding workshops at Washington University, teaching entrepreneurs how to pitch ideas for new products and services to venture capitalists and angel investors. Over the past year I have turned that workshop into a book that is applicable to anyone who wants to know how to improve their ability to pitch an idea to someone.

My book and workshop draw upon lessons I learned while working with a series of software startups in sales and market­ing roles.

I would love to discuss my work with anyone who is interested after we are done.

Let me explain the logic of my personal elevator pitch in the context of The Nine C’s.

1. CONCISE

Since my personal elevator pitch contains just 126 words, I can easily deliver it in one minute or less without sounding rushed.

2. CLEAR

In order to make sure that my personal elevator pitch is clear, I start it off with a summary sentence that explains what I do at a high level. The goal is to give people a general sense of who I am and what I do so that they can better understand what I say next. I am also trying to quickly catch the attention of potential clients and ensure that they will listen to my entire pitch.

3. COMPELLING

I am fairly subtle when it comes to making my personal elevator pitch compelling, because I know that many people understand the need to be a good communicator...

My name is Chris O’Leary and I teach entrepreneurs, salespeople, project champions, and others how to communicate their ideas to investors, customers, senior executives, and co-workers.

My summary sentence lays out some of the common scenarios that I help people handle.

4. CREDIBLE

The middle of my elevator pitch is where I establish my credibility, and I do that in two ways. First, I explain my association with Washington University, which is a highly respected name in the field of education...

For the past five years, I have been holding workshops at Washington University, teaching entrepreneurs how to pitch ideas for new products and services to venture capitalists and angel investors.

I then quickly discuss my personal experience with writing and delivering elevator pitches...

My book and workshop draw upon lessons I learned while working with a series of software startups in sales and marketing roles.

The goal is to establish myself as a respected expert in the subject.

5. CONCEPTUAL

In my personal elevator pitch, I don’t get into the HOW of my approach and methodology. Instead, I focus on establishing WHAT I do and why I am qualified to advise people on that topic.

6. CONCRETE

I establish the concreteness of what I am doing with the line below...

Over the past year I have turned that workshop into a book that is applicable to anyone who wants to know how to improve their ability to pitch an idea to someone.

The goal is to let people know that I have two specific products that I sell: a book and a workshop.

7. CONSISTENT

My summary sentence lays out the different types of clients that I work with...

My name is Chris O’Leary and I teach entrepreneurs, salespeople, project champions, and others how to communicate their ideas to investors, customers, senior executives, and co-workers.

As a result, I am able to deliver the same basic personal elevator pitch to a variety of different audiences and know it will appeal to a variety of different people.

8. CUSTOMIZED

If I am not sure who will be in the audience, or if the audience is mixed, then I deliver the basic version of my personal elevator pitch. However, if I am delivering my personal elevator pitch to a specific group, such as salespeople, then I will modify it so that it focuses on the needs of salespeople. I do that by modifying the last line of my personal elevator pitch so that it more directly speaks to the needs of salespeople...

I would love to discuss my work with you in detail afterwards and explain how I can help you close more deals.

9. CONVERSATIONAL

In order to ensure that my personal elevator pitch is conversational, I close with an invitation to discuss my work afterwards...

I would love to discuss my work with anyone who is interested after we are done.

I keep my close low pressure and soft sell because in my experience I have found that people aren’t ready to buy immediately after hearing my personal elevator pitch. Instead, they want to know more about how I can help them with their specific situation.

Copyright Notice
This document is copyright © 2009 Chris O'Leary and the LIMB Press LLC. It is licensed for personal use only. Any organizational or institutional use must be approved by Chris O'Leary.

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