Why You Need An Elevator Pitch

In short, an elevator pitch is a succinct and persuasive sales pitch; a way to sell your products, ideas, values, professionalism or your personality. However, the goal of giving a successful elevator pitch is not always to sell. A successful elevator pitch catches the attention of your audience and gets them interested in you, or your business.

So, how does this work?

Here are 6 tips from entrepreneur.com for perfecting your elevator pitch:

1. Make them care

The best way to make someone care about your company, product, idea, or skills, is to make your answer to their question about them. Tell them how your product will fix their problem, or make their life easier. Do this first, and you’ll be off to a great start.

2.  Make it easy to join

Just like in a normal conversation between two strangers, one of the best ways to find some common ground in an elevator pitch is to drop names. If you have worked with companies, endorsers, or competitors that may be familiar to your audience, now is the time to mention them. This will create credibility and authority, encouraging them to consider you as a useful asset.

3. Leave them wanting more

We’ve heard it a billion times: keep it short and sweet. Elevator pitches are meant to be short, so don’t get carried away with the particulars. Stick to the hard-hitting basics that set your business apart from the others, and why you are the solution they’ve been looking for. If you nail this, you can bet that they’ll want to know more.

4. Have a call to action

Depending on what your goal is, this step will sound different for everyone. What’s key is to specify your goal to your audience, so they can see their importance to you, and where they fit in your vision.

5. Be natural

It almost sounds counterintuitive, but sometimes the best way to act natural comes through practice. Practice your pitch, find what feels natural and flows. If you mess up, start over. If you’ve kept it short and sweet, you’ll have less to remember, and will be confident in your ability to deliver it.

6. Test Yourself

Testing yourself is a great way to get feedback on your delivery. If you know some people with experience in your field, ask them for a minute of their time, and see if they have any suggestions or feedback on your pitch. Whether or not they would make a follow-up meeting with you is the ultimate telltale sign of the success of your pitch.