How to create an effective Elevator Pitch

Today I just wanted to share a couple of tips on how to prepare a good elevator pitch which you can use to sell yourself either when job hunting or as a small business owner on meeting new clients.  The reason behind this is to build a bridge between my small business clients and career coaching clients.  I have given away a lot of information recently directed at small businesses however a lot of the information is also relevant for people who are looking to change career or are looking for their first job – in fact it is relevant to anyone who wants to ‘be inspired to re-think their working week!‘  An elevator pitch is a prime example of this.

An elevator pitch can be used by anyone to describe succinctly who they are and what they do, whether or not they are in business. The idea is to be able to communicate all this information in 15-30 seconds.

The key to a good elevator pitch can be broken down into 4 steps:

1. state who you are
2. state what it is you do or what kind of job you are looking for
3. state what your unique selling point is
4. state your call to action

Taking the time to develope your pitch gets you to think about how either your business communications should be positioned or how you see your career progressing. Brochures, websites and sales pitches should all focus on the customer’s ‘hurts’, how you can sort it out for them and how they will benefit.  And this is exactly the sort of information you should be including in your elevator pitch.

It is important that within your pitch you detail the type of people you work with, or want to work with, and the problems that you solve for them before giving an example of the solution you can provide and the benefits that your solution brings. This is the same whether you are in business or looking for a new job.

When someone new asks you about yourself and what you do, it is all to easy to feel put on the spot and mumble the first thing that comes into your head and then spend the rest of the day criticising yourself for what you said and for not being succinct and to the point.  That is why I encourage all my clients both business and career coaching clients, to prepare an Elevator Pitch when developing their personal brand so that they always feel in control when introducing themselves.

Over the next few weeks the focus of my blog posts will be slanted towards those who are just setting foot on the career ladder but that doesn’t mean that they won’t contain information that will be useful for those considering a career change or looking to develop their business so I recommend that you sign up so as not to miss out on all this great free information!

And in the meantime, if you need any help preparing your elevator pitch please drop me an email, anne@power-to-change.eu