What is an elevator pitch?

Giving an elevator pitch is an important skill to master if you are an entrepreneur or small business owner. If you haven’t heard of the elevator pitch, it is a short (often between 20-60 seconds) sales pitch about your business and/or product. As the name suggests, you should be able to give your elevator pitch to someone in the time a trip in an elevator takes.

Why is it a useful skill?

As any successful business owner knows, networking, whether that is on or offline, is the key to creating brand awareness and building trust amongst your current and potential clients. Many Wiltshire networking groups, including BGG, have a format where members are encouraged to talk about their businesses for 60 seconds during the meeting.

While many people are very capable of telling others about what they do, presenting this information in a succinct way is a difficult skill to learn. Learning how to successfully write and deliver an elevator pitch will not only help you to communicate the benefits of your product or service, it will also help you to clearly define your own message.

At BGG Melksham, we are all business owners and so we know that elevator pitches can take some time to get right, which is why we’ve created a list of our top tips for writing and delivering an elevator pitch.

 1. Speak slowly

When asked to give a short speech, there is always the temptation to rush it and fit as much information in as possible. However, this could actually hurt your pitch more than it helps it. If you speak too quickly then it will be more difficult for other people to follow and they are less likely to remember your pitch. Delivering your points more slowly will make you appear clearer and more confident. Allow yourself a few extra seconds so that if you do end up taking a little longer, you won’t feel the need to speed up to get everything in at the end.

 2. Edit

Editing is a crucial part of writing an elevator pitch. When you’re editing cut out the use of any industry jargon. You might not even realise that some of the words you’re using are jargon. When you edit your speech, read through it from the perspective of someone who knows nothing about your industry and eliminate anything that could potentially be confusing or misunderstood. It might be useful to get someone who is honest and whose opinion you value to read through your pitch and give you some constructive feedback. It would be helpful if this person doesn’t work in your industry so they can make sure that everything is easy to understand.

 3. Use short sentences

When giving an elevator pitch, you have a limited amount of time to make an impression on your audience. To make your speech clear and memorable, using shorter sentences will help. They will help you not to rush too much when you’re delivering the pitch and make you more aware of taking breaths. This will in turn help your pitch to flow better and will be easier for your audience to understand.

 4. Tell the story of your business

Most people remember stories more easily than they remember facts. This is useful to know when you’re giving any presentation, but particularly when you’ve only got a short amount of time to make an impression on your audience. At our breakfast networking meeting there are a lot of elevator pitches, so telling the story of your business is a good way to share what you do in an engaging way that humanises your brand.

 5. Differentiate yourself

This is particularly important if you have a lot of competition in your industry. Think about the USP of your product or service. What makes it different from what your competitors offer? A good way to make this point is by giving a specific example. If your USP is exceptional customer service, then tell your audience about a time that you delivered this. This will also help you to give the audience a story to engage with.

 6. Tailor your elevator pitch

Often, before giving an elevator pitch, it’s a good idea to research who you are talking to.

If you are the owner of a business which offers a wide variety of services, there is no point in pitching a service that your audience don’t need. Think about who you are talking to, which of your services will benefit them and how you can tailor your story and call to action accordingly.

For example, when pitching to an investor you’ll need to focus more on financial statistics and the opportunity for the investor. Whereas, when pitching to a potential client, you’ll probably want to talk more about your services, what you can offer them and the value you would bring to their business.

Another factor to consider when tailoring your pitch is how big your audience will be and whether you are pitching to a large company or one-man bands. A larger company is likely to have a bigger budget than one-man bands so this knowledge is something which you can use to tailor your pitch.

If you’re thinking of visiting our breakfast networking group in Melksham then take a look at our members so you have a clear idea about who you’ll be speaking to.

 7. Keep it punchy

Use the beginning and end to capture the audience’s attention and make it memorable. People are more likely to remember the information at the beginning and end of a speech. Tell your audience the most important information at the beginning and then repeat it again at the end, quickly and concisely.

 8. Practice

This one might seem a little bit obvious, but it’s something a lot of people know they should do, but still neglect to do it. Practice is important with any speech, but it is especially important when giving an elevator pitch. You’ve got less time to make an impression on your audience and get your points across, so practice is key here. Again, you might find it useful to practice in front of someone you know and ask for constructive feedback to help you improve.

Having a polished elevator pitch to mind when you are attending networking events can make all the difference. If you would be interested in visiting or joining our breakfast networking group in Melksham, then fill out the contact form on our website.