The Elevator Speech …

So what is an elevator speech/pitch?

Our friends at Wikipedia describe it as …

{a short summary used to quickly and simply define a person, profession, product, service, organization or event and its value proposition. The name “elevator pitch” reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty seconds to two minutes. The term itself comes from a scenario of an accidental meeting with someone important in the elevator. If the conversation inside the elevator (in those few seconds) is interesting and value adding, the conversation will continue after the elevator ride or end in exchange of a business card or a scheduled meeting.}

So, why am I writing about this subject? Well when I worked at GE, I had an elevator speech and it came pretty easily to me. I even taught training modules on coming up with elevator speeches and how to make them more effective.  But for some reason, this task seemed super daunting for me now that I was starting my own business.

I think if you work for a company and especially for a longer period of time, you are confident (or at least I was) in the company you work for and the roles/performance you’ve had because you’ve had promotions, awesome performance reviews, and managers/leaders affirming that feeling for you. As a founder of a strategic Human Resources consulting company, I have found that confidence and comfort about selling yourself builds over time with milestones that you reach, clients you help, impact that is concrete and visible, referrals that are made, etc … all of these things make talking about your business exciting because you are confident in the product and the value you are creating.

I am pleased to now say… I have found my elevator speech as a small business owner!  And of course, I can help you find yours too!