Another take on the elevator speech

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January 17, 2012

Another take on the elevator speech

Over in the LIS Career Options group in LinkedIn, nurtured and managed by Kim Dority, a discussion started recently about the dreaded elevator speech. As I was thinking about what has worked for me, I realized that 90% of the "message" in a successful elevator speech isn't in the pitch. So, here's my approach.

I want to have a conversation with the other person, not do a pitch. So instead of declaring who I am or what I do, I just send a signal that this will be a fun conversation and that I absolutely love what I do. As a died-in-the-wool, card-carrying introvert, I've found this to be a really comfortable way of having this conversation.

Here's an example, with my {editorial asides}:

Networker: So, Mary Ellen, what do you do?

Me: I have the most fun job in the world! I get paid to make my clients really really smart. I love it! {end of talking. Now I shut up.}

Networker: Really? How do you do that?

{VICTORY! My goal was to intrigue the other person enough for them to ask me to tell them about what I do. That way, they'll actually listen to it.}

Me: Oh, every client is different, which is what I love so much about my business. So, let's see, here's an example.

And here I tell a three-sentence story, tweaked to whoever I'm talking with, that describes a client's situation, what I gave the client, and what the client was able to do afterward. I don't ever talk about the details - I just talk about the outcome, which is all that most people care about anyway. And this proves that my focus is on the client, not on me me me.

When the only conversational fodder I offer is about the value that my client gets, then that's what the conversation gets focused on. I don't think it's particularly interesting or revelant to my client, in most cases, what specific steps I take or databases I search. The value I offer is in what I do with the stuff and what the client's end result is, so that's all I talk about.

What's your elevator speech? How do you get a fun conversation going?

Posted at 06:21 PM | Permalink