The key features of a successful elevator pitch
An elevator pitch is a short — usually up to 60 seconds — description of your business, with the main objective of grabbing the attention of the audience you’re addressing, and reaping the maximum possible benefits. This is something that requires a lot of thought and practice, so that all the strengths of your business or idea can be conveyed, while refraining from getting side-tracked by details, even if they are also very important. Therein lies the greatest difficulty.
As demanding as this may sound, here are a few key points that you might find useful:
- Start with a concise and clear description of your business’s activity, the way it operates in the market, and your expectations for the future. Tip: Accurately assess what would be of interest to your respective audience, as anything unnecessary will not leave time for more important information.
- Strictly stick to one minute, which is the average length of an elevator ride – very short, but still enough to grab someone's attention.
- If you can, make sure you find out as much as possible about who you are addressing each time. When meeting with a prospective client, a potential investor or with consumers, you must prepare your presentation in a different way depending on who you're talking to. The goal, the business viewpoint and knowledge in each case are different, and your pitch should be tailored accordingly.
- Identify your audience’s key concern and make sure you address it. Speak with faith in your idea and your business but avoid exaggerations that might damage your reputation or the public's degree of trust in it.
As difficult as it may seem to condense the value of your business's existence or development into just a few sentences, the result will certainly serve you well. Your aim is to highlight the strengths that make your business stand out and, therefore, win over your audience.