101 Elevator Speech
Every entrepreneur needs to have a short, 15- to 30-second elevator speech at the ready for the perfect investor. But how do you get your message crystallized into a precise — and brief — statement? Use these tips to start drafting your own elevator speech so the next time you get asked, “And what do you do?” you’ll be prepared.
A Place To Begin
Dale Kurow, an executive coach (www.dalekurow.com) recommends starting with writing down a list of deliverables that your business or your products provide. Then, she says, write down the benefits to your customers.
“Once you’ve got that written, create an opening sentence that will grab the listener’s attention…The best openers leave the listener wanting more information.”
Avoid The Pitch
Robert Pagliarini of SeekingCapital.com advises entrepreneurs that are looking for investors to make sure their elevator pitch doesn’t come off sounding like sales pitch.
“Don’t get caught up in using the entire pitch to tell the investor how great your product or service is,” Pagliarini says. “The investor is ‘buying’ the business, not the product.”
Rather than running down a list of features, speak from the heart, and tell the listener how “you will run the business.”
Key Questions
Pagliarini also identifies several key questions that every elevator speech should answer. Among them are: What is your revenue model? And who is your competition?
If you fail to cover the basics, you likely won’t get past that first handshake.
Revise And Revise
Once you get that initial investor and your business is off the ground, don’t forget to revisit the elevator speech, says Aileen Pincus on BusinessWeek.com.
“Every business grows and changes, and your pitch needs to grow and change with it,” she says. “You can have the most creative logo, the slickest slogan, the most dazzling brochures, and the most cutting-edge website, but if your elevator pitch is out of date, you’re missing one of your most important opportunities to ‘brand.’ ”
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