Five Practical Tips for Creating a Winning Elevator Speech

Imagine you are running out of a burning building, and you see a stranger outside. You want to tell them to call for help, but no matter how excited you are about getting out alive, you can't bombard a complete stranger with tonnes of information.

An elevator speech in an elevator -- imagine that!

You have to condense it to about the amount of time you'd take to talk to a stranger in a crowded elevator as it went to the next floor.

Elevator speeches are condensed stories about you and your business, but hopefully no fire is involved.

Last month I wrote about lessons learned to succeed at giving a great elevator speech. Based on numerous emails in response to that post, here are five more important tips to creating a winning elevator speech.

1. Hook 'Em

The best advertisements don't immediately indicate what they are selling -- they make you wonder what they are all about using a hook. Something that draws you in. 

I have a friend that used to sell Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) which protect electronics from dying during a power failure. He'd often start his elevator speech with: "I sell peace of mind."

Be creative, it's okay to be a bit vague and confusing -- that's part of what hooks us to want to know more.

2. Silence is Golden

The golden rule in sales, once you've delivered your pitch, shut-up. Really. In sales, the first person to speak after the pitch loses -- if the sales person tries to beef up the pitch right after giving it, they appear weak, and unable to stand by their product or service. If the customer speaks first, they show interest or at least, say right away that they aren't interested.

Give your listeners time to think about what you just said with the hook. Wait for their response -- in a group setting, this would be confused facial expressions -- or in person -- they may ask you "what are you talking about?"

You have to be quick to tell it all -- without selling for success.

3. Reel 'Em In

After their response to your hook and silence, here's your shot to reel them in -- don't sell. It's important to explain the hook, but you don't have their permission to sell to them. Yet.

The whole point of reeling them in is to explain what you do, and how you help people. If you tell someone how you make other people's lives easier, they may be more inclined to seek your help.

4. Offer to Help

After you explain how you help others, offer to help them as well -- but don't sell. You provide a service which they or those they know, may need. Offer to help them and those they know.

Listen to their feedback to determine if they are interested in your services. If not, offer to help them promote their services. If they share your services with their friends, you've still given a great elevator speech.

By offering to promote them, you are opening the door for you to get your message out to their circles, and that's never a bad thing.

5. Contact Info

Always wrap up leaving them with a way to contact you. Give them a business card, mention your Twitter handle, or tell them how they can reach you by phone or any of the other social media.

If they don't know how to reach you, regardless of how they percieved of your elevator speech, you'll never hear back from them!