1. How to speak impromptu for 50 seconds?
2. What to speak in your impromptu elevator pitch?
3. How to create your brand recall and be remembered for what you spoke about?
2. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
Agenda
Definition
Why do you need one
Basics of an elevator pitch
What should be in it
What should not be in it
Example situations and different techniques
Success factors
Q&A
3. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
An elevator pitch is a personal introduction
explaining what you do within 30 seconds to
a stranger or a known person you meet in
the elevator before it reaches from ground to
8th
floor!
4. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
• But if you are NOT
– An entrepreneur looking for funding
– A sales leader
– A Job seeker
6. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
Step back for a minute
In your EVERYDAY at work do you have conversations
about
Convince someone about
your point of view
Volunteer for a project you want
to work on
Create awareness about an
initiative/cause
Involve in team activities
Meet new people
Meet a senior person
7. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
In short , you pitch
YOUR point of view
Your idea
YOUR THOUGHT
And
YOURSELF in everyday scenarios
and
usually you get 10 seconds to win attention
8. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
Now that you need a pitch how
do you prepare?
The Best of impromptu speeches
are prepared in advance!
9. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
Make efforts to know your audience and
situation in advance
1. Do you know whom you are going to meet?
i. Have you looked at the LinkedIn profile
ii. Your common contacts
iii. The interests
iv. The social footprint- does he blog, has he given any interviews?
2. If you don’t know the person, what is the context in which you
have met him or her?
i. Is it an external conference- example NASSCOM Product conference
ii. Engineering college Alumni meet
iii. Office Townhall
3. If know absolutely NOTHING about the person or
situation- that is still OK- if you know what you want
to speak of!!
10. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
The golden circle of personal branding
Example: How APPLE does it
WHY?
HOW?
WHAT?
WHY= THE PURPOSE
What is your cause? What do you believe in?
HOW= THE PROCESS
Specific actions taken to realize Why?
WHAT= THE RESULT
What do you do? The result of Why. Proof.
WHY= THE PURPOSE
Everything we do, we believe in challenging the
status quo, we believe in thinking differently!
HOW= THE PROCESS
We make products that are beautifully designed
and user friendly
WHAT= THE RESULT
And by the way we just happen to make great
computers, iPods - do you want to buy one?
11. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
People don’t care about WHAT
you do. It is the WHY that matters.
12. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
What should be in your pitch?
1. Start with WHY?- 10 seconds
1. What you believe in
2. Use an ACTION word in the first sentence
3. Hook
2. What problem do you solve
1. Establish credibility
2. How do you solve it
3. Help needed- come straight to the point
4. Call to action
1. Can be an action
2. Or a recall that will remind the of you
13. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
What should not be
• DO NOT BRAG: NO one is interested
• Avoid Monologue
• KEEP IT SHORT :Think 10 seconds, not 50!
• USE EVERYDAY LANGUAGE. Avoid words like “synergy”, “optimize”,
“efficiency”, “ROI” and so on.
14. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
Example 1: Running into a senior leader
in the office lift
1. Re-introduce yourself.
“Hi Amit, I’m _________ from the marketing team.”
2. Lead with information your audience might not know.
Capture attention with an interesting fact, statistic, or comparison
I was looking at the India Shout out Transformation webcast today- we had 85%
participation!
3. Share the positive value.
What’s the payoff for your listener’s department?
“I think its great way to engage new ideas at work”
4. End with an ask. Now that you’ve tantalized your listener with interesting information,
ask to follow up.
You might suggest a meeting or ask permission to send the person more information
Can we conduct a similar social drive for the Cloud theme training on the work floor?
15. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
Example 2: A senior executive, client
after a public event, Townhall
• For meeting VIPs in crowded settings, the goal should be to do 3 things in an introduction of
no more than 60 seconds:
• 1st. Establish credibility: I work with Emily’s team in Mainframe Marketing
• 2nd. Make your intentions clear :
• I really liked the fact that you suggested communities and loyal Usergroups are the way to go for
technology marketing. I would like to share a similar approach we are taking and perhaps it may
not work out exactly like you suggested. Give them your card with below #3 handwritten on it.
• 3rd. Mention something very, very hard to forget about you that separates you from the rest.
– I am tennis district champion- happy to meet for game if you are in town.
– I am the lady with purple glasses
– I a stand-up comedian only in toastmasters
• If you are meeting in public forum , do not follow up within the next 3 days, as everyone else
will.
16. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
Example 3- chance meeting with a Client
in a networking event
• You start the statement with” Hi, I am Shilpa, I loving cheering up birthday parties with creative
cakes. When I am not baking cakes, I also like to write cool codes to make elevators like these
work. I learnt this back in Osmania University”
• Wait- which batch of engineering in OU?
• And your pitch goes out of the window?
• Prepare 3-5 points three-to-five thins you want to be known for and that you can sprinkle
into conversation as it proceeds.
17. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
Example 4- Introducing yourself in a
roundtable, business meeting- tell stories
• Hi- I am a product manager and help our business leaders create mainframes to help
the world.
• Hi- I started my career fixing technology code bugs which I hated and thus propelled
myself to pursue an MBA picked a corporate strategy job which taught me to relate to
how the senior management REALLY spend their time without judging them but I
wanted to know people beyond the senior management and pursued a sales career
to meet people, understand their problems and fix them with my knowledge and
finally I joined the mainframe product team because I get inspired by creating a
technology which is twice my age and has survived.
You can make the same more audience centric
• Hi- I started my career fixing technology bugs which helps e understand what the
technical team really goes through everyday. My 6 years journey has made a
mainframe product manager and what I really strive to do is to connect with the
technical teams before I design my product features, because none knows how to
make something work than the testers who do it day in and out
18. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
Example 5- Linkedin email to an
alumnus
• Subject: Hi Ripal, help needed from your SP Jain Junior
• Hi Ripal, I am your junior Pratibha and have just finished my internship with Ogilvy. I
absolutely loved advertising industry and notice that you had pursued a similar and
very unlikely choice after MBA and 2 years technical experience. I would love to get
15 mins of your time to speak and understand your love for the field and perhaps find
mine?
19. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
Success factors
• Always remember to invert the focus ratio.
Usually we spend 70 to 80% of our time talking about ourselves
Talk about your client’s results.
• Don’t take too long to make the most important points.
Leading with results first
Specifics last
20. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
What is holding you back
• Looks awkward?
– Never pitch yourself for jobs, work or projects
– Never use Jargons
– Speak of your motivation, emotions- why you like to do something
– STRUCTURE- SPEAK OF EMOTIONAL IMPORTANCE- INTENT
• Be True to yourself
– YOUR pitch needs to sound like you
• I don’t have anything great to speak about
– Neither do others. The point is Others sat and you spoke up however simple your
ideas may have been
• I don’t have the communication skills or good English
– What of the OTHER 20 strengths you have? Will you let them sit while you bask
for one skill
– Speaking requires emotion and HUMAN beings- not language- be honest- you
will be noticed
22. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
DON’T HESITATE TO SPEAK ABOUT
YOURSELF- NOBODY EVER TURNED
DOWN ENTHUSIASM
23. PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
HOW TO MAKE AN ELEVATOR PITCH IN 50 SECONDS
PRATIBHA RYALIpratbharyali.blogspot.in
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME
• THE VIDEO FOR THIS PRESENTATION WOULD BE
AVAILABLE ON DEMAND @Pratibharyali.blogspot.in
• For further questions mail me at
prathibha.ryali@gmail.com
• For updates please follow me on Twitter
@prathibharyali
Editor's Notes
Average attention span of a person is 3 seconds, unless you find your hook, you have lost him/her
BUT what do YOU SAY and in which scenario?
Average attention span of a person is 3 seconds, unless you find your hook, you have lost him/her
BUT what do YOU SAY and in which scenario?
Make is a 2- way conversation. The goal is not to deliver your 60 second advertisement; it’s to have a two-way conversation.
A successful pitch is where the other person relaxes and says “Interesting. Tell me more.”
50 seconds is a long time to talk uninterrupted. An elevator pitch is NOT a sales pitch.
In fact, here’s a tip: write out your pitch, then take a red pen and cross out all the clichés and marketing-speak. Replace them with one-syllable words.
1st. Establish credibility. Cite 1-2 examples of social proof like media or association with reputable companies/organizations. Do not speak quickly during an elevator pitch. Slow and calm.
you are not looking for money (unless you are) but have something of interest to discuss after much research, and then ask how you can follow up in a less hectic environment.
It doesn’t need to have anything to do with your reason for wanting to meet them. For me, tango is my default. I’ll close with something like: “Just so you remember, as I know you’ll meet a million people today, I’m the world record holder in the tango. Happy to give you and Astrid a lesson sometime if the stars align.” Referring to this odd fact will be important when you follow up.
For most of my life I pursued a conventional career in business, doing corporate communications and PR. About a decade ago I started acting. For a while I thought these were two separate worlds, but I eventually learned that they were one and the same. Both require you to connect with audiences, express yourself in compelling terms, and tell stories. So I brought these two worlds together in a book and now in workshops and speeches. And now I’m passing on all this business knowledge I’ve accumulated while doing the thing I love—performing on stage. All for the sake of helping people communicate more effectively.
BE TRUE TO YOU- you pitch should sound and feel like you do
That is easy and original
