Whenever you go to any type of event, party, or just to the grocery store, there is a chance that someone will want to know what you do. You’ll need to explain what you do effectively within 30 seconds or so for anyone asking to still be interested in what you do after asking. That is where a prepared elevator speech can come in handy.
To prepare your elevator speech, answer the following questions. It can help if you answer them on 3 x 5 cards or if you use software like MS Word or Trello to help you organize your answers. You want to be able to mix and match the answers you create into an easy to edit (on the fly) elevator speech that you can use anytime it comes up.
Start with these questions:
- Who Are You? – This is simply your name, your business name, and maybe a random fact related to your audience and business as well. “Hi, I’m Mary Williams, and I take away people’s pain.”
- What Product/Service Do You Offer? – Add more of what you do, remember to frame it from the audience’s perspective. If you state “I’m a graphic designer” no one really knows what that is. You could create websites, you could develop logos, create videos – there is so much that could happen under that “graphic designer” label. Be very specific about what you do concerning the benefits you’re providing someone.
- Who Do You Do It For? – Knowing who your audience is will also help tremendously when preparing your elevator speech. You want everything you say directed toward them so it’s important that you can name who they are within the elevator speech. “Hi, I’m Mary Williams, and through my company Widget XYZ, I help lower back pain sufferers overcome their pain while designing deeply satisfying lives.”
- What Are Some Pain Points Faced By Your Target market? These may be pain points you experienced before developing your product/service. Think about your “why” here. And why people want to work with you rather than figuring it out themselves. “For years I suffered from lower back pain that doctors could do nothing about.” “My mother suffered in pain for many years.”
- What Are The Results and Benefits You Help Your Target market Achieve? In addition to hitting the pain points of your audience, you want to show them what life will be like after they work with you. Make note of what type(s) of results your clients achieve… and then how they feel (which may be the opposite of the pain points you identified earlier). Some people may be more responsive to results/data, whereas others may respond better to emotional responses, so try to hit them both in your statement.
Put it together
Finally, you want to create a hook to bring them in as well as put it all together in a conversational manner. You don’t want to sound robotic or overly prepared, it should seem as if you’re simply talking but that you know your stuff and what you do.
I have attended a couple conferences where Jeff Moore was teaching his “compelling introduction” and I absolutely love it. Use the following template as a starting point for your elevator speech – then edit and refine it as you go.
I have found that it often takes a couple days of revisions, and consistently coming back to it, until I get it to a point where I am really happy… then, I will review it anytime there is a major change to my business, or at the turn of a new year just to keep it fresh!
My name is _________________ (name)
with_______________. (company/business)
I/We provide ____________________________________ (service or product)
to _____________________________ (target audience)
so they can have ____________________________________, (specific benefits)
without _____________________________________. (specific pain points often faced by your target audience)
Our clients generally achieve_______________________ (specific result)
within __________ (period of time)
and have experienced ____________________________ (secondary benefit – something your target audience desires)
without ______________________. (another pain point often faced by your target audience, or restate the pain point previously mentioned)
My Example:
My name is Meg with EIEIO Marketing. I provide marketing support to parent entrepreneurs so they can build their businesses without feeling overwhelmed. My clients typically receive predictable leads and traffic within 3 months and have experienced positive return on their ad spend (ROAS) without sacrificing time with their family to figure out Facebook Ads.
Depending on the conversation you may just want to start with “I provide…” – but you can see how this simple statement contains a lot of juicy details and pretty clearly explains what I do, who I serve, and how I help them. Now, the person I am talking to knows if they want to learn more – or if they know someone who should know me!
You can use this speech many times in many ways throughout your business – including on sales pages, in marketing literature, and in conversations you have with others at any event. Practice saying it everyday until it becomes second nature!