I recently received an “SOS!!!” message from a client, urgently asking for help with his elevator pitch. He had a meeting scheduled with an important stakeholder, and he was looking for that short paragraph he’d memorize.
My one-word response to him might surprise you:
No.
Until now, you may have understood that your elevator pitch is one of your most important career assets. But here are two reasons why I decline my clients’ requests to help them with their rehearsed pitch:
- An elevator pitch sounds rehearsed—because it is! You’re on autopilot. Your communication comes across as impersonal and insincere, like you’ve given it to a hundred other people (which you have—way to make someone feel special!).
- A scripted elevator pitch isn’t customized. It’s not customized for the context, nor for the person with whom you’re communicating. If your communication isn’t customized, then by definition it’s not optimized. That’s wasted effort.
Are you open to my approach to elevating your elevator pitch? Here’s how I encourage people to ditch the scripted, overly polished, self-focused elevator pitch.
3 Things to Talk About This Week
- Make it personal
- Show enthusiasm
- Establish your professional identity
1️⃣ Make your elevator pitch personal
Before jumping right into your self-focused elevator pitch, first consider what matters to the other person.
In other words, be empathetic!
Customize your comments to first focus on their interests. Ask them how their day is going. Ask them how the initiative they’re leading is progressing. Ask them questions and establish a connection.
It’s not all about you!
2️⃣ Show genuine enthusiasm
So much of what you hear about developing executive presence focuses on emotional regulation—in other words, don’t show your emotions.
But here’s the kicker:
Research shows that in many contexts, enthusiasm wins!
Yes, of course you can go overboard. But academic research shows that the enthusiastic sales people close the sale, enthusiastic negotiators are sought out for more negotiations in the future, enthusiastic jobseekers get the job offer, and on, and on.
After shifting focus from yourself to your audience (step one), step two is to show enthusiasm.
Here’s why:
We mirror others’ positive enthusiasm. When you wear a smile, and share your excitement about an idea, the person you’re speaking with will begin to feel and show that same enthusiasm.
You’re creating a positive connection with this individual, and they’ll be more receptive to hearing your pitch, and receiving it favorably.
I recently shared a LinkedIn newsletter that’s filled with effective ways to genuinely show enthusiasm (without coming off as flaky). Find it here, Harnessing the Power of Enthusiasm, and make sure to subscribe if you’re not already.
Enthusiasm wins!
3️⃣ Establish your professional identity
Step three is to establish your professional identity. This is what most people have in mind when they think about an elevator pitch.
This is where you reinforce your strengths and establish credibility.
This is a BIG focus in my coaching.
I help clients identify their unique strengths, accomplishments, and superpowers. From there, we prepare a list of themes and phrases they can readily draw on to consistently and effectively establish their professional identity.
(If this is something you could benefit from, feel free to book a 1:1 consult with me.)
Once we’ve established this list of themes, I always remind my clients of this: To make a real impact, you want to reference your professional identity in a way that resonates with the other person.
How does your success relate to what’s on their mind?
Yes, this requires a huge degree of self-awareness, but the effort is well worth it.
If you only take one piece of advice from this newsletter, I hope it’s this:
To truly elevate your elevator pitch, stop being so self-focused.
To learn more about my unconventional approach to elevator pitches, listen to the latest Talk About Talk podcast, ep.186, Elevate Your Elevator Pitch.
Do you have friends or colleagues who could elevate their elevator pitch? Forward this newsletter to them. Thank you!
Talk soon,
Dr. Andrea Wojnicki
executive communication coach