Have you ever been at a party and someone you've never met says “So what do you do?” Then you say something like “I fix computers” or “I'm a florist” or “I'm an accountant”. Then they say “Oh..” then there's a pause and you then feel an overwhelming obligation to ask them what they do. They then say something like “I sell house insurance” or “I'm Chief Modality Officer for Information Services”. You say “Oh...” then there's another pause and soon the two of you part and go your separate ways.
It was probably a good thing. Most likely the two of you had nothing to talk about – or did you?
When you look at this scenario both of you did nothing to help either yourselves or the other person. You could be the most gifted accountant or florist. You may be a computer whizz. Neither of you gave the other an opportunity to realise how interesting each of you are.
An elevator speech is a concise, punchy, planned description that overviews the value provided by a person or organisation. It takes no more than twenty seconds which is the approximate time you might spend in an lift with a stranger and provides the answer to the listener's question, “what’s in it for me?” or “what’s in it for my organisation?”.
An elevator speech must meet the following rules:
It was probably a good thing. Most likely the two of you had nothing to talk about – or did you?
When you look at this scenario both of you did nothing to help either yourselves or the other person. You could be the most gifted accountant or florist. You may be a computer whizz. Neither of you gave the other an opportunity to realise how interesting each of you are.
An elevator speech is a concise, punchy, planned description that overviews the value provided by a person or organisation. It takes no more than twenty seconds which is the approximate time you might spend in an lift with a stranger and provides the answer to the listener's question, “what’s in it for me?” or “what’s in it for my organisation?”.
An elevator speech must meet the following rules:
- it must be entirely truthful.
- It must make someone think “Wow – that's interesting!” and want to find out more.
The best way to create an elevator speech that you can convincingly say without pausing, faltering, or stumbling (after you've rehearsed and committed to memory) is to start with “You know how ...?” and then state the problem you solve. Then follow up with “What I do is ...” and state how you solve the problem or meet the need and what the end result is.
As an example, here's my elevator speech.:
Q. “So what do you do Dave?”.
ME: “You know how people can have fears, mental blocks or habits that stop them achieving their goals in life? Well what I do is I help companies and individuals break through whatever that is so they can go on to achieve fantastic results in things that they previously thought difficult or even impossible.”
Can you see the difference? The usual response is something like “Wow...how do you do that? That must be so rewarding” Before you know it we're having a conversation and they are looking for ways I can help either them or someone they know.
Consider these two responses:
“I'm a wedding planner”
“You know how couples really want their wedding to be the most special day of their lives? Often they have incredibly busy lives and don't know who to trust when it comes to organising things. Well what I do is take all of that off their hands. I coordinate the whole thing for them and take the time and effort into getting things just right so that they can have the sort of wedding they've always dreamed of”.
What about this:
“I fix computers”
“You know how people rely their computers more and more nowadays. It can be really distressing when you've got hours of work or priceless family photos on there and a computer virus gets in and destroys them all or it breaks down. Well what I do is use specialist software to rescue all those precious lost files and then get the computer working again as good as new.”
or one last example...
“I'm an accountant”
“You know how tax rules can be so complicated? People often end up paying far more tax than they should or heavy fines where there was no need to. Well what I do is look after all of that for them and show them how they can keep more of their hard earned cash for themselves and their loved ones instead of giving it away to the Chancellor.”
Having a well rehearsed elevator speech means that you will never be stuck for something to say and you will ALWAYS be seen as an interesting person to talk to. If you're in business it can also bring you customers from places you never expected!
As an example, here's my elevator speech.:
Q. “So what do you do Dave?”.
ME: “You know how people can have fears, mental blocks or habits that stop them achieving their goals in life? Well what I do is I help companies and individuals break through whatever that is so they can go on to achieve fantastic results in things that they previously thought difficult or even impossible.”
Can you see the difference? The usual response is something like “Wow...how do you do that? That must be so rewarding” Before you know it we're having a conversation and they are looking for ways I can help either them or someone they know.
Consider these two responses:
“I'm a wedding planner”
“You know how couples really want their wedding to be the most special day of their lives? Often they have incredibly busy lives and don't know who to trust when it comes to organising things. Well what I do is take all of that off their hands. I coordinate the whole thing for them and take the time and effort into getting things just right so that they can have the sort of wedding they've always dreamed of”.
What about this:
“I fix computers”
“You know how people rely their computers more and more nowadays. It can be really distressing when you've got hours of work or priceless family photos on there and a computer virus gets in and destroys them all or it breaks down. Well what I do is use specialist software to rescue all those precious lost files and then get the computer working again as good as new.”
or one last example...
“I'm an accountant”
“You know how tax rules can be so complicated? People often end up paying far more tax than they should or heavy fines where there was no need to. Well what I do is look after all of that for them and show them how they can keep more of their hard earned cash for themselves and their loved ones instead of giving it away to the Chancellor.”
Having a well rehearsed elevator speech means that you will never be stuck for something to say and you will ALWAYS be seen as an interesting person to talk to. If you're in business it can also bring you customers from places you never expected!
1 comment:
Thanks Dave, great idea. I like how simple the technique is and it makes a lot of sense. It's really important that as hypnotists we can talk about hypnosis and help others understand how it can help them.
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