The Elevator Pitch

As a follow up to the story telling post last week, I thought it might be helpful to remind job seekers and those interviewing of the important of your quick pitch....commonly known as the elevator pitch. Aptly named in my opinion because you should be able to get through it in a quick elevator ride, I would say between 90 seconds and 2 minutes.

Having your pitch perfected is important for the job seeker as it helps summarize what you are looking for before your audience looses interest. The goal is to help them understand your background, your career goals and how they can help. Seems like a lot in under 2 minutes, but I assure you it can be done.

Step 1:  Know your audience!
The most common audience is someone who can connect you within an organization or career area. Make sure your pitch is something they can digest quickly and start developing ideas as you are going through your story. People are more likely to offer help if you can make easy for them. Doing research on their background to understand their connections or level of experience.

• For example: "Given your decade plus years of experience in advertising, I was hoping to set up some time to understand the most important milestones to achieving this type of role." You will be surprised how often people are willing to help out. 

Step 2: Summarize
Keep it short and sweet. You are not providing your lifetime biography here. Keep it to what they need to know. Once you have them engaged you will have the opportunity to share more as needed, but this is the quick catch. Think of it as the billboard you are passing by during your commute....does it engage you enough to remember it, would you visit the website. Think of yourself as that billboard, you want your audience to be enticed to visit the website for more details.

Step 3: Have a point
Make sure you communicate next steps. What are you asking of your audience? Are you asking for an introduction? An information interview? A resume submission? It doesn't need to be forceful, but remember to make it easy for them, tell them for what you want.

Practice with a friend. Pitch your story and see how it goes. If you are like me, sometimes you get going too fast, or head off in a different direction away from the point of the discussion.

Finally, remember that this is a work in progress, you are going to be editing your story as your life develops and you learn more about what you want. Just remember you are not adding to the story, but rather refocusing on the current important pieces that are relevant to where you want to go.