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I have been to quite a few networking events and I guarantee you will hear the phrase, “Tell me about yourself.” Many people are able to answer this question with no problem, while others seem to struggle. If you find yourself experiencing the latter, one way to combat this issue is memorizing an elevator speech.
In case you are not familiar with this term, an elevator speech is a short spiel that enables you to convey with others your occupation and what you represent (i.e. attributes) in the same length of time it takes for you to reach the highest floor in an elevator (approximately 30 to 60 seconds). Think of it as a way to “break the ice” when you meet someone new. In order to find out if your speech is pushing the right buttons, keep the following in mind:
Know before you go: First impressions are extremely important. People form their judgments about a person within the first thirty seconds of meeting them. Therefore, when someone requests that you tell them about yourself, please do not waste these precious seconds.
I am not trying to be funny or mean when I say this, but please figure out what it is that you do and what you represent before you are asked (especially if you are going to a networking event!). When some people are asked to talk about themselves they act like it is a trick question and are literally stumped in trying to determine how to craft a response. Remember, only you have the answer. Using “fillers” such as ‘um’ or ‘ah’ will not help in your quest to project that you are a confident individual.
Would you want to listen to yourself?
When you are rehearsing your elevator speech keep in mind how you would feel if you were subjected to listening to your speech. Would you be satisfied or bored? If you are bored and you wrote the speech—imagine how the listener will feel. I realize not everyone has a “cool” job. However, this is still no excuse for having a boring elevator speech. How do you expect to impress a recruiter or land a new client without capturing their attention?
The key to getting where you want to be is to demonstrate that regardless of what your occupation is, you take ownership of your position and have pride in the work you perform. Do yourself a favor and craft an elevator speech worth listening to by including the following:
Facial expressions speak just as loud as words: When you are speaking make sure you are paying attention to how others are reacting to your speech. If you see someone is confused, immediately stop and ask them if they need clarification. Oftentimes, if people are confused they will let you keep talking because they are afraid that they will come across as ignorant (of course this could not be further from the truth!).
It is your responsibility to put their mind at ease by being direct and asking them if they need clarification. I often receive puzzled looks when I mention that my company offers virtual assistant services. When I receive these looks, the next words out of my mouth are, “Are you familiar with the concept of virtual assistance?” When I offer to clarify a term or phrase that is unfamiliar to the other person, I can see the sigh of relief on their face and am then told, “No, if you do not mind can you explain it to me.”
It does neither person any good to allow you to continue talking when you are not on the same page. The other person will undoubtedly harbor feelings of insecurity because they did not understand what you do. When you fail to pick up on nonverbal cues that your listener is confused , your listener will assume that you are “smarter” than them and you will miss out on the chance to connect.
Remember, the whole purpose of an elevator speech is to share what you do and what you represent. You are also satisfying their curiosity in why you are a phenomenal person that they should become better acquainted with and worth adding to their network. You have to make sure that your speech is pushing the right buttons so you can get off on the same floor together.
I've always had an issue with elevator speeches. Every elevator speech I've read sounds stilted. People don't really talk the way they do in elevator speeches.
For example, when I'm having a conversation with someone, we don't trade 60 second speeches. We trade questions and answers. Short questions and answers. There is some give and take. You don't have to blurt out everything you want to get across on one 60 second burst, like some salesman who is afraid their mark is going to walk away any second.
I've met people who do this, and it comes off as stilted, overly pushy, and quite frankly, creepy.
How does everyone else present their elevator speech? Does it come out all at once? Or do you give it out a bit at a time, allowing the other person to talk and ask quesrtions?
Scott,
Thanks for your comment! An elevator speech is something that is meant to get people feeling more at ease and provides them the opportunity to learn more about you. I agree if you forget to put your personality in the speech it will come off creepy. You have to remember to be yourself and the delivery will not come off this way.
Obviously when you are speaking you do not have to "blurt out everything in 60 seconds" (I didn't feel that it was necessary to point this out, but it doesn't hurt to do so). However, you will not even get to this point of the conversation (asking questions and trading answers) if you do not break the ice first, which is again the point of an elevator speech.
I wish I could say,
"Hi, my name is Rohan and I kick ass at marketing local businesses. I help them get new clients without doing a thing they would be ashamed of. I sleep easy at night, and love what I do because my clients are WINNING!! And yourself?"
Rohan,
I think all of us wish we could say that, but some might take that the wrong way... I have a sense of humor, so I would be too busy laughing, but would definitely give you points for creativity. ;)
Let me clarify. Here's what
You meet someone at a social function. They ask what you do. You tell them your title and the company you work for.
You ask them what they do for a living. You might chat about that for a bit. When the conversation comes back around to your job, you tell them a bit more about yourself, what's unique about you, why you're the best, what you enjoy about your job.
You talk a little bit more, maybe asking questions about their job. Then you exchange business cards.
But everything I've heard about the elevator speech is this: You meet someone and immediately launch into your elevator speech, which contains everything I mentioned above.
I've never seen any article about elevator speeches (or 15-second pitches for that matter) that implies otherwise. The point always seems to be to get across the maximum amount of information in the minimum amount of time (for when you have a CEO trapped in the elevator on the way to the top-floor corporate offices). Am I missing something?
Arrrrrg! When can we have an edit function on the comments at Brazen Careerist? :)
Please read the start of the above comment as:
"Let me clarify. Here's what I meant in my first comment"
Scott,
Please do not take this the wrong way, but I believe that those who have written articles on elevator speeches do not include what you have suggested because they are under the impression that their audience already knows how to hold a conversation. I was simply giving tips in what to talk about in case some were struggling with how to craft an elevator speech.
Don't think of it as a fully written speech.
Bullet points!
Throughout a conversation with someone, have 3-4 bullet points that you WANT to get into the conversation, that way, you won't have a paragraph memorized and you won't feel awkward when you are interrupted or need to speak extemporaneously.
duh! :)
Thanks for your comment Liza! You are absolutely right. I can't even build upon your comment because you took the words out of my mouth!
@LaTosha: I apologize. I just realized I didn't read your original post closely enough! You do mention how to get your point across over a short conversation. Sorry for the misunderstanding! I still prefer to approach things more slowly though - your example of the response to "what do you do?" still seems like too much of a sales pitch to me.
@Liza : That's always how I thought of it, but I've never seen it represented that way, so I always thought I was doing it wrong. Elevator speeches are always represented as one long paragraph. Check out 15secondpitch.com for examples of what I'm talking about - http://www.15secondpitch.com/new/My15SecondPitch.asp)
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