Why I Don’t Have an Elevator Pitch

We may not want to hear you speak for more than 30 seconds...

My advisor told me to have one prepared for career fairs, but after memorizing it and repeating it to everyone I met, I realized how useless there are. Creativity is more likely to get the recruiters attention not the same introduction that everyone else is stating.

I think the point those bussiness-y folks advising someone, particularly someone new to business, to create elevator pitches is more to encourage him to be concise and help him be confident when describing who he is or what he's doing. I agree with you the canned, three-line, chock-full-of-buzzwords script those business-y folks had us create on some worksheet (true story) is worthless today, being able to quickly and accurately describe your skills or your company is crucial. So memorizing bullet points, Liza, is a great alternative suggestion. That still gives your new-to-business person something to draw from after they get the nerve to approach someone at an event, but without feeling like a used car salesman.

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There are bad elevator pitches but that doesn't make the need for a concise and compelling summary of oneself (which is the goal of a good elevator pitch) a bad thing itself. There are bad networkers, but networking itself is very useful. There's even bad ice cream (I was never a fan of rum raisin myself) but I love ice cream overall. The fact is that people are going to have to answer the question "What do you do?" and they will have to introduce themselves (at parties, in interviews, etc). The answers are your elevator pitch.

I always envisioned the elevator pitch as something I would say if Warren Buffett or Steve Jobs hopped on the elevator with me. The thing is, I wouldn't be able to do it. Not because I don't think I could cut down my interests and business ideals to 30 seconds; it's just that I would be much more interested in asking them questions and trying to make friends. I understand the elevator pitch is supposed to be used in much more practical situations, but I really can't see a situation where I'd have the gumption to turn around and start blabbering about myself. I always envision Tim Ferris turning around and talking to me like that in an elevator (assuming I had something he wanted), and me looking at him or anyone else doing that kind of thing with distaste. I think most people can sniff out the fact that you immediately want something from them and will react negatively, possibly even if you genuinely have something good to offer them in return for their help.

So in the end, I agree with you Amber, I'd much rather talk it out over a cuppa coffee. Maybe I'm just not cut out for the startup world...but if I have to attack peoples' eardrums with a list of my interests in an elevator, I'm not sure I want to be.

~Chris Gammell
http://chrisgammell.com

@Caroline: I think the issue that myself and Amber have (If I may speak for you Amber) is that we have never heard elevator pitches used in a broader context such as networking introductions. Every elevator speech I have heard/read is the hard-sell, full of hyperbole, I'm-the-greatest-thing-since-sliced-bread speech.

So maybe that is where the misunderstanding lies between those of us who are uncomfortable with what we perceive as an elevator speech, and those of you who see elevator speeches in a much broader context.

I like Liza's idea of bullet points. I think another name for this is 'speaking points'. I like the idea of giving out information about myself in a measured, natural way, in response to specific questions.