An impressive elevator pitch should demonstrate the value you'll give and how your skills can solve a particular problem. So how do you make sure your elevator pitch does just that?
Whether you are writing an impressive elevator pitch for a client, a potential employer, or thinking about your next big idea, it is important to be able to summarize your solution in a clear, compelling way. You want to make sure that you craft an impressive elevator pitch that cannot be ignored and that what you have to offer is simple enough for anyone to understand.
We spoke to Eunice Victoria, the CEO, and Founder of Skills to Grow Africa, and Meg Juma, a certified Career and Mindset Coach, on tips on how to craft an impressive elevator pitch. Here are three important things that they pointed out on how to craft an impressive elevator pitch.
Know your target market or audience
The first step to crafting an impressive elevator pitch is to determine and understand your target audience. You want to make sure that you’re talking directly to people who would be interested in what you’re offering, so it’s important to understand their needs and motivations. This means doing research into their industry and the types of jobs they do, and the nature of problems they might be experiencing.
For example, If you are an IT Professional providing solutions for small to medium size enterprises, then you should craft your elevator pitch to communicate that.
“My name is Catherine, I am an IT professional who helps small to medium size enterprises.”
What is your value proposition?
A value proposition is your unique signature that highlights whether a prospective client should hire you and not your competitor. When drafting your value proposition, focus on how your service will solve a problem for clients.
There are many ways to define what you offer in an elevator pitch, but the most effective way is to simply focus on what you can do for your client. This will help you avoid creating a generic pitch that could be applied to any client at any time.
For example,
“My name is Catherine, I am an IT professional who helps small to medium size enterprises provide excellent customer service to their clients. I do this through effective development and management of software within the company.”
Focus on your strengths to build on your value
"Professional success is something that can be achieved when you are building on your strengths" - Meg Juma
An impressive elevator pitch should focus on your strengths because that's what prospective clients are looking for. In other words, they want to know what you can do for them.
If you're a great artist, talk about the things that make your art great and how they'll benefit your audience or potential client.
For example:
"My name is Catherine, I am an IT professional who helps small to medium size enterprises provide excellent customer service to their clients. I do this through effective development and management of software within the company. My experience in physical, network, and software security, risk mitigation strategy and threat analysis, and administering diverse operating systems mean that you can rely on me to efficiently and effectively tackle all the responsibilities of this job."
"You cannot craft an elevator pitch when you do not know who you are, your strengths, weaknesses, and areas of interest." - Eunice Victoria.
In conclusion, an impressive elevator pitch is not an opportunity to show off your skills and expertise, but an opportunity to capture attention by demonstrating how those skills can help solve the problems of the person you are pitching to.
