How To Nail Your Elevator Pitch And Sell Yourself In 60 Seconds

Imagine yourself standing in the elevator with a potential client, partner, investor or person who runs the company where you’d really want to work, what would you do or say to impress that person and convince them they should hire or do business with you?

You have literally 60 seconds to convince them that you are what they need. This elevator pitch, could be the most scary yet exciting part of a job interview or your daily work routine and could open doors you never imagined. It is a way to get your message across and connect with people in a quick and interesting way. The ideal pitch includes:

•  Who you are
• What you have to offer
• How you or your product/service could benefit the other person
• What you are looking for

Sounds like a lot right? And all that needs to be cropped in 60 seconds. The content is, of course, different for every pitch and relates to the situation, but the structure remains more or less the same.

So how can you do an elevator pitch in 60 seconds that will make your future boss or investors interested in you? We give you the 4 elements for making your perfect pitch!

#1 – Write it down and practice

Yes, the old-school way! 60 seconds is approximately 150 words and that is not a lot. The best thing to do is to write it down, put it away for a day, read it again and shape + change it until you think it includes all the important elements about you or your business. What field are you working in, what problems do you see, how does your business help to solve this problem and how can the other person’s company benefit from that? Or how will you add value to a company, what could your bring to the table?

You could also present it to others, to see if it is catchy, especially your intro sentence, and interesting enough and to include some extra feedback in order to optimize your pitch.

#2 – What do they need to remember?

If you know that 90% of what you say will be forgotten immediately, what is the 10% they need to remember? Focus on that 10% to make sure that is what they take home.

#3 – Be prepared for questions and have your business card ready

The other person might ask questions, be prepared to answer them. When you are practicing your pitch, let someone else ask you questions that might come up in real life. And always make sure you have your business card ready in a place in your bag where you can easily reach them because there is nothing more embarrassing and unprofessional then to have to turn your whole back inside-out in order to find your cards.

#4 – The conclusion

End with a question or point of action. What do you want from that person? What should that person do now? Ask for their business card or propose a meeting.

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