One Big Idea

When you’re giving an elevator pitch it’s important realize it’s not a whole speech.

It’s not a whole presentation you can’t cover 10 ideas five ideas.

It’s not even a media interview or you can typically try to focus on three message points.

It’s an elevator pitch.

That means you need to focus on one idea.

What is your one big idea that you’re going to hold up in front of someone tantalize them to make them want to bite into it.

Like holding a piece of cheese over a mouse.

What is that.

One idea you have that is going to really interest someone to make them want to take your car or say yes please call me on Monday and set up an appointment or yes stop by for an interview.

What is that one idea.

If you try to convey five ideas it’s as good as conveying nothing.

It will get lost.

So I need you to brainstorm right now on your own elevator pitch.

What is the one idea that you want to convey to someone.

What’s the thing that’s special about your business about your job candidacy or what it is you do or your charity.

That’s really really important not only to you but potentially to this person who doesn’t necessarily know you and by the way this works even if you’re at a networking event and everyone goes around the room and introduce themselves for 20 seconds.

That’s a type of an elevator pitch.

What is it you can say in that introduction to get people to remember you and want to talk to you.

Most people just go through the motions whether it’s on the elevator or at a networking event.

Hi my name is this.

My title is this.

My organization is this we do insert something generic vague and abstract.

May I talk to you more.

May I tell you more about my services.

That’s boring.

It’s not interesting it’s not memorable and it doesn’t stand out.

So for example if I’m at a networking event and I have an opportunity to stand up and give my elevator pitch I don’t start off by saying Hi my name is T.J. Walker I’m president of Media Training Worldwide.

I coach executives how to give effective speeches to live audiences and to the media and we have workshops and seminars and we have a club that helped put everybody to sleep.

So that’s not how I would do it.

My elevator pitch is simply this imagine the phone rings.

It’s the New York Times.

They want to interview you about your business for the next half an hour.

Are you confident you would get the exact quotes you want in that story tomorrow that you would look and sound your best to the reporter.

Well if not it means you’re normal.

That’s what I help people do is prepare for media interviews.

If you give me your card at the end of this meeting I’ll give you a copy of my book.

Media Training a z to help you prepare for that media interview.

That’s it.

Less than 30 seconds.

I talked about a need of the people in the room or the metaphorical elevator.

I talked about a solution before I ever talked about my name and I talked about how I can give them value now all in less than 30 sec.

So that’s my elevator pitch.

Is it a perfect elevator pitch.

No but it’s a lot better than the standard name rank serial number that most people have.

So I need you.

Don’t worry about the wording or making it clever or the hook yet.

I need you to focus for now.

What’s the one idea you have that you think is actually going to be interesting to this person you’re presenting to I need you to write it down in one sentence.

Well jazz it up later but for right now I need you to really focus on the one idea that you think if someone can really hear you understand it and remember it.

They would want to meet with you.

They’d want to take a meeting with you.

Write that idea down.

Now.