Elevator Speeches: Leave ‘Em Wanting More
Sunday, January 29th, 2017During networking events, would you like to captivate your listeners when you introduce the value of your products and services? You can create a compelling elevator speech with an old tip from the theater: leave ‘em wanting more.
Shakespeare said, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Today, it’s obvious that attention spans have become shorter and shorter. Business listeners are demanding that we be even more concise than ever before. So, you have very little time to make your listeners interested.
For an effective elevator speech, the key is preparation.
Write your elevator speech the way you would speak it. If you find it challenging to write a script that sounds like your natural speech, record yourself speaking about the value of your products and services. Then, play back the recording, and write down what you hear. This is an excellent way to begin the process and make your elevator speech sound conversational.
Once you have transcribed your content, review the sentences you’ve written. Simplify. Shorten them, wherever possible. And remember that while we often write in complete sentences, spoken communication usually includes sentence fragments, simple phrases, and even one-word sentences.
Next, examine your content to be sure that it’s invitational in some way: stimulating a need within the listeners to ask questions. Don’t try to tell your whole story: tell enough to create a desire for more information. This will help generate future conversations, to build and strengthen relationships.
Be savvy. Be brief. And leave ‘em wanting more!