Elevator pitch: How to convince in just a few minutes

As the saying goes, you only get one chance to make a first im­pres­sion. An elevator pitch is about getting your con­ver­sa­tion partner excited about you, your service, or your idea for a project in just a few short moments of time.

“Tell me something about yourself,” – with a carefully crafted elevator pitch, you’ll never run into problems re­spond­ing to this kind of request. In under two minutes, you should be able to present yourself or your idea com­pel­lingly. The elevator pitch can also be seen as a self-marketing tool. We often encounter situ­ations in which we have to introduce ourselves suc­cinctly on almost a daily basis, whether it’s during an interview, a net­work­ing event, or meeting a manager over lunch. The idea is to make a positive, lasting im­pres­sion!

A suc­cess­ful elevator pitch will end with an exchange of contact in­form­a­tion and an in­vit­a­tion to a personal meeting. To this end, you need to arouse the interest of your potential employer or investor so that they want to hear more about you or your business idea. Our examples il­lus­trate how you can make a good start to an elevator pitch.

Elevator pitch examples:

• “I create images for websites and brands. It’s my passion to convey messages in a creative way that makes people want to share them on social networks. By working with me, you can gain customers online who you haven’t reached before. Would you or your company be in­ter­ested in gaining new customers?”
• “My name’s Sarah and I run a shipping company. As a family en­ter­prise, we’re convinced that our customers ap­pre­ci­ate our personal touch. My father and I take incoming calls. This personal contact – combined with a guar­an­teed, risk-free transport of goods – can’t be topped.”

This video also shows you how you can give an elevator pitch as well as what you should def­in­itely avoid:

The content and structure of an elevator pitch is based on the AIDA model, a fun­da­ment­al com­mu­nic­a­tion principle in con­ven­tion­al marketing. The model refers to four steps that a customer goes through before making a positive purchase decision. The acronym “AIDA” stands for “Awareness”, “Interest”, “Desire”, and “Action. Based on an extended form of the AIDA principle, the following structure can be used for crafting an elevator pitch:

• Offer: What do you have to offer your con­ver­sa­tion partner? What enables you to master the task?
• Interest: How can you make your potential customer or employer in­ter­ested in your offer? Where does your con­ver­sa­tion partner’s interest par­tic­u­larly lie?
• Benefit: What makes you different from your com­pet­it­ors? What are the ad­vant­ages of working with you?
• Drive: For what reason are you ad­dress­ing your offer to this person exactly? What is your mo­tiv­a­tion for a possible col­lab­or­a­tion?
• Call to action: What would you like from your con­ver­sa­tion partner? Where exactly would you like help at this point?

These 10 tips will help you give the perfect elevator pitch:

1. Get the listener’s attention: The first sentence is intended to arouse the listener’s interest. You can do this using an in­ter­est­ing question, a powerful pro­pos­i­tion, or an un­ex­pec­ted fact.
2. Pri­or­it­ise your content: The short time frame forces you to rank-order what you say. It’s not necessary to cover each topic in detail. Instead, you should summarize your most important point.
3. What makes you special: Be specific about what sets you apart from your com­pet­it­ors and what the ad­vant­ages to working with you are.
4. Make sure you are being clear: Put yourself in your con­ver­sa­tion partner's position. They have to be able to pick up the in­form­a­tion in a short space of time, so avoid using technical jargon and any com­plic­ated facts. Also, try not to speak too quickly, otherwise they will not be able to un­der­stand you.
5. Don’t forget your con­ver­sa­tion partner: When preparing your elevator pitch, remember who your target group is. After all, you won’t achieve your goal if the topic is ir­rel­ev­ant to your listener.
6. Inspire with your en­thu­si­asm: The way you convey your message is even more important than the message itself. Numbers, facts, and figures tend not to get the listener excited about your idea. Instead, you can create positive as­so­ci­ations using de­script­ive language.
7. Remain authentic: If you are nervous and simply parroting a pitch learned by heart, your con­ver­sa­tion partner will notice im­me­di­ately. Infuse the present­a­tion with your unique per­son­al­ity: if your sense of humour is your greatest quality, show it in your pitch.
8. End with a call to action: Finish your pitch with a request for your con­ver­sa­tion partner. How can your con­ver­sa­tion partner help you implement your idea? What could the next step be?
9. Remember your business card: Make it possible for your con­ver­sa­tion partner to contact you in the future. Give them your business card or pro­act­ively suggest an ap­point­ment for another meeting.
10. Practice makes perfect: Use any op­por­tun­ity to practise your pitch. The more prepared you are, the easier you will find it to give your short present­a­tion.

The elevator pitch is used wherever potential investors or customers and business founders come together. But you can also meet people in all sorts of places who can help you take the next pro­fes­sion­al step. There any many situ­ations in which you can score points with your self-present­a­tion. However, the elevator pitch is most fre­quently used at trade fairs, net­work­ing events, in in­ter­views or in chance en­coun­ters with relevant contacts.

• Trade fairs: Ex­hib­i­tions and con­gresses are an ideal platform for making contacts, es­pe­cially for job seekers and self-employed pro­fes­sion­als. When you approach a company or are ap­proached yourself, you need to be able to present your services suc­cinctly.
• In­ter­views: Win over your potential employer with a short pitch tailored to the company. Which of your pro­fes­sion­al qual­i­fic­a­tions are relevant to the re­spect­ive position?
• Net­work­ing events: You can get talking to important contacts at the events of pro­fes­sion­al as­so­ci­ations or at after-work parties. Here, it is also important to make a lasting im­pres­sion by present­ing yourself ef­fect­ively.
• Chance en­coun­ters: Imagine you meet the managing director of a company you’d love to work for while dining with friends. This is the perfect op­por­tun­ity to use your short pitch!

If you manage to pique the interest of your con­ver­sa­tion partner with your elevator pitch, this can lead to benefits for you in many respects. For instance, your con­ver­sa­tion partner may provide you with sug­ges­tions for im­prove­ment or offer their support. What other ad­vant­ages as well as dis­ad­vant­ages can result from an elevator pitch?

Ad­vant­ages:

• You arouse interest in your product, service, business idea or who you are.
• You are required to work out the benefits for your target group, making it easier to prepare a business plan by for­mu­lat­ing your business idea in writing and spe­cify­ing how you wish to implement it.
• You learn how to convey your message quickly.

Dis­ad­vant­ages:

• To raise interest, many tend to ex­ag­ger­ate their points. If the con­ver­sa­tion partner then re­searches the person or topic af­ter­wards, they could be dis­ap­poin­ted.
• The elevator pitch is not a suitable medium for conveying complex topics that require longer re­flec­tion. The content must be clear and simple, as the short length of the pitch doesn’t permit extensive thought on the part of the listener.
• The pitch is not suitable for con­ver­sa­tions that require dialogue (such as crisis dis­cus­sions).

Please note the legal dis­claim­er relating to this article.