How to Create an Elevator Speech About Yourself - Elevator Speech Sample!

Clegg teaches how to pitch yourself in 60 seconds by asking questions instead of reciting a script. Skip the jargon. Focus on what you do, who you help, and why it matters. Record yourself and get feedback.
Questions this video answers
February 27, 2020
100,000 signups in one week
15%
Chapters
Foreign.
Oh, hey there. Today I'm going to teach you the absolute best way to craft your elevator pitch. But let's first address the elevator in the room. Okay? People don't like to be pitch that as soon as they think that you are spitting some rehearsed salesy mumbo jumbo, they tuna fish out. I remember meeting an entrepreneur at an event, and when someone asked him what he did, he. He was dead in the eyes. He shared his perfectly rehearsed elevator pitch of what his company does with lots of marketing speak and business jargon. And I noticed myself finding him unlikable in that moment and difficult to connect with. And I thought, I need to convey what I do, who I do it for, and give people also the impression that I'm worth knowing, but not at the expense of building real human relationships, because ultimately, you know it. People do business and hire people who they like. So in this video, I'll break down a meaningful, compelling elevator pitch formula that isn't your mother's formula. This is updated for today's modern workforce. And stay to the end, because I also give you the tools to articulate this well in an interview setting because it is a little bit different. One thing you should know about me is I love look forward to Monday mornings because I love my career in HR and recruiting, and my goal is to make sure you love Mondays too. Life's too short to hate your job, so join me for a new video by subscribing to this channel and hit the bell to be notified. Now, what I want you to do is first write down a few things, get out a Word document, and write down what do I do, who do I do it for, how do I do it, why it matters? And then include any cool accomplishments or recognition or any reasons why you love your job. Okay, so you have this all written on a Word document, and do not wordsmith it. Just get something down. It's funny because describing what you do is something that doesn't come supernaturally to a lot of us. So don't be hard on yourself here. Okay? So now that you have all these elements, do not be afraid to mix them up. Put them in a different order. And then what I want you to do is to add a question to the front and the end of your pitch. The question at the front and the back is a classic facilitation maneuver. Just because bringing your audience in with questions will make them more engaged and not feel like they are being pitched at the question should set up the problem you solve or the context for your business role. So after you've written all this down, say it through a few times, shorten it and refine it. I'm sure this is clear as mud, so let me give you an example. Someone asks, what do you do? Start with a probing question. Are you familiar with blockchain technology? I'm the head of marketing at B Company where I educate enterprise customers on how blockchain can be utilized for their business. It's still a technology people have a lot of questions about. We just launched a free educational course that got 100,000 signups in one week. How do you keep up with new technology? Now obviously if you are going around in a circle of introducing yourself at a networking event, you can keep the first question and look for nods in the group, but ditch the last one. But see how this feels conversational. It doesn't feel pitchy. Now let's do another one. Have you heard about how the unemployment rate is really low right now and all of these tech companies are fighting over talent? Nods Nods. I was hired at X Company as the Director of People to make sure it's a top tier place to work so that we can hold on to the great talent we recruit. I launched a retention program this year that reduced our regrettable attrition by 15%. Do you have someone in my type of role at your company? Do you see how starting with a question around why your role is important but generalized to be something that others can relate to can have a sense of keeping it conversational while also lifting you up? All right, all right. Let's do one more. You know how when people become business owners or entrepreneurs, often their work life balance goes out the window. I am a virtual assistant who picks up all of those little tasks in their lives so they can breathe a bit and focus on what they do best. Making money. Have you been able to find the right work life balance? I love this one because it is simple. There's no accomplishments in there, but there's the significance of what you do is clear and you sound confident. Four pitfalls to be aware of. First, beware of using too much business jargon. We build decentralized B2B SaaS products in the cloud. Blah blah blah. People will get lost in that jargon forest if you don't draw a clear enough map there. Second, do not self describe. I am a creative, hardworking professional. Nope, no one wants to hear that. And you sound a little, I don't know, indulgent. Stick to the facts. Third, don't feel the pressure to tell Your whole story. Seriously. The goal is for this to be enough for them to inquire more if they're interested, but not too much to where they have a reasonable understanding of everything you do. And fourth, get this idea of pitching out of your head. Pick it up, punt it over the fence to your neighbor's house. It's their ball. Now. Your goal should be to get the conversation back to understanding what is important to them. When you are asking questions and and understanding the other person, you are able to find ways to help them to add value to them and then impress them so much more deeply. And this is truly the secret of networking. These are the keys to the kingdom. I have two highly effective strategies for you to use depending on what your end game is. First, if you are focused on networking with this person and building a meaningful business relationship, then you should follow my approach called 60 seconds of value. It is where you focus your conversation on understanding what is important to someone and then using my framework, find a simple yet meaningful way to add value to them which will dramatically speed up the affinity in your relationship. Don't worry, even if that person is a CEO and you are entry level, you can still find a way to add 60 seconds of value. I will link that video in the description. And second, if you are looking to get a job at the place where this person works, change the conversation to be about their biggest obstacle their team is currently facing at work. Then go home and do some research and then later send that person some of your findings and ideas. Now there are so much more that goes into this strategy, so I will link a video on how to create one of these videos. Value Validation projects in the description but truly this is one of the most potent ways to land a job, especially if it's for a competitive job or if you don't have a lot of experience. Finally, record yourself saying your elevator pitch and judge it yourself. Or ask a coach like myself or your mentor to tell you what they think. Be careful about asking friends and family because I mean they'll likely be too nice about it and they might not understand the professional context that you are dealing with. It is pretty normal for your first draft to be convoluted, long winded, fragmented, so just really be open to critiques. So also, when you're in the job interview, your elevator pitch will come in the form often of answering the question tell me about yourself. This answer is make or break for you. So I created a free worksheet download for you to hone your your answer to this question I will link it in the comments and in the description. Make sure to like this video and subscribe to this channel. Thanks so much everyone. Wi Fi high five.
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