Want your Image to Rise? "Get out of the Elevator!"
Submitted by: Soni Dimond, CEO, Soni Dimond Media
Heard anyone mention the "Elevator Speech" lately? Of course, you have.
It’s become a clichéd term for a very useful communication tool, used not only for personal promotional purposes, but for job-seekers, executives and business owners. Absolutely anyone with something to "pitch" within 30 seconds can use this as a means to hold others captive in a small, moving, imaginary cubicle.
Of course you know you can’t expect to do your best pitching during an elevator ride. It’s simply a great analogy.
In my public presentations and training courses, which aim at maximizing your professional and personal impact, I share the following message: "Get out of the elevator!" Let your prospect leave that confinement. That’s when you can put yourself, and your message to the true test. And, you’ll save the wasted time of wondering "Is that person truly interested?" Or "Does that guy simply have no where else to turn?" Here’s a communication clue: If the prospect jumps out of your elevator (i.e. loses interest)... well, you’ve hit the wrong buttons and your message hit bottom.
So, the next time you consider using your Elevator Speech, be prepared with a handy DO and DON’T list: (Perhaps we should call these UPs and DOWNs)
- DO take advantage of opportunities, such as events designed specifically for networking purposes, hosted by the Chamber of Commerce.
- DO be prepared with a well-rehearsed, personal pitch. Outline your points first, and then read over your message until it sounds natural in "your" words. Do not worry if it doesn’t sound the same each time you deliver it. Is there a talking point that you particularly want to emphasize? Then...highlight it. Make it stand out from the script. It is imperative that you sound real. How believable are you? Do you know how enthusiastic (or exhausting) you sound to others? Record your voice and play it back. Do you like what you hear?
- DO practice a great 30-second elevator speech before you deliver your final pitch. But...don’t over-do it. Avoid acting like you’re starring in a high school play. You will sound rehearsed and the recipient of your message will know it was memorized. If you deliver your message with natural gestures, you will be seen as more authentic and "real." Genuine encounters make us smile, But, warning: we also have a long memory for those who take us for fools.
- DO NOT leave others feeling trapped or tricked into hearing all you have to say. If you are forcefully ‘entering’ their space... They will exit, in a hurry.
- DO NOT develop your message to the point of exhaustion or for ego gratification. "Enough about me...what else do you want to know about me?" Excuse me, this is my floor. Bye-bye.
- DO NOT behave like anyone but y-o-u. You don’t want to make the other person in your "elevator" feel they’ve stepped straight into a company commercial. Use understandable language, not Business Speak. Simply be yourself. I have hosted events for intelligent, reasonably eloquent adults who have become caricatures of what (or WHOM) they consider a business person: formal, inflexible and without emotion or compassion. Their message gets stuck between floors. Remember, if your words and inflection have no up’s and down’s ...you’re not going anywhere.
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