When Was The Last (or First) Time You Needed Your Elevator Pitch?
I’ve recently added a new element to my coaching practice: a focus on speaking and presentation skills. The nonprofit leaders I work with are often looking to sharpen these skills. Maximizing the clarity of your message to donors, staff, board, volunteers and other audiences can only serve to increase your impact.
I love working on these skills because I’m personally always working on and trying to improve on them myself. It falls into what I call my Endless Improvement Zones. Like my hobbies of running, playing the guitar and writing, public speaking is a skill where I have endless opportunities for learning, development and growth. It’s also why I’ve participated in Toastmasters International for the past thirteen years. Someone recently questioned me on why I keep participating, asking “Haven’t you figured it out yet?” The truth is that you can work on these skills your entire life as the possibility for improvement never ends (OK, end of my soapbox).
“What about us working on an Elevator Pitch?” is a question that almost always comes up as we’re coming up with the work plan. My clients are often surprised when I let them know that we’re NOT going to work on an Elevator Pitch. I realize this goes against the grain of what most have been led to believe…
You have to be prepared with your Elevator Pitch in case you end up in an elevator with the CEO or some other important person that would want to know your story (i.e. a potential donor, volunteer, customer). The challenge is that you an extremely limited amount of time to do so. I’ve seen organizations spend endless hours and resources helping their teams to master this practice. In fact, Catchafire, my favorite platform for skills-based volunteering, has an entire project dedicated to improving your ability with this practice.
So, you may have guessed where all this is leading…Here are my top 3 reasons why I DO NOT work on an Elevator Pitch:
Is it really necessary? Has anyone ever really gone up an elevator with a CEO and that individual say “So, tell me about your organization all before we get to my floor?” I recognize that I’m a limited sample; however, in fifteen years of work in the financial services industry and two decades working in the nonprofit sector, I’ve never been in a stiuation that truly called for an Elevator Pitch. I also lived in New York City for twenty- five years of my working life. So, I’ve been on plenty of elevators! I have no doubt that this article will invite responses from people eagerly sharing their stories of why having that Elevator Speech ready paid off. I look forward to hearing from them. I just can’t but wonder if there’s a better alternative.
Is someone that wants “The Elevator Pitch” a great prospect? I realize we’re in a rapid fire world where data is available at the touch of a screen or a quick search. I also realize that time is our most valuable resource that we need to maintain. But shouldn’t our goal be to get in front of people eager to listen to much more than the Elevator Pitch? Sure, it’s terrific if we can impress someone with a three minute, bullet pointed and uber succinct version of who we are, what we do and what we stand for. I’d rather spend my time either looking for or being with someone who wants to give me more than three minutes or till they get to their floor.
Does It Really Serve? Does it serve both our listener and us to give them only the most narrow perspective on us and/or what we do? Maybe. But maybe not. I have a feeling there may be better ways to engage someone other than getting out the maximum amount of information in the minimum of time or even the minimum amount just to have something for the listener to grab onto.
Yes, there Are Alternatives
Everything we do has an opportunity cost. If we’re spending time perfecting our Elevator Speech, we’re leaving other opportunities on the table. If the idea of the Elevator Pitch is to create engagement, isn’t it worth discerning The Top Three Questions your (donor, customer, client) Can or Can’t Answer? Or, would it be helpful to develop a three-minute story of how your organization’s service or product improved or saved someone’s life, made their day easier or made their existence a little (or better yet) a lot better. Finally, why not just get really good at asking questions and actually LISTENING to the answers? I’ll admit that I could see more benefit from being a better listener than perfecting my Elevator Pitch.
I have no doubt that there will be lots of folks out there that have the opposite point of view. No problem. That’s why there’s 31 flavors of ice cream etc. Maybe there are serial advocates for the Elevator Speech that have been waiting for an opportunity just like this.
As a matter of fact, as someone who has been creating clients through outreach and prospecting for over thirty years, I recognize the need and value of capturing attention in a short time frame. I’m constantly working on it! I honestly wrote this (somewhat seriously) as I wanted to get you thinking about alternatives to defaulting to an Elevator Pitch. I hope this post has given you some food for thought that can be digested before you get to your floor.
