How to create a compelling elevator pitch

Pointers

Some components allow you to use this time effectively and efficiently. You want to start with the three Ws. This refers to the “WHO”, “WHAT” and the “WHY”. It is best that you introduce yourself with a full name and not a nick or a pseudo. If you use two last names professionally, then make sure to use the same ones in your introduction. 

Once you have introduced yourself, you can then explain what you currently do and what you have done in the past.  This can be where you spend the majority of your 60 seconds. Make sure that you tailor your elevator pitch to your audience. Making it relevant to the specific audience will make your pitch more understandable and enjoyable to the audience. 

Additionally, when you go into the why, make sure that you inform the person you are speaking with about your interests. This is where you can share your love for their organization, office, agency, or field of interest.  It can also pertain to your interest in working for them. It is important to specify your “why” or reason for the pitch very clearly. 

It is also best that you specify your why near the end. The closing of your elevator pitch is very important. It is your chance to engage your audience in a conversation with them. 

Pitch introduction using single sentence 

When creating a compelling elevator pitch, you have to be able to pitch the patients using a single sentence. This one sentence should conclude your product, service, or idea in a clear, sound, yet brief way. Starting your elevator pitch with a single, all-encompassing sentence can allow people to instantly understand who you are, what you do, and how you can bring value to their lives. 

In your sentence, you can address who you are, who you help, what you help achieve, and how you help them achieve that. A simple clean sentence will address your target audience,   prospects, and people you are concerned with. Additionally, it also simplifies the value you bring to the table and how exactly you provide that value.   

An example of using this formula would be, “I help eCommerce websites create new revenue streams by simply using online tools” 

No matter what product or service you sell, you want to use this formula to craft a compelling starter sentence simply.  

Tell a story

Instead of creating a bland and straightforward elevator pitch, you will benefit from connecting it to a particular story. Stories are powerful tools when public speaking because they generate high levels of engagement. When you start with a story, people are also curious to know how it ends. 

This keeps them engaged to what you are speaking about and helps them embed your ideas in their minds.   When you incorporate a story into your elevator pitch, you need to add a story that people can identify with on an intellectual and emotional level. Make sure that it is one that most people are familiar with and has a premise that the majority will connect towards. 

A purpose of a story is to convert a complex idea into an easy one. Incorporating a story into a complex idea or using that story as an analogy can help make even the most difficult ideas understandable for the public. Make sure that you do not only tell a story and then begin pitching. The story you help should one way or the other be connected to your elevator pitch. It should be a part of the pitch and not something different from your pitch.

Structure

The structure of your elevator pitch can start with your one-sentence introduction, which cascades into your story. This will help grab engagement because your all-encompassing message will inform the audience about your relevance. After that, if you start directing the audience towards the story, this will help you infuse curiosity into the audience’s minds.  

The curiosity will stem from how the story connects to your introductory sentence. While telling the story, you want to make sure that you mention a problem within the story. If you start a pitch by addressing a problem, it will most likely attract people’s attention to what you are speaking. This is mainly because people are naturally drawn towards conflict and drama. 

In other words, proposing a problem is also similar to addressing a pain point. This pain point should be relatable to the audience that you are pitching to. Overall, including a problematic scenario in your story or addressing a problem will help add drama and suspense to your elevator pitch.  By doing so, you add an element of entertainment and surprise to your pitch as well.  

Solution 

Once you have creatively crafted a problem that has everyone engaged towards what you will speak next, then you can transition your pitch to the solution of that problem. This part of your pitch is essential as it can decide whether you will convert your audience into clients, business partners, or buyers. The solution is the major selling point of your elevator pitch as it will address the business you are offering and present it creatively. 

The solution of your story will encompass the elements and benefits that your product or service will offer. For instance, if your story involves a struggling businessman failing to sell their products, then you can have them stumble upon an incident where they eventually meet you. You can also have them solve their problem using the method you are willing to offer your clients.   

Additionally, make sure that you add a thorough and logical solution to your pitch. Make sure that your story flows from problem to solution. After you provide a viable solution, the next step is to talk about the product’s value. 

Why does this matter? 

It is not enough to only discuss a success story where there was a problem, and your service or solution turned things around. This is not compelling enough for the audience to invest their money in your service or product. You also have to discuss why this matters. You should refrain from only talking about what happened. Instead, you also have to demonstrate why someone should care and keep listening to your story. 

Within the pitch, make sure that you are telling a story that addresses a specific problem and a solution and explaining the value that you provide. The value that you provide should incentivize the revenue growth and should be directed towards another more or equally important aspect.  

Takeaway

You want to ultimately address a value that decision-makers and audience members can indefinitely leverage from. By doing so, they will be even more interested in doing business with you. You have to make sure that there is a problem that people understand and empathize with. 

After they start to empathize with the problem they are familiar with, they listen to the solution more carefully. If your solution has merit and rationality, they will start to agree with what you say.  This will, in turn, have them agree with the values you lay out for them, and they will be more willing to do business with you.