How to Write a Powerful Elevator Pitch? Tips and Examples!

To improve marketing and performance for small businesses elevator pitch is one of the several strategies in the market. 

Entrepreneurs to managers should know how and where to pitch their customers or clients to get the best from their time.  Elevators pitch one of the ways that are used largely in the industry. 

Small businesses can also use the tool to get more customers, clients, and investors.  But before you make your elevator pitch, make sure it’s presentable and interesting. 

To know how to do it, here is a guide for writing a powerful elevator pitch for your small business.

What Is Elevator Pitch: Brief Introduction 

The Elevator pitch is similar to advertising your products. You get a few seconds to share what you are doing and what your product is all about. 

The effort pitch is shorter as compared to advertising. It includes catching the attention of your investors and social clients within a few seconds.

Also, the elevator pitch is effective if you are using explainer videos. It can explain and strategically put into getting more results.

A pitch can be a brief of what you do and what you can offer. However, the pitch is used to spark interest in your customers and clients. You can also use it for engaging more customers on the products or ideas for the projects.

The elevator pitch should not be any longer than  30 seconds or a maximum of 60 seconds. The pitch should be interesting, memorable, and effective, along with all information to start the conversation.

You also need to include information like what your brand is all about and why it makes you any different from the crowd.

When To Use

The elevator pitch is not limited to the salesperson. It can be used anytime to make your idea, products, or services pitch to potential buyers or clients. 

Well, you can use the elevator pitch to introduce your business to other people during meetings or events. Also, it can be used as a good starter for conversation. 

Also, you can use it to craft the answer for what you do for a living.

For creating your elevator pitch share important components and also solutions along with elements. 

The pitch can be helpful for small businesses to get more exposure as well as attention from customers and clients.

It can help boost credibility and give ag good leads for better sales.  As for small business owners, you can get better communications and it will help in overall growth too. 

What Are The Critical Components for a Powerful Elevator Pitch?

The elevator pitch should contain the crucial component so you deliver what you are aiming for.  There are three important components to have in your pitch,  which includes: 

What You Do 

The first element plays an important role in introducing what you are and where you belong. Introduce yourself and your company as well as your brand to the listener. They should know what you are talking about before you proceed. 

What Makes You Special  

There are so many companies and brands, that makes you special and stand out from the crowd. In your elevator pitch, add the skills, experience, and facts that make you different.

Also, it’s an interesting point to get the attention of the listener. If you stand out and you have a special thing in you, then the lister will love to know more about it. 

What Are Your Goals 

Even with the 60 seconds of an elevator pitch, your goals should be clear and focused. The listener should know what you are expecting and what you are going for. 

Unclear goals not just make you look unprofessional but also listeners will feel like they are wasting their time. With this, you might end up losing your potential clients.

These three are important components that your pitch must include. With this, you can deliver an effective and powerful pitch without wasting a second. 

Why Does Your Small Business Need An Elevator Pitch?

The Elevator pitch only includes a few seconds but it is still worth the effort and time. As for the small businessman, the pitch is really helpful to start a conversation and make other people aware. 

However, before you start wondering how to start with your elevator pitch, here are a few important reasons why you need it right now. 

It’s Not Boring & Makes Others Feel Yawn 

No one likes to have long conversations without any interest and also people avoid people who always pitch tier products. 

But with the elevator pitch, you are only taking 60 seconds which is enough to make them feel curious and introduce what you are doing at the same time.

It’s not time taking or boring. However, it depends on how well you created your elevator pitch. Without that, it’s difficult to make people interested in your business. 

It Helps In Organizing Your Ideas & Thoughts 

Try it on your own and see how well you can talk when someone asks you to say something without any preparation. You end up rambling things without any logic. 

Well with such practice, you can arrange your thoughts and ideas. In the back of your head, you will know the things you need to highlight, and you can have a conversation with everyone in the room. 

Also, the elevator pitch helps you in keeping prepared. So anytime you get time to have a conversation, you can always introduce yourself with exact things that can leave a good impression on others. 

It reduces the chances of feeling frustrated or caught off guard when someone asks you questions like what’s your company and what you do etc. 

It Helps In Networking Your Business 

You are living in a world of digital, and there are no chances to let some good opportunities go like that. When you know what to speak, you can convert any chance into an opportunity.

Also, for small businesses, marketing is important and for that, you need good networking. For that, you have to understand how to start a conversation and be ready for every option you get. 

Keep your brochures or business card with you. So when you are done with the pitching, you can offer the card to exchange the details right away. 

It Helps in Knowing The Market

Finding your market is important to know so you can target the people that can help your business to grow. However, finding the market is not easy. Here are so many options and chances, it’s easy to feel lost.

However, since the elevator pitch helps you in asking questions from the beginning, you can arrange your thoughts and find out what you are aiming for. 

When you craft your elevator pitch, you have to give the basic information along with important points. This will help you in finding the market you feel like targeting your small business. 

It Helps In Connecting With People 

Well, the elevator pitch helps you in removing the barrier and start the conversation. Not just it helps you in building your confidence, but with this, you can easily connect with people. 

Make sure you are not pushing people and stay out of it if you think they are not interested. Instead of pushing, you can leave the pitch on a friendly note. 

Also, the elevator pitch includes asking questions; you can have a good conversation starting from here. This can help you in leading new clients & customers and people that can contribute to your business directly or indirectly. 

It Helps In Improving Your Conversation skills. 

As it said earlier,  when you are drafting your elector pitch, you always stay ready for questions that people might ask you. 

It keeps you professional and clear in your head. Having such clarity is helpful since you are a small business owner. You might get opportunities that can help in getting better leads.

With smooth delivery, you can always talk to new people and pitch them your ideas, along with having good conversations.

 It overall improves your conversation skills, and it’s an important skill for a good businessman. 

It Helps In the Promotion 

For a small business, you can use the elevator pitch to promote your ideas and your products to new customers. 

Add information that can help your customer to know more about it without killing curiosity. 

Also, make sure to add the call to action, so that interested buyers can take the buying steps quickly. You can generate your leads right away. 

It Helps In Sharing Your Story 

Take the opportunity and shine with your story; the Elevator pitch helps you in getting your story ready for telling to others. 

 You get all the interesting points, skills, and experience arranged which hold the interest of others. 

Also, you can give a reason to others why they should work with you or why they should try your product. It will help in getting the best from the situation. 

It includes 60 seconds, you are not taking too much time, but you are using it wisely to promote your business to potential buyers and clients.

Steps For Writing The Winning Elevator Pitch 

It should be a quick and short summary of what you do and your value proposition.  When your pitch is good, you can start a conversation that can lead to more. 

For entrepreneurs, the pitch is effective and one of the most powerful tools that they should be using. No matter where you are, you can give a quick overview of your company to the guest.

To write the elevator pitch that can win more people, follow these steps.

Start With Who Are Targeting 

You can write an effective pitch when you don’t know who you are targeting at the end.  To make sure you get maximum impact, always add the point that can be applied to most people. 

It can be your potential client or investor. You can write your pitch in different ways, so you always have something in your hand when you meet with different kinds of people. 

You can use those points and tweak them to get your effective pitch ready every time.

Pro Tip– Keep your pitch clear, easy to understand, memorable, and concise. 

Add What You Do And Introduce Yourself 

The basics are important to tell you what you do. Think about the basic questions people have in mind that they would like to answer first. 

Focus on answering the questions in your pitch and what solutions you can provide to them. Introduce the point which can help your listener to know how they are getting benefits from you. 

Also, keep this in your mind – what you want the listener to remember about you?

Your pitch should excite you and then will do the same for the lister. If it sounds boring, then you have to change it again. 

Mentions Your USP 

Your elevator pitch needs to include your unique selling proposition. It’s important to add your USP when you are pitching to the customer or the clients. 

Mention what is different and make your difference from other options your listener is getting. Share your ideas and what your brand wants to do or do in the market.

Mention the special services only you are providing to your customer. It will help you in getting their attention, and also they will know how you are going to solve their issues. 

Explain What You Are Expecting 

Your pitch includes what you are looking for. It must add the points so the lister can know if they can help or not. 

Also when you are done pointing all points, including all the sections in one pitch. Set a time and practice, and see if your pitch is covering all points within the seconds you allotted for yourself. 

Make sure you are getting the attention within 20 to 30 seconds. So you are not losing focus from the start. 

End The Pitch With An Question 

Always put a question at the end when you are done with your writing pitch. It will make you open to conversation. Also, the listener will be interested in telling you more about themselves 

This will lead to conversations, and it can help you in building your relations as well as network too. 

The Types Of Elevator Pitch: What To Follow Or What to Not 

An Elevator pitch is an effective and powerful tool that can help you in starting a conversation. Well, there are different types of elevator pitches that you can use, however, some of them are not recommended as it takes lots of time to deliver without any effect. 

To know more about it, here are some types you must know about 

The Rambler Pitch

The ramble pitch takes  45 seconds to deliver. As the name says, the rambler pitch is long, and it’s not effective. 

Adding too much information because you don’t know what to say can end up wasting your time of yours and the listeners. Such a pitch includes almost everything, which makes no sense. 

The rambler pitch is too focused on one point or one person. It can be just about your position or your brand. 

It’s not effective and actionable, which offers no examples as well as facts that can attract the attention of others. 

The Surprise Ending

It takes 30  seconds and includes something surprising: the pitch includes the comparisons between the current citation with the world. 

It illustrates how your service and product technology can help the person fill the gap. Also, the ending includes the surprise element too. 

The surprise ending is ideal to use as you are offering something but not letting the curiosity die. It will make the person know more about what you are offering. 

The Appealing To Emotions 

The length of the pitch is 30 seconds. Well, the pitch talks about how you got into it and what is your idea or aim to start the business.

It talks about the emotional and empathy story, which appeals to the listeners. Also, it shows the problems and things that you can relate to. It helps the listeners to know what they can expect from you. 

Also, it adds the moral of the story to show the conclusion. 

The Attention-Grabbing 

The pitch takes 30 seconds which includes asking a question, emphasizing the problem, providing the option, and adding value. 

The structure focuses on one problem that the listener may be facing. It grabs the attention of the person and reminds the problems.

Also with empathy, you help the listener to understand that they can relay and that you are providing something which can help in solving the problem for them.

Such a pitch doesn’t add any kind of difficult words or jargon. It’s straightforward, simple, and easy to understand. 

The Short & Sweet

Similar to the above, it takes 30 seconds to deliver.  Your pitch is short and sweet including small points about everything without focusing on one thing. 

The listener will get an idea about your company, brand, and you without getting into details. 

Also, it includes what inspires you to develop the brand or services.  It says about the origin of your company. 

According to research, adding the origin makes your pitch memorable at least 22 times more.

The One-liner 

The one-liner includes a length of  10 seconds. It requests to take quick action by eliminating the data which your audience may not need right away. It gives a direct solution to the problem.

It directly gets to the point without adding any information about your company, brand, etc. however it shows your company value proposition for your listener. 

How To Deliver Your Elevator Pitch For Small Business?

After you complete your draft and write all the important points that you can tailor if the situation changes. You are all set to deliver your pitch to your client and customer. 

Well, reading your pitch aloud can help you in knowing how it sounds to your ears. Also, you can ask your people to give feedback. If not, you can simply use the mirror. 

Also, pay attention to what is distracting your pitch in another direction. Or if it’s smooth or not, pay attention to flows and how people will react.

Once you start practicing, here are a few tips you can add for delivering with confidence and with no errors. 

Take Time And Be Patience 

The Elevator pitch mostly takes 20 to 60 seconds. Maybe you don’t even get that much time. The standard pitch gets at least 30 seconds. It’s on you how you use it.

Even though the pitch is a quick conversation, don’t make it too fast. It will end up confusing your listener, and they will not understand anything. 

Speaking fast makes your pitch sounds not effective.  Keep it 75 words at one time; it’s the optimal and digestible way.

Don’t rush to give too much information, and keep it short to understand the pitch clearly. 

Keep It Like A Conversation 

Practicing your pitch will give you a flow to focus on. So it won’t sound like you are rehearsing it when you deliver the pitch.

Instead of focusing on word by word, understand the keywords and outlines. Do not memorize it but keep it naturally in your head. So you will know where your pitch should be heading. 

Keep your pitch like you are simply talking. If you are meeting someone for the first time, your conversation sounds general. 

If you are talking to someone you know, keep the important values highlighted. 

Don’t Include Phrases Or Niche Words

Keep your pitch easy to understand; using too many technical words, especially in front of those who have never heard, will make them feel bored, and they will fail to connect with what you are saying.

Keep such words in the back of your head, so when you get someone from your field, you can use it at that time but when you are having a normal conversation, replace them with easy and simple words. 

Also, you can keep changing the words, so it sounds fresh every time you pitch someone. Ask your friends if they understand it or not.

They can be a good way to get someone valuable feedback. 

Show Your Confidence 

Regardless of the time you get, if you don’t look confident, the chances of losing those seconds become high too. Pay attention to how you speak, deliver, and pronounce the words.

Your body’s confidence plays an important part if someone is going to be interested in your conversation or not. 

Keep yourself comfortable, smile, and breath. If you feel like you are slipping away, stay confident. 

Also, you can read other people’s signs. How they are following you and if they are bored or not, these points can help you to change your pitch and make it interesting for next time. 

Important Tips On Making Your Elevator Pitch  Effective 

For sales,  your elevator pitch is the most important tool to use.  You can use it for networking, marketing your products, and getting more people on your side. 

However, an elevator pitch is mostly for job seekers; as a small business, you can also make your elevator pitch. 

To make sure it’s effective and helpful for your business, follow these tips. 

Keep It Simple & Short 

There is a reason why it’s called an elevator pitch.  Not just you have limited time, but you also have to make your best impression within the given time.

You get around 20 to 60 seconds to craft and deliver your pitch. It includes 150 to 250 words. 

Keep your pitch as short as you can, and choose the words wisely that can affect making your pitch worthy for the time. 

Pro tip- Time yourself and practice in front of your friends or family and add their feedback in your pitch. 

Edit More And Keep Doing It 

Making your elevator pitch effective requires lots of work. Your elevator pitch should be like a piece of art. To keep it that way, you must have to edit ruthlessly. 

Look more as a critic so you will know where to improve and what else you can change. Make sure you are not repeating the same thing again and again. 

Also, keep the focus on what you want to deliver 

Use Mirror And Practice More 

What you are saying is different when you do it in front of someone else. That’s why using a mirror is a perfect way to be proactive in your elevator pitch.

Read your written pitch aloud and focus on expressions in the mirror. Keep it natural yet conversational. You can also practice in front of others, but the mirror is a good start to begin with.

Also, you can understand how much time you are taking to deliver the pitch and you can hold attention or not. 

Exclude Words That Make No Sense 

Making your pitch sounds professional doesn’t mean having too much use of jargon. There is no use if your audience is not getting what you are telling them.

It should not be something that can be hard to understand, and by the time you end, it should be catchy to remember.

Show Your Smile And Passion 

There is nothing more confident about a person than his smile. Use your smile to make your pitch confident but friendly. Also, practice how you smile, so it doesn’t look fake.

It’s important to stay as you are. The business doesn’t happen between two rigid people. Let the next person know how passionate you are and trustworthy you are. 

Make It Conversational 

Good salesmen are those who don’t sound like one. Be open to letting other questions about what you are offering. Make it like a conversation rather than a speech. 

Your elevator pitch can be a good start for having a conversation if you are approaching someone you already know. 

Create Different Flavors 

Well, the first step is to know how to make your elevator pitch. Once you master it, then you can focus on adding new things to make it fresh and interesting. 

The following steps are good for knowing the basics, but to create something new; you have to add something from your side too.

Create the elevator pitch in your version and keep practicing it. Even if it fails, try something new again. 

Know Where It Should Be Going 

The Elevator pitch should have the goals where you want to end it. Not just randomly start and stop. Even though your pitch is good to hear but it won’t be effective, 

It should include a call to action and let other people take steps to follow it. That’s why it’s important to know where you want the person to take action. 

Do And Don’ts For Crafting You’re Making Your Elevator Pitch 

An Elevator pitch is one of the ways of selling what you are offering to others. 

You summarize your skills, experience, and attributes in a 30 to 60 seconds pitch to get the other person interested in knowing more. 

This is not small talk, but it requires you to introduce yourself along with your pitch without wasting time.

 It will take time to master it but to avoid any kind of errors, follow these do and don’ts.

Do Prepare For Changing Your Pitch 

You never know who you are going to meet. It can be any occasion or place. You might end up potentially meeting people on someone’s birthday or even on a picnic. 

At such times, you are required to tailor your pitch according to the situation.  Add personal situations and detailing to make it less business-like but still professional. 

You can easily switch to a different tone if you have prepared a few already.

Don’t Skip Practice 

The Elevator pitch requires practice. You never know how other people will react to your question, what question they might ask and what else you can add to make it interesting.

The key is to keep practicing until you get the master of it. Before you pitch anyone, speak in front of the mirror aloud. Make sure to record yourself if you don’t have anyone to listen to.

Edit the points that don’t sound that impressive to you. Also, when you attend other pitches, pay attention to how they are doing it.

Do Sound Authentic & Cheerful 

Having a positive attitude in your pitch sets others in a good mood as well. People also like to listen more if you make your pitch retable to them.

Use words that show your excitement and are also easy to understand. Make sure your pitch is authentic without giving any false hope or something you can’t promise to keep.

Do The Groundwork 

Your statement should be impactful and should include all the information that you want to deliver. It’s important to do the groundwork first.

Get everything in one place. There is no time to talk about everything; jot down the important points, and add to your pitch.

Instead of adding what you have done so far, you can add the information that your listener knows. Add the facts that hold value and get right to the point. 

Do Add The Brands And Names 

To make your pitch sound reliable and trustworthy, you can add the names of people you previously worked with if you get the persimmon. Also, make sure to add valuable sources only.

Adding brand names can help you pitch to make a strong impression. Even if the person didn’t know much about them, they would still remember the names. 

Do Sound Positive 

Starts your pitch on a positive note and ends the same.  Focus on things you have completed and achieved so far.

In your pitch, you should sound positive, proud, and happy about your experiences. It gives a good vibe to the listener, and they like to share some energy with you. 

Don’t Focus Too Much On One Thing 

It can be anything, your skills, role, or quality. Never put all the spotlight on one thing. Your pitch should include summaries all the important details. 

Where are you focusing, and what’s your aim – these questions should be answered in your pitch. It will help your lister to get an idea about your plans. 

Also, don’t add everything in one pitch; it will make you sound all over the place.  Focus on skills that can help in performing the task and help the lister in some ways.

 

Do Focus On The Flow 

Before pitching to anyone, make sure you arrange everything in order. It’s important so the listener can grab the information and detail easier.

Apart from this, focus on how your pitch is going and where you want to take it. There are chances that people might ask you questions, be ready and make sure it’s not breaking the flow.

This will require practice, so you know how to keep the flow maintained and have a good conversation along with that. 

Don’t Exceed More Than 1 Minute 

No one likes to talk with someone who keeps talking about himself for more than one minute. It does not just break the flow but also makes people feel bored at the end.

It can scare them. Follow the rule of being vigilant. Even make sure you are not exceeding the pitch for more than 1 minute. Keep it lesser than that.

Keep the focus on how people are reacting; focus on signs like boredom and fatigue. Give enough questions to leave them with curiosity.

Do Brag A Little 

Bragging about yourself is not a bad thing, but if you know where to stop.  Also, do it gently as you can so you don’t have to struggle. 

Bragging too much about yourself will make you sound egoistic. And people don’t like to have a conversation with such a person. 

Add the things that show your strength and convey the message you want to share. Also, your pitch should sound confident, and so does your overall body posture. 

Keep the conversation light, friendly, and easy-going. 

Do End It With  A Question 

Networks build on conversations, and good conversations need two-way conversations. It should be given and taken; once you are done with the pitch, then ask a question at the end.

It will show you are not just for you; the conversation includes the next person too. Ask them questions like what they do and talk about them. It will give it a clue to keep the conversation going.

Mistakes That You Must Stop Doing In Your Elevator Pitch Right Now 

Elevator pitch is one of the tools which can be a game-changer for your small business. However, what response you will get depends on how you are delivering it.

Since the time is limited and you don’t get enough, your priority should be delivering your pitch with interest and confidence. 

But there are some mistakes you might encounter if you are not aware of them. To make sure you don’t do that, here are points for you to focus on:- 

Starting With ‘ I’ Or Your Name 

Starting your pitch with your name or the use of ‘ i make your listener feel interested. It’s not effective, and your pitch fails to do its work. 

Instead of that,  you can start with an interesting quote or something that can hook the listener. Always keep the curiosity alive so they feel eager to know more about you and your company. 

Your pitch should be interesting and complete. You can do some basic search on how people normally deliver their pitches. 

Also, don’t share your name and the company’s name; wait until you get their attention. Once you get your listener hooked, you can introduce yourself as well as the project.

Talking Fast And Rambling 

An elevator pitch is fast, but that doesn’t make you talk faster than that. Keep your voice and flow soft as well as pleasant to the ears. 

It also doesn’t mean rambling all the information you got in front of your listener. Keep your pitch easy to understand and choose simple words that can be understood by anyone. 

Also, make sure you are not talking fast Keep your pace slow and easy. And keep your listener for some time, so they understand what you are talking about. 

Your pitch should be short and simple to convey your motive. Most people end up rambling about things that don’t even make sense. 

The best way to keep your mind focused on outline what you want to say and keep practicing. So even though you skip a few points, you still have lots of things to change. 

Moving Too Much When Talking 

Moving your hand too much can make you look like you are having a nervous breakdown. It does not just make you look not ready for the opportunity but less professional. 

Also, stand straight and put a confident smile without moving your hand too much. It’s good to use it when you are explaining but keep it limited. 

For better, practice a lot, so you dont feel less confident in front of others. 

Talking Too Much About Technology 

if you are talking about technology instead of resolving the problem. Talk about what kind of problems you can solve with your technology. 

Don’t keep talking about technology in every sentence. 

You don’t want to sound egoistic and too much into one thing. Your audience wants to know how your services and technology can help in making their life better. 

Starting With Benefits Instead Of Problem 

Focusing your pitch too much on the features and benefits can also make your listener lose your audience’s interest. 

The best way is to address the problem in your pitch and then start with how your product or service can help in solving that problem.

People will like to listen to solutions to problems instead of knowing how amazing your products are.  

Also, make sure you are not too focused on problems, find the balance, make your pitch interesting and approach them with a solution.

Sounding Desperate 

Showing your passion is a good thing but make sure you are not getting lost in that.  Often people become too cheerful and passionate when they talk about their projects.

Not just you sound desperate in front of your listeners but also it makes the pitch less attractive. You don’t want to let your ideal customers slip, so make sure you know where to stop.

It can make you lose your respect in front of your investors. And people avoid having a conversation with desperate people as it’s annoying for them.

Not Knowing Your Audience

Knowing your audience is important when you are pitching. It will give you an idea about what they are and how you can get their attention.

For small businesses. Their audience is important and they should figure out first. When you know about your audience, you can change your pitch according to that. 

With that, you will know what they are looking for and what kind of services they will appreciate. 

Bad Introduction 

Sure, people will pay attention for 10 to 20 seconds to what you are saying. If your introduction is not interesting, they will not listen more. 

The time span of people is limited, and you don’t want to waste it with your bad introduction.

Pay attention when you are crafting your pitch. Make sure you add the problem in the first sentence, so you can get their attention and then offer the solution. 

Not Giving Enough Time To Respond 

Your job is not just to deliver the pitch and end it there. Give your audience time to respond. If they are not interested, you can still get feedback on what they are not getting.

Also, asking for feedback helps in showing your passion and professionalism. When you deliver your pitch, stay for a few minutes until you get a response from the listener.

Add those things in your pitch for next time, so you can get what works or not. Also, an elevator pitch might seem like advertising, but it’s like a conversation, and you can get leads from there/ 

The Dead-End Conversation

Dead ends are those when you both have nothing to say or to add. Mostly it happens when you stop your pitch without any disclosure or questions. 

Your pitch should be a two-way conversation. Ask them to share their business card, and you can invite them for coffee if you think you are going well with them.  

Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs)

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