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March 7, 2015

4 questions to help you revisit or create your personal elevator speech.

Recently I was asked what I do in a great networking situation. I failed miserably! Since I've changed my professional focus I wasn't prepared to clearly explain what I do to this person and probably failed to make an strong impression.

Imagine you're waiting in a long line at your bank. The person in front of you turns around and you two start chatting. After some pleasantries, they look at you and ask "What do you do?".
If you aren't prepared, you could stumble as you try to explain this memorably in less than 15 seconds.

You never know when someone might turn into a client, or a lead to a client, or a friend. If you haven't revisited your personal elevator speech in the last 12 months it's a good time to take 10 minutes and go through this exercise.

What's your summary label?
Think about what you call your job title.
My example: I’m a website optimization agent. I figure out why a website isn’t converting and go about fixing the problems through UX/UI design, content marketing, and technical know-how. 

What's your professional background?
What have you done or where have you worked?
My example: Currently I have my own company, Little Red Truck Idea Co.

What's your current position/situation?
What projects are your working on now?
My example: Right now I’m working with two clients who are trying to position themselves as experts and sell their how-to products online as monthly subscriptions.

Where you are going?
What are your goals, or what do you want to do in the next 1 year? How about in the next 5 years?
My example: I love working with small businesses and entrepreneurs to help them be more successful by reaching their online goals. This allows me to reach my goals of supporting my family financially and giving my wife the option of staying at home with our two children.


Conclusion

An elevator pitch is not a sales pitch. It's a quality introduction to build a connection. Remember to follow your pitch with a question about their work.

What's your elevator speech? Leave it in the comments and we can all learn from each other!

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