Elevator pitch: How to get your message across

Do you ever find your boss rushing you when you’re trying to explain a particular decision of yours or your modus operandi to deal with an issue? Do your colleagues often seem eager to complete your sentences for you or secondguess your arguments? You may need to work on your elevator pitch. For the uninitiated, elevator pitch is a succinct description of your concept in a way that any listener can understand it in 20 to 30 seconds or the time it takes a person to travel in the elevator from the ground to their office floor. At the heart of the elevator pitch lies the decision-makers’ paucity of time, and those competing for it cannot afford to waste that precious resource.

In an ideal world, the decision-makers would find the time to listen to what’s important and be all ears for our ideas and issues. But we don’t live in an ideal world. You may bump into a client or your boss’ boss at the most unexpected of places — a mall’s parking lot, the cinema counter, even the airport security queue. You could just exchange pleasantries and move on, or you could get them interested in that idea you’ve been dying to discuss with them. What do you say to them in that fleeting moment so that you don’t kick yourself at leisure later?

Remember, you’re trying to influence them — not educate them. So, unless you think they were born yesterday, drop the background. Think on your feet, but don’t think as you speak. You’re more likely to wander off. Get to the point as quickly and swiftly as you can. Of course, you may feel that fear of rejection, but then, you wouldn’t know until you spell it out, and you may not get another chance for a while. So, spit it out. And don’t bother sounding fancy — they know you. Lay out the bare-bones. If what you proposed is of interest to them, they’d give you a second audience when you can be all smart and scintillating. Brevity, as Shakespeare said, is the soul of wit. It’s also imperative in today’s world.