The elevator pitch. You are probably customary with the term. It is most commonly used to describe the brief 60-second speech that business owners and executives, as well as salespeople, use to describe their business, product, or assistance to others. More importantly, it is a speech that is delivered in a compelling way that describes what is unique about the business (or offering), describes the benefits to the target market, and excites interest in the listener.
So, why should you--the job seeker and work professional--care about the elevator pitch? If you are customary with the notion of personal branding, and the idea of leveraging your brand to strengthen and promote yourself in your career, I'm sure you immediately recognized similarities between the above report of an elevator pitch and a personal brand statement.
Personal branding allows you to make a name for yourself. It differentiates you from your peers and helps to position you as a leader in your field - as a devotee and an authority who knows how to do a job and fill a singular niche in the workplace best than whatever else. A personal brand statement is a succinct statement that clarifies and communicates what makes you and your unique value proposition separate and special.
Your personal brand statement will play a large role in your 60-second elevator pitch as a job seeker and work professional. Your whole elevator pitch will be a mini presentation that you are able to give on the fly in response to those all-too-common questions "what do you do?" or "tell me about yourself?" With precision-like focus, an productive elevator pitch will immediately transport to the listener who you are as a professional, and will do it in a way that addresses not only your unique value proposition, but in a manner that addresses the concerns of your listener. Of equal importance, while your pitch is planned and rehearsed, when you surely speak it, it should sound thoroughly natural and spontaneous, yet it should leave the listener with a lasting, positive, and memorable impression. You will use your elevator pitch frequently, in networking situations and during interviews.
But, once you recognize that crafting an elevator pitch is essential, you might feel daunted at the expectation of creating and perfecting one. Certainly, this is a task that your work coach or the pro that you hired to create your résumé can support with. However, with some introspection and honest self-assessment, developing your elevator pitch does not have to be difficult. To get started, ask yourself these significant questions:
1. What is the focus of your search? What is your job target?
2. Who is the person/people most likely to make a hiring decision about you?
3. What are the problems faced by your target audience?
4. What is it that you are gift that would solve these problems?
5. What is it that differentiates you and makes you separate from your peers?
6. What are the benefits of your work as experienced by your target audience?
To create your elevator pitch, you now must put these elements all together in a brief presentation that you can deliver quickly-in the time it would take you to get from one floor to the other in an elevator.
As an example, here is my own "branded" elevator pitch that I developed to concisely describe my work as the executive director of Distinctive work Services.
"You know how some work professionals miss out on surely great employment opportunities, or don't strengthen as quickly in their careers as they would like, or don't get paid the payment they deserve, all because they don't surely know how to differentiate themselves in their careers or promote themselves effectively in the job market?
Well, I am a work coach, personal branding strategist, and work marketing professional-one of just a few habitancy worldwide with this unique blend of expertise. In my business, which is internet-based and global, I supply a mix of innovative products, programs, and services delivered to six-figure+ and aspiring six-figure+ professionals, managers, and executives. All my offerings are designed specifically to empower my clients to promote and shop themselves effectively, chance doors and enabling potential to accomplish their top work ambitions and goals.
The benefits are that my clients dramatically sell out the time and money they spend job searching, rapidly strengthen their careers, boost their incomes, enjoy greater pro recognition, and overall, establish themselves in careers that are more professionally, financially, and personally rewarding."
Once you have the answers to the six uncomplicated questions above, you have all things you need to create a similar elevator pitch for yourself. Do you see how I have taken my own answers to the questions and interspersed them throughout my pitch? I've clearly communicated who my target shop is, have identified the problems and challenges that they face, have conveyed how my gift is not only unique but solves those problems, and I've described the key benefits that my offerings produce.
You can use this same model to establish your own elevator pitch. But remember; don't go into too much detail. Your goal is simply to pique interest and make yourself memorable. Don't spend too much time on the details of your qualifications. Just quickly feature them and tie them back to how they benefit your target audience (current or hereafter employer).
Once you have your pitch perfected, practice it, practice it, and practice it some more. Your goal is to have it sound thoroughly natural. Describe in front of a mirror and be aware of your body language and eye contact, as these aspects of transportation often speak even louder than words. Now, try your pitch out a few times and contemplate the response to the listener. Be open to the expectation of adapting and modifying as significant to elicit the response you want to generate. And, of course, be flexible. If your listener interrupts with a question, be ready to pause and respond it.
Creating your elevator pitch may take some time and thought, but it is a wise work pro who invests in it! You will hear the "what do you do?" or "tell me about yourself?" questions over and over, both during your job search and throughout your whole career. Don't wing it! preparation is the key to confidence and the key to making a lasting, positive, and memorable first impression. The benefits to your work will be phenomenal. It is well worth the effort!
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