This Tuesday, Matt Switzer and I had the privilege of visiting Christopher House, a non-profit organization that provides tools and resources to low-income families and children. We were asked to come speak to a group of 14-16 year-old summer interns who are charged with promoting Christopher House’s Head Start Program. The topic of the hour was PR, but more broadly, general communication and business skills. This being many of the interns first-ever job experience, we kicked off our discussion by talking about elevator pitches, and showing some great MSNBC video clips (here and here) that we found on YouTube. We had the kids tell us what they thought the pitchers did well, and what they thought needed work. Then we went into some basic tips for developing and giving an elevator pitch. 

Now before you say, “wait a minute, isn’t a lesson on elevator pitches a little obscure and even over these kids’ heads??”, let me explain our approach. For you, the elevator pitch may conjure up images of corporate suits schmoozing or a desperate entrepreneur trying to generate investment; but developing a good one for your product, organization, and even yourself is absolutely an important life lesson to be learned early on. The following tips demonstrate why understanding and perfecting the elevator pitch is fundamental to success in the field of communications, and actually, to life in general. 

-          First know what you are trying to achieve by giving the elevator pitch

-          Know what matters to the person you are pitching

-          What is the benefit to the person listening? It isn’t just about you-when pitching, make sure the listener knows what’s in it for them.

-          Be real. You don’t want to say anything you’re not comfortable with. Stick with the bigger selling points of your organization, product or you yourself—to which you can really speak well.

-          Be specific. Give examples and proof to back up your claims.

-          Prepare! A first impression only happens once. Arm yourself with answers to the   toughest questions that might follow your pitch. Be flexible enough to be guided by your listener and their reaction to what you’re saying. If he or she interrupts with questions, make sure you answer them.

-          Show your enthusiasm for your product or organization!

-          Practice!

-          Keep it short and sweet. 

 As you can see, these tips and guidelines could apply to a job interview, a business presentation and basically any activity that involves persuasion. Being the seasoned and knowledgeable marketing professionals that we all are : ), these points are no news to us. I truly believe, however, that the kids we spoke to about this were engaged, curious and ultimately took something away from what we discussed. Matt, being the amazing teacher that he is, was a key part in getting the entire room excited and involved in the discussion, and we had almost everyone responding to our questions and asking one or two of their own.  

 Check out the BusinessWeek article on elevator pitches and this great blog Jeff passed along to us. And may all of your elevator pitches be fruitful.