10 Ways You Can Practice and Perfect an Elevator Pitch

Elevator pitches are great, not just for entrepreneurs but for people in all types of work. You give a quick spiel to a potentially interested audience, usually around a minute. Some target investors and others target potential clients. Still others use it to recruit people. Whatever your use for it, practicing and perfecting it is essential. Delivering concise and convincing information in around a minute is much more complicated than it sounds. Here are 10 ways you can make sure that you deliver the best pitch possible:

1. Just Practice

The best way to get good at something is to do it a lot. If you want to be comfortable enough to deliver your pitch without looking nervous or with the ability to adjust it on the fly, you need to know it inside and out. Just keep delivering it to anyone who will listen at the office or even to yourself in the mirror. Keep doing that until you can deliver it in your sleep.

2. Start Alone

Delivering a pitch to an audience can be a harrowing ordeal. Think about people frozen when giving a speech before a huge crowd. Even a single person can make you self-conscious about your chosen words and how you pronounce them. That’s why you should practice alone, in front of a mirror. Once you’ve got that down, you can start trying it out with people you trust to give you accurate and helpful feedback.

3. Use a Timer

Elevator pitches are great because they can get someone interested in a short amount of time. The more concise your spiel, the more incidental situations you can use it in. When you practice your pitch, use a timer. Start with the most verbose form of it and cut it down until you have one that delivers all vital information in under a minute.

4. Do the Research

Writing a speech in a vacuum is difficult. You must keep the intended audience in mind to write an effective speech. If it’s an investor, figure out what kind of investor would be interested in your startup and write a speech that would appeal to that kind of personality. If it is for potential clients, write a speech highlighting the problem your product or offering will solve if you need to know what your audience will want to research. Focus on the most important thing your business or product represents to them, and then hammer the point in.

5. Learn to Build Rapport or a Connection

The power of an elevator pitch lasts throughout a person’s entire encounter with you. It is best if the listener has some form of rapport or connection with you. Achieving that might be as simple as making small talk or figuring out how to connect with people at a glance. Whatever approach you choose, perfect it. The better you connect instantly, the better your chances of leaving a great impression.

6. Think About the Questions People Will Ask

An elevator pitch should last around one minute, but the actual encounter will likely be more extended. If you give your pitch correctly, people will have questions, and while you can’t predict all the questions someone will ask, with a bit of thought, you can sort out more common ones. Having answers ready for those questions can make you look more confident and your pitch more convincing.

7. Get a Professional to Help

Much like many things, giving a pitch or a speech is a skill. That means there are experts you can hire to help you both write and deliver it. If various employees use your pitch throughout your company, hiring an expert to refine it is often worth the cost.

8. Study Yourself on Video

The problem with practicing your elevator pitch is that you give it. You might be so focused on your performance and delivery that you have no mental room to critique it properly. The solution is simple—record yourself. The experience might be awkward, even surreal, but watching yourself give a spiel is one of the best things you can do to improve it. You can determine if you have a facial expression that negatively impacts your delivery and work to fix that issue.

9. Be More Positive

The content of your spiel is one of many things that will impact its effectiveness. Your attitude will color it and affect how people perceive your words. Be negative, and your spiel will not impact or drive people away. However, some positivity can show up as confidence, which lends your words more authenticity and believability. You don’t need to be peppy – just confident and positive – to empower your speech.

10. Make the Pitch a Story

Narratives are powerful. A good story can linger in a person’s heart longer than a list of facts and numbers. That’s why you should ensure that your elevator pitch is not just a list but a story you can tell that shows off the value of your product or offer. Naturally, that is more challenging than it sounds, so hire a writer to make it easier. However, any effort you put towards incorporating a narrative will pay for itself. Even if you don’t convince the current listener to make a move, chances are you have to ensure that they will tell the story to someone else, someone who might be more receptive to your company.

Perfecting an elevator pitch is an essential part of many career paths. If it is part of yours, do not ignore it. It might not be a tool you use often, but when you do need it, having the best possible pitch around might be the difference between a client and a shuttered business.