93 Crafting an Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch or elevator speech is like a short, persuasive introduction. Just as a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) gets a message across in just a few words, an elevator speech gets your main idea across in under 30 seconds, or about 100 words. It’s called an “elevator speech” because it should be short enough to share during a brief elevator ride.

Creating an Elevator Pitch 

An elevator pitch or speech does not need to be formal, though it can be. It’s not a full sales pitch and should not include much detail. You’re not trying to say everything at once or memorize a commercial. Instead, it should be a relaxed, natural summary of one main idea. The goal is to be brief but clear. A strong elevator speech often answers these questions:

1. What is the topic, product, or service?
2. Who are you?
3. Who is it for? (Who is the target customer or audience?)
4. How does it work or make money? (if relevant)
5. What makes it better than others like it?

The Five Key Parts of Your Message

1. Attention Statement – A quick hook to grab attention and say who you are

2. Introduction – What you offer or what you do

3. Body – The benefits: What’s in it for the listener?

4. Conclusion – An example or short summary

5. Residual Message – A call to action or next step

Elevator Pitch Example

Person you’ve just met: How are you doing?

You: I’m great, how about you? [Keep it friendly and natural. Make sure the other person feels like the conversation is two-way.]

Person you’ve just met: Very well, thanks. What brings you to this conference?

You: I’m glad you asked! I’m with X Company. We just launched a new product, Product X. It’s smaller, faster, and more affordable than anything else on the market. It’s already becoming a top seller. If you know anyone interested, feel free to reach out! (Hand over a business card as a visual aid.)

So, what brings you here today?

You never know when an opportunity to inform or persuade will appear—at a conference, networking event, or even in an elevator. With an elevator speech, you’ll be ready when the moment comes.

Attribution

This section contains material from Chapter 12.4 “Making an Argument” in Introduction to Professional Communication and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

References

References are at the end of this chapter.