Aim Low to Hit High

ELEVATOR PITCHES, PART 2

Chris O’Leary states in his business book, Elevator Pitch Essentials, that the goal of an elevator pitch is to set the hook or start a conversation. I mentioned last week that a pitch in golf is your chance to get the ball close to the hole for an easy putt.

According to Wikipedia elevator pitch “reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the (job) summary in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty seconds to two minutes. Another website went so far as to say three (3) minutes, which in my book is one heck of a long an elevator ride. Can you imagine being stuck in an elevator with someone speaking non-stop for 3 minutes, on what and how he or she does what they do? You might find yourself hoping the elevator cables snapped… before your neck does.

I overheard two people in Starbucks, talking over their laptops and lattes. They were discussing Elevator Pitches: “30 minute elevator pitches” to be exact! I don’t know how many people take 30 minute elevator rides, but in the mass hysteria of today’s mass media, I say aim for 15 seconds and you might hit 30.

Under any kind of pressure, it is difficult for anyone to gauge time. People are prone to over-explain and over-sell themselves. Remember the first rule: this is simply an introduction… a taste, not the whole bowl of ice cream.

This may be the only time to aim low in order to shoot high.

Think I’ll go and have some ice cream.