Dr.

Ashish Mohanty, Associate Professor, Business Communication & Soft Skills, IMIS

ELEVATOR PITCH – SELF INTRODUCTION

How to Give an Elevator Pitch

Introducing yourself well sets the stage for a professional conversation whether at
a networking event, with a colleague or at the beginning of an interview. One tool
that many people use to make introductions simple and effective is the elevator
pitch.

What Is an Elevator Pitch?

A personal elevator pitch is a quick summary of you. It’s named for the time taken
to ride an elevator from the bottom to the top of a building, which is roughly 30
seconds or 75 words. Elevator pitches are sometimes thought to be specific to an
idea or a product. However, having a pitch to sell yourself as a professional is also
a common instance of use for elevator pitches.

Why Are They Important?

It will be useful to have an elevator pitch ready during the interview process
because it typically serves as a great icebreaker to start a conversation. Be it face-
to-face or virtual interview, you’ll be asked to provide a summary of who you are,
what your background is and what you want from your next job. The elevator pitch
can also be a helpful framework to plan your answer for the popular interview
question, ‘tell me about yourself’, or to write a cover letter.

Another benefit of a personal elevator pitch is that it prepares you to introduce

yourself when exciting opportunities present themselves in everyday life. Whether
you are at a grocery store, at a cocktail party or a networking event, maybe even in
an actual elevator, the pitch can quickly help new contacts understand why they
should connect with you or consider you when an opportunity arises.

An advantage of using an elevator pitch when speaking about your career or

aspirations is that you can take the lead. Instead of waiting on the other party to
direct the conversation, you can assertively explain what you have to offer. In
many interactions, such as a job interview or mentorship proposition, this can be a
Dr.Ashish Mohanty, Associate Professor, Business Communication & Soft Skills, IMIS

relief to your audience. They will be glad to see you know both what you want and
how to ask for it.

How to Write an Elevator Pitch

Your elevator pitch should answer the following questions: Who are you? What do
you do? What do you want?

Start by introducing yourself

As you approach someone to pitch to, whether that’s at an event, interview or

anything in between, start off with an introduction. Give your full name, smile,
extend your hand for a handshake and add a pleasantry like “It’s nice to meet you!”

Provide a summary of what you do

This is where you’ll give a brief summary of your background. You should include
the most relevant information like your education, work experience and/or any key
specialties or strengths. If you’re not sure what to include, try writing everything
that comes to mind on a piece of paper. Once you’ve recorded everything, go
through and remove everything that’s not absolutely critical to explaining your
background and why you’ve got what your audience may be looking for. Consider
the most important highlights on your resume. Once you’ve got it down to just a
few points, organise them in a way that makes sense in your story.

Here’s an example:

Hi, my name is Abhishek. It’s so nice to meet you! I’m a public relations (PR)
manager with a special focus in overseeing successful initiative launches from
beginning to end. Along with my seven years of professional experience, I recently
graduated with an PGDM from XYZ Institute with a focus on consumer trust and
retention.

Explain what you want

This step will depend on what you’re using the pitch for. The ‘ask’ of your pitch
could be consideration for a job opportunity, an internship or simply to get contact
information. This is a good opportunity to explain the value you’ll bring, why
you’re a good fit for a job or generally what your audience has to gain from your
interaction. Focus on what you have to offer in this segment of the pitch.
Dr.Ashish Mohanty, Associate Professor, Business Communication & Soft Skills, IMIS

Let’s go back to Abhishek’s pitch:

Hi, my name is Abhishek. It’s so nice to meet you! I’m a public relations (PR)
manager specialising in overseeing successful initiative launches from beginning
to end. Along with my seven years of professional experience, I recently received
my PGDM with a focus on consumer trust and retention. I find the work your PR
team does to be innovating and refreshing. I’d love the opportunity to put my
expertise to work for your company.

Finishing your Elevator Pitch

You should end your elevator pitch by asking for what you want to do next. If you
feel an elevator pitch is appropriate for a certain situation, begin with the goal of
gaining a new insight or next steps. Examples can include asking for a meeting,
expressing interest in a job, confirming you’ve fully answered an interview
question or asking someone to be your mentor.

Asking for what you want can be intimidating but it’s important you give the
conversation an action item instead of letting it come to a dead end. Remember,
you’ve just met this person so make the ask simple with little required on their
part. Here’s an example from the pitch we’ve been building.

”Hi, my name is Abhishek. It’s so nice to meet you! I’m a public relations (PR)
manager specialising in overseeing successful initiative launches from beginning
to end. Along with my 7 years of professional experience, I recently received my
MBA with a focus on consumer trust and retention. I find the work your PR team
does to be innovating and refreshing. I’d love the opportunity to put my expertise
to work for your company. Would you mind if I set up a quick call next week for us
to talk about any upcoming opportunities in your team?”

If they agree to your request, be sure to thank them for their time and get their
contact information. End the conversation with a concise and action-oriented
farewell such as, “Thank you for your time. I’ll send you a follow-up email
tonight. Have a great day!” If they don’t agree to your request, gracefully end the
conversation with a polite, “I understand. Thank you for your time! If it’s all right,
I’ll send you a follow-up email and see if there’s a better time for us to connect.”

How to Deliver Your Elevator Pitch

Dr.Ashish Mohanty, Associate Professor, Business Communication & Soft Skills, IMIS

After you’ve taken time to develop a pitch that’s focused on your background and
immediate goals, practice and refine it. Reading your elevator pitch out loud to
yourself can reveal any mistakes, opportunities for better wording or extraneous
information that might distract from your main points.

Here are a few tips on delivery as you practice:

Take your time

An elevator pitch is a quick conversation by nature but try to avoid speaking too
fast. Keeping your pitch to around 75 words should help you deliver optimal
information in a clear, digestible way. Be mindful of rushing through it or trying to
add in too much information.

Make it conversational

It’s good to plan your elevator pitch ahead of time and practice but you should
avoid sounding rehearsed in delivery. A good way to keep the pitch conversational
is to memorise a general outline or key points of your speech. Keep this structure
in the back of your mind and adapt your pitch for each person you give it to. For
example, if you’re talking to someone you’ve just met, keep the conversation
general, focused on your background and possibly state if you’re seeking new
opportunities. If you’re talking to someone you want to work with, it’s important to
refer to their open position or company and how specifically you can provide
value.

Avoid niche words and phrases

Using acronyms, technical terms or industry-specific words and phrases can limit
your elevator pitch by confusing or alienating your audience. You would want to
speak to people with a variety of backgrounds so try replacing with general, simple
language.

Express confidence

Even the best elevator pitch can lose its effectiveness if your delivery lacks
confidence. Keep your chest high, shoulders back and smile when meeting
someone and delivering your pitch. Use a strong speaking voice to show
confidence in your experience and what you want in the future. If you’re nervous,
Dr.Ashish Mohanty, Associate Professor, Business Communication & Soft Skills, IMIS

try mentally reversing roles. If you were the person being pitched to, you’d likely
be happy to listen and help the inquirer as best you could.

There is potential that your audience won’t be open to hearing your pitch. If it’s
not the right time or the person you’re speaking to doesn’t seem receptive,
gracefully draw back. If you’ve asked for an in-person meeting and they’ve denied
it, you can ask if they’d prefer email or a phone call. If you get the sense at any
point that the conversation is an inconvenience, use this opportunity to negotiate
for a lesser ask. Leave the conversation with empathy for your audience. You
prepared a speech and they weren’t expecting it. You can probably relate to the
feeling of being caught off guard.

Elevator Pitch Examples

A variety of job titles and situations you can refer back to when creating your own:

Context: In an Interview

Job Title: Executive Assistant

Hi, my name is Manoj. Thanks so much for sitting down with me today. After
graduating with my bachelor’s degree in business administration, I’ve spent the
last three years building professional experience as an executive assistant. I’ve
successfully managed end-to-end event coordination and have generated a strong
professional network for my colleagues. I was excited to learn about this
opportunity in the sports management space. I’ve always been passionate about
the way sports brings cultures together and would love the opportunity to bring my
project management and leadership abilities to this position.

Context: Seeking a Mentor

Job Title: Graphic Designer

Hi, I’m Mira. It is so nice to meet you! I’m a graphic designer at ABC Pvt. Ltd.
I’m passionate about creating beautiful, intuitive designs for a variety of marketing
collateral for our top-tier clients. Before that, I completed my master’s degree in
graphic designing. I’m looking for experiences to learn more about career paths
and ways to grow into the role of an art director in the next few years. Your work
with XYZ brand has inspired the ways I think about design. I would love to talk
Dr.Ashish Mohanty, Associate Professor, Business Communication & Soft Skills, IMIS

more about a potential mentorship with you if that’s something you have time for
and would be interested in.

Context: Adding a Contact

Job Title: Business Analyst

Hello! My name is Anand. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I have a background in

business analytics with experience of just over 10 years in creating data-driven
solutions for various business problems. Specifically, I love and have had great
success in the strategic evaluation of data analysis with our executive staff. It
sounds like you do similar work. I would love to keep in touch to learn more about
what you and your company do.

Context: Seeking a Job Opportunity

Job Title: Media Planner

Hi, I’m Tarun. I’ve spent the last eight years learning and growing in my role as
media planner where I’ve developed and optimised strategic media plans for our
top client and managed a subset of planners as a team lead. One of my proudest
achievements was a dream project that was recognised as a top non-profit
campaign last year. I’ve been interested in moving to the non-profit sector for
quite a while and I love what your company does in education. Would you mind
telling me about any media planning opportunities you may have on the team?