Sometimes, you only have 30 seconds to make yourself stand out.
Whether you’re at a networking event, job interview, or career fair, you need to make a good first impression to gain your audience’s interest. Everyone has their own agenda. You must make the most of their time by providing them with all the information they need to understand who you are and what you offer. That’s where a personal elevator pitch comes in.
An elevator pitch, or elevator speech, is a concise explanation of your professional or personal brand. You write and memorize one you can deliver like a speech when the time is right. It usually lasts less than a minute — or about the time it takes to ride an elevator.
Creating and presenting an elevator pitch about yourself forces you to consider your strengths, describe your skills with brevity, and remember why you’re an asset.
Why write an elevator pitch?
Even though it’s a small sample size of you and your ideas, an elevator pitch can leave a lasting impression. It only takes a few milliseconds for someone to judge your character. If you use your time wisely with a well-prepared pitch, you’ll make your mark.
You can also use an elevator pitch to encourage an emotional response from your audience. As Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Psychology backs this up: emotional memories are often more powerful and long-lasting. If your elevator pitch includes a brief anecdote from your childhood that resonates with your audience, for example, they might remember who you are and what you offer long after the interaction.
And because you’re meant to pull out an elevator pitch at a moment’s notice and make it concise, crafting one is a great way to learn to efficiently present your thoughts. Creating one can help you develop your writing, editing, and communication skills, among others. You’ll also develop research skills since you should customize every pitch to your audience or the networking event.
Drafting a personal elevator pitch is also an opportune time to affirm your value. If you experience imposter syndrome, or the feeling that you’re not good enough or prepared as well as you should be, brainstorming what makes you or your product valuable convinces you of this as well.
You can treat drafting, practicing, and delivery as a self-affirmation process that reminds you of your worth.
Lastly, writing an elevator pitch is a fantastic time to discover any kinks in your business model. If you’re just starting out with a business idea, you can begin the brainstorming process by jotting down a one-minute speech about your offering.
Then, go off of this information to note any shortfalls, risks, and issues with your idea. This will help you develop a more comprehensive and thoughtful business plan to move forward with.
When to give an elevator pitch about yourself
Some pitch-worthy situations are subtle, like when a professional in your industry starts chatting you up at your kid’s favorite park. Others are more obvious, like in an interview when asked, “Tell me about yourself.”
Here are some more settings that are perfect for delivering a pitch about yourself:
- Networking events: The purpose of networking opportunities is to connect with like-minded professionals. Use these events to broaden your circle and share your offering with as many people as possible.
- Job interviews: Typically right at the start, a recruiter or hiring manager will ask you to briefly describe yourself and your career up to that point. They usually want more than a reminder of your cover letter and resume, instead hoping to gain a well-rounded summary of your work ethic, personality, and employee strengths.
- LinkedIn professional summary and messages: Your professional social media presence speaks volumes about who you are and what you’re capable of. Make your LinkedIn profile reflect your offering and differentiators to increase the chance viewers consider you for opportunities.
- Career fairs: A career fair tests your ability to carry small talk and practice your elevator pitch. If you’re trying to land a job, you might consider creating a networking plan to execute at a job fair. To take some pressure off, remember that employers want you to be the one — they're looking for a good match for their organization and hope every person they encounter is it.
- Reunions: Be it a “Class of '09” school get together or a professional dinner for previous colleagues, reunions can be valuable networking opportunities in disguise. You never know what industry your high school best mate ended up in — and whether he might have the resources necessary to help you climb the corporate ladder of your choosing.
How to write an elevator pitch about yourself: 5 steps
Your elevator pitch should be straight to the point, error-free, and compelling enough that they remember you. After reading or hearing about your expertise and offering, they should know precisely the opportunities they ought to keep you in mind for.
Follow these five steps to craft your personal proposal.
1. Explain who you are
Start by introducing yourself — your name and current profession. Then find a couple key explanatory words to describe yourself further, perhaps altering your word choices to your audience.
If you’re a graphic designer, you might say, “Hey, I’m [name], a graphic designer focusing on search-engine-optimized websites. But really, I love any project that gets the creative juices flowing.” The listener now knows your name, what you do, your specialty, and that you’re a creative individual who might take on any fun project that comes your way.
2. Explain what you want
Next, get to the point of what you want. If you’re looking for funding for your startup, say so — right off the bat. People appreciate transparency, so being honest puts you in a good light right away. You also can only gain what you ask for, and mentioning your needs immediately ensures you share this information before they lose interest.
3. Explain what makes you unique
Your unique selling point depends on what you’re selling and could be anything from a great accomplishment, unique product feature you worked to create, or an interesting hobby.
If you’re trying to make a good impression on a coworker, you might express interest in an activity you know they enjoy. And if you’re pitching yourself to a hiring manager, you might note an employee strength that perfectly suits a role they’re hiring for.
4. Create a call to action (CTA)
A CTA is an action you prompt the reader or listener to take after an interaction. When an email ends with a “Sign up for our newsletter!” button, that’s a CTA.
In most situations, the best elevator pitches end with a CTA to keep the momentum going and spur engagement from your audience. You might direct them to check out your website or look at a demo you’ve sent. Or you might simply leave them with your contact information, like on a business card, and extend the offer for them to reach out. And you can let them know you’ll follow up to show your proactivity and care.
But sometimes, like in a job interview, you won’t close a pitch with a CTA. Instead, you can simply leave them on the intriguing note of your unique differentiator.
5. Edit what you’ve written
Editing helps you condense information and ensure only the most important bits remain. Grammar and spelling errors also seem unprofessional so you can make a better impression if your work is error-free.
If your pitch is verbal, you can still edit the content you memorize, reading it aloud several times to catch sticky areas or confusing sentences.
How to deliver an elevator pitch about yourself
As Malcolm Gladwell argued, it takes 10,000 hours to perfect any craft. You likely won’t require this much time to write and memorize a great elevator pitch, but practice helps. You’ll feel more confident and comfortable knowing you won’t forget any details.
Here are five tips to help you deliver a fantastic personal pitch.
1. Speak naturally and articulately
For verbal pitches, your delivery is just as important as its content. You don’t want to sound like a pushy salesperson — even though you’re selling yourself. And you want them to understand your words well so they catch important information.
If you animate some of the highlights of your speech by adjusting your intonation or adding emotion, they might retain this information more because you’ve increased their engagement.
When deciding how to deliver a pitch, work on cultivating welcoming body language but respecting their personal space. You should also make eye contact to keep them listening and try to convey a calm and relaxed demeanor to show them your confidence.
2. Tweak your pitches
Make your pitch more effective by customizing it to your audience. This builds rapport and shows you respect their time and aren’t simply delivering a generic speech. Instead, you’ve taken the time to research who they are, their interests, and how you might fit into their plans.
If delivering this pitch during a job interview, use language from the job description to show you’re a great fit. And if introducing yourself at a networking event, include industry-specific achievements those around you might care about.
3. Take it slow
While you have a lot you want to say in 30–60 seconds, don’t rush through your pitch. This makes it difficult for the listener to catch important details (like what you do or offer) and makes you seem nervous. You also want them to become engaged in your pitch — asking questions is the best outcome because this means the conversation can continue and you can provide even more information.
Slowing down requires practice. Deliver your speech to a trusted friend or coworker and ask for feedback about your speed. Once they approve of a certain pace, figure out how long it takes for you to deliver it that way and practice always reaching that allotted time.
You can also practice breathing exercises to train yourself to deliver comfortably. Your vocal power, tone, and pace are all connected to your ability to control your breathing and, therefore, your pulse. Breathing exercises also help control anxiety (the jitters) and allow you to focus on what matters — making a good impression.
4. Engage with a question
Ending your speech with a question is a fantastic way to keep the conversation going and show interest in your audience instead of just talking about yourself. You might ask a hiring manager if they could tell you more about the company’s origin story, for example, or a fellow industry professional about what their career path has looked like thus far.
5. Avoid rambling
You’ll typically ramble if you’re nervous or your thoughts are disorganized, and this is especially likely if you haven’t practiced your pitch and feel put on the spot. But rambling means you’ve lost the story’s point — and so will your audience. You’ll likely focus on unimportant details, missing the highlights you need your listener to remember.
The best way to avoid rambling is to practice your pitch. And if you expect you’ll need to sell yourself on the spot in situations where you can’t prepare, like a large networking event, you can memorize several key points about yourself to make conversing easier.
If you notice yourself rambling, don’t fret — simply return to your point to strengthen this habit and with time, you’ll rarely lose your train of thought.
Pitch with confidence
Expressing who you are and what you offer can be difficult, but doing so reminds you of your worth and ensures others understand the solutions you provide.
When presenting your personal brand, make sure the elevator pitch about yourself is snappy, informative, and memorable. You’ve got a 30-second elevator ride — and hopefully tons of practice — to get your point across.
If possible, rehearse several versions of your speech so you’re prepared for every occasion. You’ll know how to effectively sell yourself to the interested hiring manager and the distracted investor. And you’ll have gained priceless professional growth, like researching your audience and adjusting your body language and tone of voice to the situation.
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