Elevator pitch

February 24, 2019

What is your elevator pitch?, is a question coaches love to ask in leadership/development seminars and trainings. And then you see people busy preparing statements, very long so not even the ground to top journey at Burj Khalifa would be sufficient, so complicated and boring, that any receiver would voluntarily take the stairs after a few floors, simply to escape the pitch. 
Worse, its all but forgotten a few days after the seminar and IF, and it’s a big IF you ever have a senior interested enough in hearing it, you probably blush and stutter a few words and demotivate yourself afterwards if you have lost the chance of your life time to make a decent career. True, or not? Write me if you have other experiences.

To me it’s a nonsense exercise at least in its current form. There, the focus is mainly on a role or a function you fulfil and you argue obviously from that position. It will quickly allow the receiver to find the drawer to put you in. The receiver will also evaluate you, your status, your hierarchy and hence, if your friend or foe. Mostly, the receiver will know nothing about you.

Recently I asked a few business people (in a group) who didn’t know each other to introduce themselves without managing their job titles, their hierarchy, their companies, simply who they are. You should have seen the faces!

Think about it. How would you pitch yourself to somebody without mentioning the role you are playing? Husband, Mother, CEO, street sweeper, lawyer etc. Take 20min of this Sunday evening to evaluate how you would have answered if I had asked you the introductory question. Think about if the role has taken over the person or if its still you. 

I would argue if you and your role are in sync, if your passion and joy are in what you are doing, if its not status but rather your purpose you wont need to train for a pitch as it will be your heart and gut talking all the time.

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