One of the biggest fears when networking is what to say. This often leads people who are new to networking to fall in to the trap of thinking that a sales pitch is required. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Imagine going to a networking event and being blasted with 40 or 50 sales pitches, you wouldn’t want to go back. So…..how can you make an ENGAGING conversation that gains the listeners attention and interest.

The elevator pitch was created for this very purpose. It has meaning, structure and purpose. If used correctly it will open doors to some very useful and valuable conversations. Here are simple ways for you to create a compelling and meaningful elevator pitch. Or ‘30 second personal commercial’.

The perfect commercial will have these essential elements.

1          Brief. It must be no longer then 30 seconds……45 at an absolute most.

2          Clear. The language used must be clear and easy to understand. Don’t forget you are trying to get their interest them not show off or educate    them.

3          Strong. By using strong or powerful language you will grab their attention. So words like advanced, authority, key, leading, preferred, predominant, progressive, specialists will work very well.

4          Memorable. If you language is one dimensional then you will lose the listeners’ attention quickly. If, however you use descriptive, visual and imaginative language you will make your commercial far more memorable.

5          Do. The easiest way to explain what you do is to describe how you have helped a client recently. So having a stock of positive client stories is useful. You can talk about how they had a problem and you we able to help them solve it.

6          Different. Within the story you can explain that as you a different you could reach the clients desired outcome in a more effective, efficient, meaningful, long lasting, or even cost effective way.

7          Hook. You commercial must end with a hook to get the listener interested so a powerful [open] question about their situation should be used.

So that is the first bit now, crafting the sentences and paragraphs…..Write all your ideas down. Don’t self-edit and write at the same time. There are now wrong ideas so write all the different ways you’d like to explain your product or service. Be it funny, serious, conservative or just weird and memorable.

Now write down what you would like your elevator pitch to achieve. Look at your lists and now edit out the elements that you feel either get in the way of this aim or don’t help it to be achieved.

You should be looking at a rough list of things to say. Re-read the list above a using those 7 elements you should be able to craft the text you have into a meaningful 30 second pitch. When you have your first draft you should record it. You should record yourself speaking all the stuff you have. Take a rest for a while and return to it when you have a fresh set of eyes and ears. You will now be much better equipped to spot the great bits, and the not so great bits. You can edit this in to a powerful pitch. Same process, record this and see how this sounds. You should be seeing a really powerful pitch developing. Practice it until it effortlessly just flows. That’s it……..next time you meet that perfect investor in your business, or wonderful strategic business partner or potential big client, you can use this pitch to gain their attention and get them curious to know much much more about your company.

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