Your Elevator Speech is Boring! Get Rid of It!

Your elevator speech isn’t winning you any points. Get rid of it now!

You say: But everyone says I need this snappy 30-second elevator speech if I want to get ahead. 

Unfortunately, most elevator speeches are full of trite phases—and they’re boring! They make you sound like everyone else. This is exactly the opposite of what you want to accomplish. When you marketing yourself, your goal is to distinguish yourself from the competition.

You say: But just listen to my elevator speech. It’s really good. “I’m a hard-working, dedicated, results-oriented team player who communicates well, works hard, and impacts the corporation’s bottom line by helping it achieve its goals.”

But it’s not good. It’s full of jargon. It’s murky. There’s no passion. People are left scratching their heads, wondering what you actually do for a living.

OK, this may be a particularly bad example of an elevator pitch, but most elevator pitches I’ve heard aren’t much better. In fact, one of our clients, who had gone through outplacement before coming to us, said the outplacement firm instructed her to include the reason she left her last company in her elevator speech.

Face palm! What horrible advice! Why would you want to bring that up, when, for many people this is a sensitive area? They’ve been fired, they didn’t like their ex-boss, they weren’t getting promoted, they thought the former employer was engaging in shady practices, and so on. It’s not the kind of thing you want to bring up when you’re trying to impress. Don't do this to yourself! 

Do it the right way

Instead of boring everyone within earshot with an elevator speech, impress them with a two-minute profile. We’ve said your goal is to distinguish yourself from your competition. Think about how much money major corporations spend to convince us consumers that their products are faster, sexier, tastier, and more durable that their competitors' products—even though many times, they are virtually identical.

The two-minute profile is a powerful relationship-creating tool with three parts:

1. Explain what you do well, using precise vocabulary (No vague statements like "I'm a good communicator" or "I get results);
2. Provides a powerful, memorable story, showing you in action to demonstrate how good you are. We still remember the great stories of Homer and Aesop, even though both have been dead for well over two thousand years. If you tell a good story, people will remember you too—maybe not for two thousand years, but still…
3. What I want to do next Clearly state what you want to do next (as best you know at the moment).

Without clarity around these three things, it’s very difficult for people you’re networking to help you advance your job search.

The 2-minute profile is also a great confidence builder, both for you and your listener. You'll make a credible impression of how employable you are and demonstrate your serious intent and enthusiasm.

Here are a few good examples of the “What I do well” part:

• As a change management professional, I help to resolve big issues for Fortune 500 companies. People are afraid of change and they resist it. They’re not clear about how they fit in, how to get ahead, or why they ought to stay around. I educate them, dispel those fears, and get them to embrace change.
• As a restaurant executive, people appreciate the way I plan and manage lots of details, build high-functioning teams, and creatively cultivate customer relationships. I’ve quickly turned around underperforming restaurants, transforming them into top performers.
• I generate millions of dollars in revenue by creating and repairing relationships with manufacturers by building and leading both domestic and international sales organizations. 
• I turn around IT departments that aren’t working and build on the success of good ones to support explosive growth. When I’m on the job, users are highly satisfied, the technology is aligned with the people and process and supports business goals, and teams are highly engaged, doing great work and enjoying their jobs.

After saying what you do well, give a polished one-minute success story, followed by a concise statement of what you want to do next—or what you’re currently exploring (if you’re not a hundred percent sure about what’s next).

A great two-minute profile brings out your natural enthusiasm and gets them involved in helping you achieve your campaign goal. A boring elevator speech just won't do that. So stop doing it--now! No more lifeless, jargon-filled recitation of "facts" about you. Instead, get people excited about you and what you're up to by crafting a two-minute profile.

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If you want to have a conversation about your self-presentation, job search, or your career goals, book a free call on my calendar-- https://calendly.com/lucrative-careers