Marketing Action Club BLOG

You know the drill – “everyone is going to give their 30 second infomercial”. It is standard networking group fare, but where did the 30 seconds come from anyway?

 Grabbing attention is something that happens pretty quickly in a networking setting. People are there to talk to others of interest and they will likely hear many intros over the course of the event/evening/day and so you need to merit their attention quickly. The following things are in play therefore:

1. Practical time constraints – you are unlikely to have 10 minutes to talk to one person. Don’t bank on it anyway – they have, and you have, plenty of other people to meet
2. Decision time – you’ve heard how fast people make decisions as to whether they like you, whether they like your appearance in a job interview and so on. The same is true here – your listeners will not take 5 minutes to form an opinion. it is more like 10 -30 seconds
3. Attention span – people will move onto something more interesting if they are not engaged with your message quickly. Keeping it under 30 seconds grabs attention but isn’t enough to answer all their questions so they will want to know more
4. Politeness – you don’t have permission to talk endlessly at a networking meeting. You need to be respectful of other people’s time.

These are all reasons to keep in ming that 30 seconds is your limit, unless specifically told otherwise. Taking less time is OK (as long as you have a compelling message in that time) but going over is not!

Put together your own 30 Second Elevator Speech – www.30SecondElevatorSpeech.com

Go to any networking event and you will hear them – elevator speeches. They are the staple of organized  as well as open networking events.

There are many ways to do this well, but  5 extremely common ways businesses typically sabotage their efforts to grab attention with their introduction.

1. Talking About Yourself

2. Assuming Others Understand You

3. Irrelevent Information

4. Trying to be Cute

5. NOT Trying

For a longer article on what these are, plus tips to avoid making them here is a link to our full length article in Ezine Aritcles:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Elevator-Speech-Examples—The-FIVE-MOST-Common-Mistakes&id=4806450

http://www.30secondElevatorSpeech.com Elevator Speech Examples – How do you make sure you gain the attention of your audience quickly? Make sure what you are saying grabs that attention immediately (more…)

http://www.30secondElevatorSpeech.com Elevator Speech Tip – if you were to chose one thing to focus on for elevator speech success – what would that be? It’s a mindset and you can develop it! (more…)

Elevator Speech Examples – How do you make your Elevator Speech stand out when your business is unfamilar to most of your audience?

How about some elevator speech examples when you are in a less competitive business? There is good news and bad news in this situation.

When your business is not something most people come across every day, you have the advantage that your elevator speech will likely be novel to those listening. In contrast to the networking event where there are 5 people who essentially give the same message, in your case you will almost certainly be the only one.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that your audience will not have any idea what you do and you need to get that across quickly and in a manner that grabs their attention and that they understand.

You may have heard examples of elevator speeches that leave you thinking: “huh? I heard the words but I didn’t understand what that person does”. That isn’t a reaction you want. When there is a lack of understanding there tends to be a lack of action.

The businesses I am talking about includes any that defy an easy label. Examples are endless but could include various specific forms of consultancy, coaching, niche specific services that help businesses save money and so on. The fact that they are specific is the challenge – how do you get people to understand and identify themselves to you as potention clients?

How do you gain attention in this situation?

Here are some fictional elevator speech examples with an explanation of the thinking:

“I work with small business owners who are frustrated that although they love their business, it has taken over their lives and they are beginning to resent the lack of time they have to spend with their family”

This example identifies the target audience and the issue they are dealing with. It avoids the use of terms that might confuse such as “coach” and invites the listener to think about who they know that might fit that definition. It also invites the question: “How do you do that?” which is a good thing.

Another example:

“We are focussed on fast growing, medium sized businesses that are struggling to bring the right people into the business to manage such growth, and are concerned that they are not keeping up with legal and administrative issues as they bring people on board so fast”

Again, identifies the target and a couple of issues. The language is simplistic, avoiding jargon, and keeps the focus on the challenges the ideal clients are facing. 

In summary, the solution to the challenge of having an unfamiliar service is essentially the same as it is when describing a familiar one:

1. Clearly defined client niche – especially important when your service is specialized
2. The nature of the issues those clients face and their concerns
3. No “traditional” elevator speech material about your services, experience and where your office is located.
4. Avoids jargon – a particular temptation when you work frequently in a very specific niche.

These elevator speech examples follow this model and the great news is that once you have grabbed attention and are in a conversation with a prospect, they will likely not have been exposed to your type of service before. They may not even have realized there was a solution to their challenges. That is a great conversation to have!

For more step-by-step advice on creating a real ATTENTION GRABBING 30 Second Elevator Speech, visit http://www.30secondElevatorSpeech.com