Elevator Pitch… What’s Yours?

So I am continually hearing the phrase “Prepare your elevator pitch…”… and it got me thinking… if I had 20 seconds to sell my skills or products to a potential employer or investor… what would I say…

Why should any employer hire me?
Why should anyone buy my products?
What’s unique about me or my products?

So many questions…

What is an elevator pitch? It is that quick straight-to-the-point persuasive speech that you give someone who would generate additional interest in you, or idea or your project or your start-up or your products.

Reading up on this, here’s some pointers that you may find useful in crafting a great pitch, that can be changed often, but tailored to your particular audience.

Who, what, why, next steps….

Who are you and what do you do?
What’s unique about you? An article calls it your “Unique Selling Proposition (USP)”
Why should anyone listen to you?
Next steps… call to action, if you have a business card (which you should always have with you), now is time to exchange it; Are you on LinkedIn (and you should be, and keep it professional)?
Follow-up with this lead.
Continually practice and tweak your “elevator pitch”.