Imagine you've just stepped into an elevator with a potential investor, the elevator is going up, and you have exactly thirty seconds, not a second more, to grab their interest with your idea.
You take a deep breath, open your mouth... and nothing. Your mind races from one thought to another, and you don't have your project presentation on hand or several hours to describe it in detail.
Only a few of us are natural speakers who can deliver a perfect speech under such pressure, especially when it involves significant money and often the future of your project. How to not miss your chance and get the other party's attention to make them want to learn more about your solution?
Tips to begin with
1) If your business were a Tweet
Think of your elevator pitch as the Twitter version of your business plan. Sure, during your thirty-second ride, you can use more than 280 characters, but overwhelming someone with multiple tweets will be seen as spam.
2) Monitor your speech
Most people can articulate and comprehend 120 to 200 words per minute, so you definitely won't fit more than seventy-five clear words in half a minute. However, calm and slower speech conveys trust and demonstrates your knowledge, so use a maximum of seventy-five understandable words.
3) Don't be lazy
Regularly improve and rehearse your pitch in front of a mirror. You never know when the next opportunity will come. Effective business networking means always having a trick up your sleeve, a business card in your pocket, and a smile on your face.
1) If your business were a Tweet
Think of your elevator pitch as the Twitter version of your business plan. Sure, during your thirty-second ride, you can use more than 280 characters, but overwhelming someone with multiple tweets will be seen as spam.
2) Monitor your speech
Most people can articulate and comprehend 120 to 200 words per minute, so you definitely won't fit more than seventy-five clear words in half a minute. However, calm and slower speech conveys trust and demonstrates your knowledge, so use a maximum of seventy-five understandable words.
3) Don't be lazy
Regularly improve and rehearse your pitch in front of a mirror. You never know when the next opportunity will come. Effective business networking means always having a trick up your sleeve, a business card in your pocket, and a smile on your face.
Prepare your elevator pitch
During your thirty-second startup presentation, you should cover the following:
- Identify the problem
- Present your solution
- Explain why the investor should trust you
- Define the value proposition
- Issue a call to action (CTA)
During your thirty-second startup presentation, you should cover the following:
- Identify the problem
- Present your solution
- Explain why the investor should trust you
- Define the value proposition
- Issue a call to action (CTA)
To prepare, you can use the Harvard-MIT template. Create one concise sentence for each of the points mentioned above. Remember the main goal of your speech: highlight the uniqueness of your solution and focus on the value it brings to the customer.
Problem
"[Customer] is often frustrated by the challenges associated with [Action]."
Solution
"[Your new solution] eliminates the need for the customer to use [Their old solution]."
Why you
"After [Time], [Customer type] trusted [Your company] to provide the best solutions for [Customer's field of operation]."
Value proposition
"With [Your new solution], you can [save more/earn more] [time/money] on [Action]."
CTA
"I'll give you a call to learn more about your situation [Get contact information]. Thank you for your time."
Don't forget the main goal of your speech: highlight the uniqueness of the solution and emphasize its benefits.
What will an elevator pitch look like in practice?
You can draw inspiration from the example of Alan Pock, co-founder and CEO of Czech startup Investown.cz, who has experience in the startup community in Silicon Valley. Investown is a part of the Seed Starter family in the Czech Republic.
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