Tom McGuire: Business Advisor

Crafting an

Elevator Pitch

• What is an elevator pitch?

• What makes a great one?

• Getting started and structuring a pitch

• Polishing your pitch

Overview

One minute, to someone next to you …..

• Who you are

• What you study

• What is your idea

Exercise

• is a concise, carefully planned, and well-practiced description about…. that your mother should be able to understand.

What is an Elevator Pitch?

An overview of an idea, product, service, project, person, or other solution.

• Pitching contests

• Business Competitions

• Networking

• Selling

• Seeking funding

• Elevator rides ? !!

Where would you use one?

What is its Purpose?

To Start a conversation

About something that’s important to you,

With someone who can help you.

What gets in the way of this?

• The more potentially helpful a person is to you, the busier they tend to be.

• People tend to have 17 things going on in their head at one time, why should they care about yours?

• Most people are not skilled at listening.

• Most people are not clear about what they want !

• Communication skills.

Pitching Tips

Must: • Clear• Credible• High level; big picture

Pitching Tips

Must Not: • Overwhelm the audience• Think – drinking fountain• …..not firehose !

Inspire Curiosity !

Make it Memorable !

Make it personable…

People buy People!

• Demonstrate your passion and commitment

• Be authoritative

Hook the audience !

• One that gets the response: “Tell me more…”

• inspires curiosity

• is memorable; hooks the audience

• unique: associates the idea with You

• audience do least amount of work

• gets to the point

What makes a great pitch?

• 100 words every 30 seconds

• ‘One liner’ = 10 seconds

• ‘Magic minute’ = 200 words

Getting Started How long?

• Write down what you do in 20 different ways

• Write some short stories that illustrate what you do

• Record yourself saying stuff out loud

• Highlight the best bits

• Edit and let it sit

Getting Content..

• Write a 20 second pitch

• Present, edit, refine

• Get a great start and great end

• Expand to one minute

Tips...

Who are you

What is the issue or need you are addressing

What is your idea or solution

Getting Started Exercise…

Structuring Your Pitch

4 W’s: Who? What? When? Why?

Who:• Who is the audience? Target your pitch.

Structuring Your Pitch

Who:• Who is the team that’s going to make the idea or

business a success? Focus on your strengths.

What?

• What does your idea or product do that people want or need? And how can you prove it?

• What is your revenue model? How do you expect to make money?

When?

• What are your timescales

• Paint a picture of the future

Why?

• Why should I, the listener, care?

• Why should anyone care?

• SELL ME THE WHY !

Personal Pitch Examples

John Smith:"I graduated in record time from Herriot Watt University with an

undergraduate degree in microbiology. I just started researching the influence of algae on prolonging the life span and increasing the population of bottlenose dolphins." (34 words)

Jane Smith:"Bottlenose dolphins need a certain algae to survive. With an Herriot

Watt degree, I'm going to be one of three researchers figuring out how this algae can help dolphins live longer and increase their populations." (34 words)

Polish your Pitch

Practice:• Make people feel like you have delivered it a thousand

times before• Record yourself, video, present to friends

Tell a story:• Words are like little anchors, that hook into the ears of

your listener.

Polish your Pitch

Use sensory language:

• Pepper your pitch and make it sizzle !• Appeal to everyone by using 10% sensory language.

Summary

3 C’s: Clear; Concise and Credible

3 P’s: Personable; Passionate and Polished

4 W’s: Who; What; When and Why ?

Be: Natural; Authoritative; Coachable

Thank you

t.mcguire@sie.ac.uk

July 8th 2011