Elevator Speech

Over Spring Break, I met with multiple contacts from my home church to speak about potential internship opportunities and business insight they had for me. One concept that I heard from multiple different people is the “elevator speech.” An elevator speech is a 30-second prepared “speech” that you have to sell and present yourself. Think about if you got in the elevator and had 30 seconds to introduce yourself and set yourself apart in that time frame. In the search for internships, it is important to use that concept as a selling point for yourself to set yourself apart from other prospects. But the interesting part about the concept is how we learn that the opposite can be more appealing. Rather than using 30 seconds to cram in everything one needs to know about you, you should ask questions first that can prompt the other person to tell you what they are looking for, which then shapes your response and idea of what you can provide. Obviously, either concept can be applicable depending on the situation, but it is important to both be aware to concisely communicate what you have to provide for someone, but also search for what they are looking for and how you can match that. I am sometimes quick to give a sentence or two so I can make it clear my stance on something, or possibly what I have to offer in a situation. While that is important to be able to clean up your ability to avoid dragging out a conversation and get something across well, I also find myself frequently realizing that I didn’t have a full understanding of what the other person needed, and that I could’ve shifted my “elevator speech” to match that better, had I taken time to realize what I would like them to know so that it matches their needs. It is important to develop both the skills of the elevator speech and asking questions, but more importantly, using each concept to sharpen the other and shape them to help you the best way they can.