How to Elevator Pitch Yourself (and Your Business!) Without Sounding Like a Robot

Ever freeze up when someone asks "So, what do you do?" Or worse, have you found yourself reciting a robotic elevator pitch that makes you sound like a walking LinkedIn profile? 

If so, you're not alone. In this episode, I'm breaking down why traditional elevator pitches often fail and how to craft one that actually starts conversations instead of killing them.

You'll learn how to build a flexible elevator pitch framework that adapts to different situations and audiences. And, you may also identify practical strategies for explaining what you do in a way that's natural, engaging, and effective—whether you're at a networking event, on a podcast, or talking to your great aunt and uncle at Thanksgiving dinner.

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EPISODE 141.
Read the show notes and view the full transcript here: https://erinollila.com/how-to-elevator-pitch-yourself-and-your-business/

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Here's info on your host, Erin Ollila
Erin Ollila believes in the power of words and how a message can inform – and even transform – its intended audience. She graduated from Fairfield University with an M.F.A. in Creative Writing, and went on to co-found Spry, an award-winning online literary journal.

When Erin’s not helping her clients understand their website data or improve their website copy, you can catch her hosting the Talk Copy to Me podcast and guesting on shows such as Profit is a Choice, Mindful Marketing, The Power in Purpose, and Business-First Creatives.

Stay in touch with Erin Ollila, SEO website copywriter:
• Learn more about Erin’s VIP intensive options if you’d like to learn more about how you can hire her to help you with your marketing efforts

Transcript

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Picture this, you're at a networking event, someone asks what you do, and suddenly your mind goes blank. Or worse, you start reciting that robotic elevator pitch that you've memorized. You know, I'm a, uh, well, I help businesses with their, , and like, yeah, that or I'm a certified content optimization specialist, leveraging strategic methodologies to facilitate enhanced digital communication to maximize market penetration through sophisticated linguistic frameworks. Okay, y'all, we need to talk about elevator pitches, because whether you're doing the awkward dance of under explaining or sound like you have swallowed a business textbook, something has to change. And no, the answer isn't to memorize another script that makes you sound like a walking LinkedIn profile. So we've been talking all things brand messaging these past few episodes. Today, we're tackling something that makes almost everyone squirm, and that is the elevator pitch. A teeny tiny addition to your brand messaging guide that can take you quite a long way if you learn how to do it correctly. Because here's the thing, if we know that we have multiple ideal clients, shout out to last week's episode, shouldn't we figure out how to craft an elevator pitch that can adapt as well to multiple different audiences? Let's start this episode by talking about what an elevator pitch actually is. And no, I feel like I don't need to say this, but just in case, you don't deliver this pitch while standing in an elevator. An elevator pitch is a quick explanation about what you do that you can use when someone's asking you what you do at a networking event. Or maybe you use it in a bio, like on LinkedIn or Instagram. You may have an elevator pitch listed on your about page. If you're in a podcast interview as a guest, you may have a bio slash elevator pitch that's kind of speaking about why you're the right person to speak to the audience. Or maybe it's just like when your aunt asks you over Thanksgiving dinner what you do and it's your responsibility to actually educate her on who you serve and how you serve them. Do you notice how none of those,, scenarios involved actual elevators? Did you also notice how different all those situations are? Okay. The reason I ask that is because it's actually going to matter a lot in a moment, but stay with me here for a second. An elevator pitch isn't a script that you recite as if you were auditioning for a corporate commercial or a theater production. It's more like having a few good stories or explanations that are ready for different occasions. So before we talk about what makes elevator pitches work, let's actually talk about why traditional pitches fail and why most of us want to take the stairs instead of just having that elevator ride up. The first problem is that they sound Fake. They sound over rehearsed and it's as if you have a robotic delivery nobody wants that. And trust me, the person that you're talking to can tell that it's a rehearsed speech. There's no connection happening, no trust building, none of that, when it feels as if you're just delivering something that's practiced. The second reason why elevator pitches fail so often is because they're trying to cram everything you do into one or two sentences. It's kind of like trying to explain the eight or however many seasons there were of Game of Thrones in under 30 seconds, all while someone is walking away. Well, it starts with these dire wolves and then there's dragons and something about winter coming, but also it doesn't work, right? It doesn't work when there's too much that's happening at once. And then finally, and This is the big one. Most elevator pitches are one size fits all. That's why, we go back to number one, they sound so fake. If you remember last week, we talked about how different clients need different things. The same applies to your elevator pitch. The CEO at a networking event probably cares about different aspects of your business than your aunt does at Thanksgiving dinner. But most of the time, people are memorizing a pitch and using it everywhere. It's about the same effectiveness as, like, having a pickup line that you're doing at both a church and a bar. Right? I think we can imagine how we'd have to alter that depending on our audience. Tell me, does this sound familiar to you? I help blank. Achieve, Blank, Buy, Blank. It's a standard formula people use, and there's nothing wrong with a formula in order to create an elevator pitch. But when we cannot adapt and adjust it based on our messaging and whom we're speaking to, it falls flat and sounds fake. I and I think I just said that was the final reason, but I have one more. One of the reasons why most pitches fail is because they focus on features instead of results. So they say things like, I'm certified in this, I specialize in that, without explaining why anyone should care or what the benefit is for them or people that they may know within their own network. Like if we're going to take a pitch at a networking event, for example. It's kind of like telling someone about like the technical specifications of your car or your camera, instead of taking them for a nice drive in the country or showing them the amazing pictures that you've taken with it. And to add to that, When I say the word results, what I always try to do when I am doing an elevator pitch that I think works, I know we'll get to what works in a moment, is I try to showcase how what I do for my clients actually provides my clients results. So it's not just a, this is who I am and this is what I do. It's showcasing how the people who work with me benefit from working with me. But again, before we talk about how to do it, let's talk about the real purpose of an elevator pitch. An elevator pitch needs to start a conversation. I actually probably should have added this to where pitches fail. When we use that formula I mentioned before. I help blank by doing this for this reason, you know, the standard traditional elevator pitch. What's happening is there is no room for a conversation to start. You're not asking questions. You're making a statement that just barely needs to be acknowledged. You are putting the complete responsibility on the person who is listening and to you to make a decision that they care enough about your actual responsibilities or what you're offering them in order to ask you more questions about yourself. What is in it for them? You need to involve people in a conversation in order for a conversation to actually happen. Think about an elevator pitch like you would think about a movie trailer. A good movie trailer doesn't tell you every single plot point, which may I add for a second, has anyone noticed that in the past five years when you see a movie trailer, it's actually an entire summary of the movie and you see pretty much everything's going to happen? Yeah, that's a pet peeve of mine, but back to the point. A good elevator pitch is like a Good movie trailer. It makes you want to watch the movie. It gives you enough information to be interested, but it actually is leaving you with questions that you want answered. And your elevator pitch should do that. It should give people enough information that they want to know more. And it should encourage them. To ask those questions, encourage them to involve themselves within your pitch. Because if someone's actually interested in what you do, they're going to ask follow up questions. But when we compare my previous example of just, you know, tossing information out on a person versus inviting them into a conversation, they have to be so seriously interested in learning about you, but if our pitch involves them in the conversation, they could only be lightly interested or mildly curious in order to take that next step and ask to learn more about you or more about your business. So above all, try to remember that your elevator pitch should find a way to be conversational or interactive. And I share that from the example of like going to a networking event and actually verbally saying this or even talking to your aunt about it at Thanksgiving. But, when we talk about, , stagnant,, areas of using your elevator pitch, like the LinkedIn bio, like on your about page. I also think this is an opportunity here where we can build curiosity, right? So while those words are always living on the page, we can treat them like that movie trailer where we're giving them enough information to make them entice them to be interested and providing a very solid, , call to action to encourage them to learn more. Now that we're clear on the ways that elevator pitches tend to fail and what they should actually do for us, let's talk about building a framework that we can use to actually make people interested in our elevator pitch and make us feel, most importantly, confident in giving the elevator pitch. And I want you to think, instead of thinking of a formula of I help blank do blank by, I want you to instead think of an elevator pitch being made up of multiple blocks. Let's imagine Legos for a moment. I'm going to give you Lego pieces, and I'm going to explain to you that you can use those Lego pieces to build different things with them. That is how an elevator pitch framework should be set up, so that you feel extremely confident in the job of each piece. Each and every one of your Lego blocks and you can determine what pieces you pull together to create a picture for the person you're speaking with or for the audience who can read or hear your elevator pitch. Here's the first block. What problem This is not where we get fancy and start writing a mission statement. This is just literally, what problem do you solve? From an SEO perspective, a problem that I solve is that I help people get found. They're looking to bring more people into their world, into their business. I can help them do that. So a bad example here, instead of just talking about me, a bad example would be something like, I facilitate optimal communication strategies. That sounds ridiculous. Okay. Like, what does that actually mean? A good example could be something like, I help businesses sound like actual humans in their marketing copy. Do you, do you see the difference there?, one sounds like it came from a buzzword generator and the other sounds like something you'd actually say when you're speaking to someone. So if the first block is what problem you solve, the second block is going to be how you solve it. You want to make this feel tangible. So you wouldn't say something like, through my proprietary methodology, I interpret, you would say something like, I use my experience in copywriting to reimagine your emails into conversion driven copy. Your third block would be Why This Matters. This right here is key. Key, key, key. This is where you can show results, this is where you can show benefits, and this is where you can develop that conversation if you're trying to include people in an actual verbal elevator pitch. And your final block, think of that as a conversation opener. This is what most people miss, and this is where you're making it easy for them to ask questions, or continue the conversation an example of how I've done this in the past before, since we're kind of on an SEO slant right now, is when people ask if I'm pitching my, my content writing services, or I'm really just trying to introduce myself to someone as a content writer for big brands, and I'm like, Maybe I'd say something to the effect of, um I help big brands act, sound like actual humans so that their audiences or so that their customers feel comfortable purchasing from, from them by writing content that answers the questions that they're Googling, you know, the questions that their clients are Googling. And I do this so that way they can attract higher clients, higher value clients, and develop longer lasting relationships with the customers that they have. Here's the last block, the conversation opener. In fact, you know, one of my clients was Hill's Science Diet and I've written pet content so that way people can Google questions that they have like, Are carrots bad for my dog? Or, how do I stop dogs barking at a fence? Or, are dogs afraid of the dark? And yes, I've actually written at least two of the three of those and those specific posts that I've written for my client have actually gained tens of thousands of monthly visits to their website. Have you ever thought about having a search optimization strategy for the content you create? When I ask them that question, I'm now making it about them. I've showed them my expertise and , how we could continue our conversation based on my experience in education. And I'm inviting them in so they don't feel like I am just going to blabber on about myself or that the only thing that matters is my needs. When you invite someone in, they are much more likely going to stay in that conversation than they're going to look for an excuse to get out of talking to you. So, I thought it would be really fun to use AI tools to help me create some elevator pitches to see how it would look in real life by taking different Like these different Lego blocks and and putting them together for different scenarios, because what's vital to me, like it's extremely important that if you take anything away from this episode, you understand that. Your elevator pitch can and absolutely 100 percent should be adapted based on the scenario or the audience that you have. So I thought it'd be really fun to go back to the earlier part of this episode for some of those different scenarios. You know, a website page, the Thanksgiving networking event. And then also saying, here is my first Lego block. Like, here is exactly where I talk about the problems that I solve. Here is my second block about how I solve those problems. Here is my third block about why it matters. And here is my last block, which are a few conversation openers. I'm going to get back to this in one second. I want to stop, pause, put a little disclaimer, um, and just say that there are not just four blocks to build an elevator pitch. I put them there so that I did not confuse you and so that I could keep it simple, but you can actually create more blocks to move your pitch around. For example, A fourth block? No, we have four blocks. A a fifth block could be the type of clients you work with. A sixth block could be, uh, your favorite way to approach this. Like, um, for me, for example, it could be case studies or a blog post or website copy if I'm talking about like a attracting new clients. So four blocks are a great framework for you to get started on building an elevator pitch and when you feel really comfortable with it. Increase the number of blocks that you have so that you can create different pictures. But, like I mentioned, I used some AI tools to give me example elevator pitches that I have approved for this episode based on those different blocks and based on the different scenarios I mentioned earlier. Let's see how they're stacking up differently depending on who we're talking to in this, you know, scenario that we've created. We're going to start with the business networking event. And here is the elevator pitch. I help service based businesses sound more human in their marketing. We work together to rewrite their website and email so they can attract better clients without sounding like everyone else in their industry. Actually, I just finished working with a business coach who doubled her consultation bookings after we rewrote her website together. It turns out people really do prefer reading words that they actually understand. That's option one. Option two. This is how we could say something similar to your aunt at Thanksgiving. Do you know how most business websites sound really stiff and corporate? I help them sound more like real people so that their customers actually want to work with them. Kind of like how you always say dad's work emails sound like a robot wrote them. Right. I fixed that so that doesn't happen for my clients. That was scenario number two. Let's try number three, a podcast intro. I'm the person businesses call when they're tired of sounding like everyone else in their industry. Through my copywriting and strategy work, I help them turn their expertise into words that actually connect with their ideal clients. Because let's be honest, nobody wants to read another quote unquote innovative solutions provider's website, do they? So you see what I did right there, or technically what AI helped me do right there? It is the same basic information, but it is a completely different delivery for each of those three pitches. But each version is true to who I am, well, within this scenario of building blocks, what I do, though it's packaged differently for different audiences. Before you get too excited about this, which I, it's what I hope you're feeling, let's talk about what not to do. Please consider this a don't list. First, do not play buzzword bingo. You know, that example that I shared earlier about what doesn't work? Do not play If it sounds fake, if you're using way too many industry terms, nobody needs to hear about your synergistic approach to leveraging cross platform optimization methodologies. Absolutely nobody needs to hear that. Another not do. Make it all about you. When you use the word I, I'm constantly throughout your pitch, you're distancing that person you're talking to. I'm passionate about. I love. I'm certified in. Like, I'm glad you're passionate, but your potential clients care more about what you can do for them versus how much you love actually doing that thing. Third, and again, I think this actually goes right back to my point about things that are not working, the fail, failures for elevator pitches. This would be that whole kitchen sink approach of trying to cram every single thing that you do into one pitch. It's kind of like trying to fit like your entire wardrobe into a carry on bag. Something is going to get wrinkled. No one's going to be happy about it. And you're going to lose people. It's kind of like the squirrel ADHD approach to saying what you do. You know, I think if you've listened to this show long enough, you know, that I have a few different ways I work with clients in my business from website copy to content writing or content audience to SEO, if I tried to explain all four of those things, Even though they fit very neatly under the same umbrella of content marketing and copywriting, if I tried to explain all four of those things within one elevator pitch, I would lose the person I was talking to. Which is why I have to have the skills necessary to read the room of what I want to present to the audience based on who my audience is and what scenario they're kind of existing in. Another don't do is to be vague. We need to actually let people know what we're doing. I see this all the time on websites,, saying something like, I help people live their best lives, could mean anything. To anyone because one we all have different versions of what our best life looks like and two What do you do? Are you a life coach a personal trainer a financial advisor a wine seller? You need to be specific enough to know People can identify themselves if they need you and then I think finally, and this would go for any type of marketing advice I give you here on this podcast, it's don't sound like an infomercial. We don't need to sell everywhere. that we have marketing content or messages that we're giving to an audience. Specifically in an elevator pitch, you don't need to be selling. You don't need to convert in a couple of sentences. So if you say things like, are you tired of bad copy? Sick of websites that don't convert? Call now. And in just three easy payments, we can work together to attract your ideal audience and convert them into paying clients. Like, sure, some of those words are good, some of those words are helpful, but when you put it all together like that, it just sounds cheesy and generic. It is not going to help actually convert those people, right? You want this whole thing to feel natural. And I, I really do want to pause for a second to share with you that natural elevator pitches do not happen overnight. And I know you want them to. I know you want to feel super confident like going into a networking event. Busting out a few sentences about who you are and who you help and how you do it. But you need to actually practice an elevator pitch. You need to feel really confident about those building blocks that I mentioned so that you can Adjust them, you know, like a lot of people use those formulas, like I help blank do blank by blank because they are, , formulaic they can fill in the blanks and just leave it at that. It's the littlest amount of work that they need to do. But when we get comfortable in showcasing those blocks I mentioned in different ways, we, it's all of a sudden natural to just pick up a block and add it to another block, just like Legos are. You might not know what the picture is that you're putting together at the end, but if you just start putting those pieces together and you start practicing, eventually, you're not going to have to use directions or you're not going to have to, question what you're creating. You're going to just know what it is in that moment. So practicing your elevator pitch is really what makes it natural. You know, it's what makes it sound like a conversation and not a monologue. So when you start to put this in practice in real life, you're definitely going to want to do things like read the room, you're going to want to adjust your energy and the detail level that you share with them. Any precise stories that you include, examples or results that you shared based on the scenario you're in and who you're talking to. You're also gonna want to leave some mystery. Again, remember, good movie trailers actually make you want to watch the movie so you find out what happens. Not those horrible new movie trailers that you see all the time on Netflix that's like, Here's the entire movie in a two minute clip.. If you have a good elevator pitch, it's basically enticing them to want to learn more about you. And, you know, more importantly, make it easy for people to ask follow up questions after you've shared some of these blocks with them. Involve them. Even if you have to be the one that gets that conversation going by asking a question of them, it's important to actually include them., again, the goal isn't to close a sale in your elevator pitch. This is not a shark tank experience where you have a set amount of time to, you know, share everything there is about your story in order to get funding. The goal here is to start a conversation that maybe does lead to a sale. Or maybe it leads to a referral, or maybe it leads to just someone that you can collaborate with, with later on. You don't really know who it is that you meet, especially in things like networking. Heck, even your aunt could send someone your way. She might not hire you for what it is that you do for work, but maybe she knows someone who's looking for the type of service you provide or the products that you sell. So. The next time that someone asks you what you do, instead of freezing up or reciting a memorized script, try this. Take those building blocks and arrange them in a way that makes sense for who you're talking to, but focus on building a conversation. Because at the end of the day, the best elevator pitch isn't a pitch at all. It's the beginning of a true conversation. Hopefully this helps, and I'll see you back next week where we'll keep talking copy.