Elevator Pitch tips

An elevator pitch is the most important part of a first impression. You need to know exactly what to say and how to say it when someone asks you what you do.

Analyzing John Ford's elevator pitch as a website analyst, which serves as a perfect example of a pitch that needs tweaking to reach perfection.

John studies website traffic to find where websites are leaving money on the table, losing leads, and missing opportunities to attract and engage customers.

Learn what John does well and what improvements can make his pitch more impactful so viewers can apply these lessons to their own elevator pitches.

John's enunciation is great and very clearly understandable to his audience.

• John has very good pacing with understandable cadence • He goes slowly enough so people can process information for the first time • He avoids the common mistake of rushing through the pitch because he thinks it's boring

• He has a very open torso without crossing hands over chest or legs • He doesn't try to hide behind objects or cups • He keeps his torso aimed towards the person he's speaking with

An open torso aimed towards the other person shows engagement and is hugely impactful for making memorable impressions.

John has very little head, arm, and torso movement. This is a common mistake because when thinking about a memorized pitch, people freeze their body while recalling words.

• Memorize your pitch until it's on the tip of your tongue for instant recall • Practice loosening up shoulders • Add head movement with slight tilts showing engagement • Nod very slightly along with your most important points

When your pitch is memorized, you're not focused on remembering words, so you can have more fluidity in your body and more natural expression.

Slight head movements and tilts add fluidity and natural expression, making people feel they're connecting with you on a deeper level.

Use your hands to demo or explain concepts in your pitch, not just rely on verbal content to explain what you do.

• Use hands to show the whole thing, demonstrating you're all-inclusive • Bring big concepts into something small, like making complicated technology problems easy

• Helps the other person visually understand what you do • Adds more movement that creates fluidity and freedom of expression

Think of at least two different ways you can use your hands to demo, which will make you more connected and more engaged.

Research has shown that our brain loves stories. When we hear a story, we light up, remember them, and feel like what you do is personal to us.

Add a very quick example at the very end when you talk about how you work with clients.

You can say something like, 'For example, one of my recent clients had a cake decorating business and I did everything on her website for her.' It can be that short.

• When people hear example or story, they instantly tie it to themselves • This pulls them in so they want to share about their own needs • The ultimate goal is to show how you can help them so they want to hire you