How do you respond to, “Tell us about yourself?”
At 7:30 a.m one day last week I was invited to “Tell us about yourself?” by the host of the networking group whose breakfast meeting I was attending.
The expectant faces turned towards me were open, interested and they were on a time limit. They had parking meters on their minds. Their egg breakfasts were quickly cooling. And, despite their very encouraging and genuine interest, their attention spans were short.
Enter the customized elevator speech. It’s a compressed ‘pitch’ describing you or your work in energetic, targeted 60, 30 or 15 second versions. This excellent little verbal tool connects you, quickly and memorably to other people.
Sure, your website is important. Your carefully chosen clothes can make or break an impression. They do not, however, take the place of a personally delivered and well crafted message. Bring along your “elevator pitch” and you bring confidence, self esteem and belief in yourself – and you’ll be packing some great accessories to enhance your memorable message.
Brevity is best in presenting yourself
Most people are not ready to respond with the one positive piece that can instantly move any conversation closer to a new friendship or solid business connection.
To get your short pitch it to achieve its first critical goals-it must capture a person’s attention and then keep it.
Your message, while unique, is competing with noise, distractions, overwhelm, tight schedules and the energy of your prospective conversation partners in a short attention span world.
Make it clear, concise and have it stir curiosity.
After that, take a breath. It will help you find the best balance in your elevator speech for others’ reactions, comments or questions. It is called a ‘speech’ or ‘pitch’ precisely because it is adjustable and is designed to both introduce you and to lead somewhere.
Can you do it in 20 words of less? http://helenakaufman.com/present-yourself-in-20-words-or-less-part-2-of-2/
