Need an Elevator Speech . . . Going Up?

One of my recent posts, I discussed ways to use the introduction of the story format to be the basis for one’s elevator speech.  Being an member of LinkedIn, I thought I would pose the question, “In your opinion, what are the ingredients to a great elevator speech or 30 second info-mercial for a networking event?”

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Now that you have completed Act 1, you have identified the setting, the protagonist (who should be your audience), the pain the protagonist is experiencing, the desired outcome and the solution to get there.  You have established the tone and focus of your message.  You have established an emotional connection with your audience.

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Every story has three parts, a beginning, a middle and an end.  We can thank Aristotle for that concept.  As children we loved stories at bedtime and by the camp fire.  As adults, that love affair has not dwindled.  We love stories and it is an effective way of communication since humans have been using stories as a way of communicating for thousands of years.  Many people say that they can not tell good stories let alone write them.  This series of blogs on writing a script will be based on Cliff Atkinson’s “Beyond Bullet Points” book which I use with my work and think it is a very valuable tool for anyone who is serious about improving their presentation performance and effectiveness.  I strongly suggest you purchase the book and keep it close by as a reference tool. I will spend the next series of blog entries talking about the first part of the story telling process, the beginning.   The story script template can be found on Cliff’s blog.

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Olivia Mitchell posted a blog on June 2 titled,  “Why the stickiest idea in presenting is just plain wrong.” In this post she stated the following:

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This is an all-to-familiar scene in business today.  Mid level and upper management executives are being terminated.  Lets face it, it is not a pretty scenario out there.

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Conducting a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats) Analysis is a common marketing tool in business today.  A SWOT is often done annually during the planning exercises for the next fiscal year.

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It is a couple of days after Christmas and I like most others are suffering from the excessive eating of turkey, stuffing: and in our family, Montreal smoked meat, perogies, veanies (vine leaves stuffed with rice and other great stuff) and hummus.  These are the casualties of a multicultural family composed of Polish, Egyptian and Canadian heritage.  Christmas is also a time customs and rituals.  Christmas mass, stockings hung by the fire place and the “In-Law Shuffle” between Montreal and Barry’s Bay to keep peace on both sides of the family. It is a simple 4 hour drive unless it is a typical Canadian winter.  Extend that time line to 6 to 8 hours. 

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