Find a Job: The Elevator Speech

Submitted by CCCL_MarliaH

Imagine this scenario…you’re being considered for a higher position than what you currently hold, and you’ve been given a five-minute meeting with the CEO of your company. So much to say but so little time! What should you do?

Create an elevator speech, which is also known as an elevator pitch. An elevator speech/pitch is a short, persuasive 30-60 second speech describing your skills, experience, and what makes you stand out. Overall, it’s a speech describing what makes you the right person for the job, and should be concise enough to relate during an elevator ride. 

When do we use elevator speeches? 

• Networking events-conferences and job fairs, when introducing yourself to strangers who happen to be in the same or desired career path as you.  

• Job interviews, when asked to tell a little bit about yourself, or in answer to the question “Why should we hire you for this position?”

Questions to ask yourself while creating your speech:

What makes you unique?

What do you want them to remember about you?

What are your goals?

You may have already written some parts of your elevator speech in your cover letter. In a way both cover letters and elevator speeches are related because both discuss who you are, your best qualities, ultimately what you bring to the table both personally and professionally. Both of these are also supposed to be persuasive and to the point. Although they aren’t the same thing, if you are drawing a blank as far as what to write in your elevator speech, then feel free to glance back at your cover letter for a starting point.

Helpful Links for creating elevator speeches

• https://zety.com/blog/elevator-pitch
• https://www.themuse.com/advice/perfect-pitch-how-to-nail-your-elevator-speech
• https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/elevator-pitch-examples