This month I went to a workshop on “Elevator Pitches” by Melissa Kidd.
An Elevator Pitch is a very short pitch (maximum 2 minutes long) of the kind you could deliver if you met a useful business contact in some random location (such as an elevator).
Here are the notes I took during the workshop, which may be a useful introduction to the subject.
Elevator Pitch notes
From a workshop by Melissa Kidd.
1) Premise
The first sentence of the pitch should follow this template:
“Company name is a type of company and has developed a product/service. It offers key benefits over existing solutions like chief competitors.”
2) Proof of painful problem
You must show that there is a “painful problem” in your market place.
For a solution provider (i.e. you): Good problems = painful problems.
People don’t like change, so for customers to change to your product it must be 10 times better than what they’re using. 10 x quicker, 10 x smaller, 10 x cheaper, etc.
Answer the question: “What’s wrong with the state of the art?”
If the market is so new that there is no state of the art, you must paint a scenario of the problem so your audience can see why people would buy your product/service.
3) People
You need to identify:
- Your market – who is feeling the pain?
- Your team:
- What are your qualifications to see the problem?
- What are your qualifications to solve the problem?
4) Solution
Describe your solution.
Don’t describe features, they provoke the reaction “so what?”
Instead describe benefits.
Use metaphors: “it’s like product but it has difference.”
5) Purpose
How much money do you want?
What will you use it for?
Further reading
“Elevator Pitch Essentials” by Chris O’Leary
Written by: Richard Loxley
