How can you make your elevator pitch perfect? There, I've just led with the problem that
brings you here, and if you're interested in solving that problem, watch this.
Lead with the problem, one that investors would be interested in, because the first
thing most people really want to know about you is: can you help them.
Sorry. Like most people, I’m focused on my own problems here, not yours.
Ah, but what if I understood your problem? What if you thought I could help?
Well, You’d get my attention and suddenly, I'd be more interested.
Exactly! And if I did my homework on Dianne here, and I know a little bit more about her,
I could better target my pitch to her needs.
Knowing your audience or your market is a
key asset. I’m Dianne Sullivan, associate professor of management and marketing at the University of Dayton.
We host one of the top business plan competitions in the nation. Here’s how past
winners started their elevator pitches:
When I was 10, I was backboarded off of a soccer field with a suspected neck injury.
I got l lucky, I didn't break my neck and the paramedic had a pediatric backboard that he put me on.
Had I been put on an adult backboard, I would have risked further injury.
Would you agree people want to decrease their risk of cancer?
Two-thirds of adults think that traveling would be a fun way to make friends,m
yet no major travel provider addresses the social aspect of travel.
Not Orbitz, not Expedia, not Travelocity.
Travelblender does.
It's a cold night and you are at your son's football game.
After the first quarter, you realize these bleachers are so cold, my butt is numb!
I have the perfect solution, The Hot Seat!
Note that in every case, they led with the problem. Too many folks start their pitch
hawking their solution.
How do they know I’m even interested?
But if I can first get their attention by revealing a shared problem,
Then I'm listening, instead of tuning you out.
How do you lead with the problem?
Start with a question, an observation, even
a short story – whatever works - you want the judges to relate; to think
"Oh yeah, I’ve had that problem!”
And the less abstract the problem, the more investors pay attention
So tell a story or show how the problem really matters.
The more your problem is shared with your audience, the more you can relate the problem in a way that's relvent
the more potential investors
– or the judges—will be engaged, and the more you are likely to win.
The problem hooks your audience, so they'll listen to what you have to say.
Click here to find out what's next
Fantastic! Good luck!