- We're going to talk about how to write an elevator pitch.
But it's not a sales pitch,
the goal is to get a conversation started
in a clear and concise way.
The idea is you should be able to say it
in about as long as it takes to ride an elevator.
And we're going to look at how to write an elevator pitch
for a supervisor or colleague
who you'd like to get some support from.
So this type of conversation is for someone
you already know and work with. And to show us how to do it,
I've invited Allen Weiner to explain it.
The man, the myth, the living legend.
So let's get into it.
(upbeat music)
Welcome back, Alex Lyon here
and today, we're talking about
how to write an elevator pitch
and I brought in a ringer to help us out.
We're here with Allen Weiner,
he's the author of an amazing book
called "So Smart But...: How Intelligent People
"Lose Credibility and How They Can Get it Back."
In fact, this is the number one book I recommend
on this channel,
I've cited it in countless videos,
I recommend it to clients.
It's an excellent book
and I have the good fortune of being Allen's friend.
He's my mentor, Allen,
you've helped me out in so many ways over the years,
and I'm honored to have you on the channel.
Welcome, and how are you today?
- I'm feeling great
and I'm totally flattered that you asked me
to be on with you.
- You are so humble.
So we're going to talk all about
how to do an elevator pitch,
but before we get into the actual structure of the pitch,
for years, you have been encouraging your clients,
many Fortune 500 clients, CEOs,
that top level people to be clear and concise.
So why is it so important that our viewers
communicate in a clear and concise way?
- Well, the way I think of it,
it's the talkers obligation to be clear
in order to best serve the listener.
A talker, in a lot of ways, is like a teacher
during the time that a person is talking at work,
they're really teaching.
And they have to think of their listeners
as if they were students and say to themselves,
what do I need to say and how should I say it
in a way that my listeners can understand?
I had a CEO, not that many years ago,
one evening who said to me,
"I know you're the guy here
"that does communication skills training.
"So many people come into this office to talk to me
"and when I hear them speaking, it sounds like a drum solo.
"It's like improvisational jazz,
"I can't make hide nor hair out of what they're saying."
And he said, "Sometimes they run up to the whiteboard
"and start drawing things at the same time.
"Can't you teach them to be clear and concise
"and measured in the way they put things?"
That's really just a listener saying,
why should I have to do all the work to listen?
Why don't you do a little bit more work
to make it easy for me?
- So we want to be clear and concise
because we want to communicate in a way
that listeners can actually grab onto what we're saying
and be motivated, or inspired, or persuaded
so our message will land.
And one of the best ways to be clear and concise
is to organize our messages around talking points.
So when we are talking about how to write an elevator pitch,
you're gonna share with us four talking points
that listeners, that viewers,
can structure their elevator pitch around.
And can you give us a preview
of what those four talking points are
and a brief example.
- Okay, the classic talking point elevator ride
is composed of four thoughts,
which are a problem, a cause of the problem,
a risk or consequence if the problem isn't fixed,
plus the suggestion.
- Okay, what would that sound like?
- All right.
So I'm gonna say this out to you
as if you were the person I was talking to on a Zoom call
and it would be something like,
Alex, we're losing time.
Too many people are involved in this decision.
It's gonna mean delaying the launch.
We need to arrange a Zoom call to get everyone
on the same page.
- So there it is, that's four talking points,
four sentences.
Problem, cause, consequence, solution.
And a couple of things I want to point out about that.
First of all, it is hard,
if you're listening to this, watching this video,
it is hard to narrow down a message that concisely,
it takes work.
You've got to get out pencil and paper
and practice a little bit,
cross some words out to hone it down.
You'll also notice, Allen, or viewer rather,
that Allen paused in between.
Now that's to help us learn it today,
but you do want to have a nice pause
at the end of those sentences
to let the idea sink in before you go onto the next.
Now there is also a way to make it even clearer.
So we were talking earlier, Allen, about adding signposts.
So that's where you signal even more clearly
for the listener, the point that you are making.
So could you give us that same example again
with the signposts?
- Okay, so here we go.
Alex, the problem is we're losing time,
and the reason for that is way too many people
are involved in the decision.
And the risk we run, the consequence,
if we don't get on top of it
is there'll be a delay in the launch.
My suggestion is, my solution is,
that we arrange a Zoom call
and make sure everyone's on the same page.
- Wonderful.
So clear, so concise.
Those are your, viewer, those are your talking points
to structure an elevator pitch.
Now, if you speak with one sentence at a time,
you'll be absolutely clear and concise.
Of course, over time for a longer message,
you can always add detail to each of these points
to expand upon it,
but it's a great discipline to practice this
as just four sentences.
That'll teach you better than anything,
how to be more clear and concise.
So you also have a slightly longer version, Allen,
of this elevator pitch,
and that is where you have the first four points
and then you add three additional talking points to the end.
So you have problem, cause, consequence, solution,
and what are the three extra talking points at the end?
- [Allen] The first one is the downside to the solution,
the second one is the upside to the solution,
and the final one is the first step
that you think should be taken to make the solution happen.
- So why would we want to, as we structure our message,
add these three points onto the end?
- By talking about the downside to your suggestion,
you're showing leaders in the organization
that you're not naive about suggestions,
that you know there's always a potential downside to them,
makes you a big picture thinker,
even a more strategic thinker,
small price to pay to be called strategic.
The upside is a sales technique really
to show the benefit of your suggestion.
And then finally the action step
says you're a really action-oriented decisive person.
- So it gives you a lot, those three extra points,
add a lot more value to how you come across
as a communicator. - They do.
- So if there's a reason to add those
for the particular audience you're speaking with,
viewers can add those.
So can you give us an example of what that would sound like
all the way through
with those three additional talking points at the end?
And if you could do it with signposts
to add that additional clarity, that would be great.
So what would that sound like? - Okay, so here we go.
The problem is we're losing time.
The reason for that is that too many people
are involved in the decision.
The risk we run if we don't get on top of it
is there will be a delay in the launch.
My suggestion is we arrange a call
to get everyone on the same page.
Now there's a downside to that,
I know, it might hurt some feelings,
but on the upside, we'll stay on schedule
and we will have a successful launch.
This afternoon, I'm gonna arrange that call.
- So that last step is that one next action step
that you're going to take
and that they can get on board with.
I love how smooth that is.
Those three extra points really add that additional kick.
So that's the short version four points
and the longer version with the three extra points.
So how else might we use this?
So people will always say to us when we're doing workshops,
"I love these talking points,
"they really grab onto this framework.
"How else can I use it?"
So what would you suggest?
- Well, if you were asking me about writing skills
as opposed to talking skills,
we would have done it exactly the same way.
I would have said there's a number of emails
that can be laid out exactly the same way
using the same four point or seven point line.
And I think that it's a good way to practice anyway.
So you'd lay out an email,
you'd have a subject line like the launch
and the opening line to that email
would be, we've got a problem.
- Great. - So that's first of all.
And second of all, if someone in the organization says,
"Look, you need to do a presentation on the launch,"
and says, "Just go out there and tell the story,"
that means your PowerPoint deck is going to be arranged
according to the same storyline.
Sometimes it's actually called a narrative
or storyline problem, cause, consequence, solution.
- So really this can be used for written messages
or expanded for more stand up presentations.
And then that way your message
will have a coherence all the way through
one way or the other
'cause it's built upon this framework.
I love that, it's so handy to use in different situations.
So in terms of next steps for you, the viewer,
I recommend that you think of a person
that you want to pitch something to,
that you want to share a message with.
Use these, start with the four talking points
of problem, cause, consequence, solution.
Structure a four sentence message around that framework,
do it in writing,
practice it out a little bit to see how it sounds.
So just get the juices flowing and work it out
so it's nice and concise.
Allen, thank you so much for being here.
You've been a friend, a mentor,
and a real pleasure to talk with over the years.
Thanks for being on the channel.
- Again, it was a pleasure to do it.
- It was great to have Allen on the channel as a guest,
and I encourage you to check out his book,
I have put a link to that
in the description below this video.
See you soon.