If you're currently in career transition or you're looking for a new job, my guess you've
been doing some research on the internet about, oh, maybe the best way is to create the resume
or designing a LinkedIn profile or answering specific interview questions. And I'm sure that
as you've been doing your research come across pages that talk about the importance of having
an elevator pitch, because we all know networking is key to getting that next job out there. So
gonna network, you need an elevator pitch and they talk about the, the reason for an elevator
pitch or the way it came about is that if you were to go into an elevator and when the doors closed
and somebody was to introduce themselves and say, so what is it that you do?
You can go ahead and talk about what you do by the time those elevator doors open again.
I mean, quite frankly, the vision of that happening,
I would be climbing the walls of an elevator if somebody was talking to me at that length
and something that I think was, you know, kind of funny out there is when I started thinking about
doing this video, I went out and I looked at other videos that people had done career coaches on the
elevator pitch. And I think the shortest one, the shortest career video I found out there was maybe
about six minutes long. Some of them were eight minutes, 12 minutes. I saw one for 15 minutes,
guys. My name is Bill Benoist. I'm a certified professional career coach in Silicon Valley. And
I gotta tell you, you do not need a 15 minute to talk about the elevator pitch. In fact, when I'm
talking with my clients about an elevator pitch, I really don't even use the word elevator pitch.
What I like to use is the word a lean in statement or a lean in. So in other words,
what you want to do when somebody comes up in a ask you what you do for a living,
you wanna say something that is really only one or two sentences, and you wanna see if you get this
little body movement of a lean in, it means that they're interested in hearing more about what it
is that you have to say, because if they're not lean leaning in and God forbid, they're leaning
a little bit out, you really don't have their attention. So imagine for a moment that you are
at an event and it could be, it could be a networking event, but it could also be
a meetup group. It could be your friends wedding. It could be a church activity,
many different things, and somebody that you don't know, they come up and they introduce themselves.
And they say, so what is it that you do? And this is your opportunity to network with the
Individual and really establish that first relationship with them, right? And this,
by the way, will work for entrepreneurs very well. What you want to do is you want to
essentially respond as to what it is that you're doing. And I want you to add a value-added
statement to it. So, a, you know, something that will be attention grabbing. So, for example, your
name is Samantha. And I come up to you and I say, hi, my name is Bill. Samantha, right? What is it
that you do, Samantha? And you come back to me and you say, well, Bill, I used to be a chiropractor.
I used to fix broken bones today. I'm actually a software developer and I fixed broken code.
Really? Really? That sounds interesting. There's your key to go on. But if I sat there and said,
oh, that's kind of neat. How'd you drink? And you probably don't have my something like this. I give
you another couple of examples. So, Joshua, what is it that you do? Well, bill, I work
in the medical device industry. I enjoy making a positive difference in the lives of others.
Really? How, how do you do that? What is it that you do?
So, Sarah, what is it that you do for a living? I'm a real estate agent. I like to say that I
help people make their dreams come true. Really? Now here's the thing. Here's the key to this.
Once you have their attention and they lean down a little bit, I want you to continue on
with a story. Okay. A short story. So, all this is gonna take you a little bit of preparation, right?
You have to have a little bit of preparation there. I want you to plan this out
but let me give you an example. So, Bill, what is it that you do for a living?
Well, John, I am, uh, career coach. I primarily work with people in mid,
late careers. I like to say I help 'em find jobs that fuel their passion rather than zapping. It
really, you know, like for example, this one time, you know, I worked with this gentleman
72 years old, right? His claim to fame was he was the person that wrote the I EEE standards
for the set box, cable TV. I mean talk about our cake 72 years old. And he's writing the I EEE
standards for technology that hasn't been used anymore. But you know what? I was actually able to
help and land with a company because even though we don't use this technology here in the states
anymore, there's a couple of third world countries out there that do it. You see what I'm saying? A
story can really grab their attention. And this is what you want to do. You want to start developing
These relationships. So think of it this way, your elevator pitch,
which I don't want you to ever use that term again, your lean in statement. That's not
something that you're gonna be using when you go into an interview. And that hiring manager says,
so tell me a little bit about yourself. You know what? I have an entire video
on that subject right there, that interview question. And, and with that interview question,
we're talking about who you are in the present sense with a value-added statement,
the environments and companies that you've worked for, and what are your strengths? What is it that
you're gonna bring to, to the table? Little bit different than the lean in statement. The lean
in statement is for networking when you're at an event and somebody is coming up to you and says,
so bill, what is it that you do? This is your opportunity to start that relationship there.
So promised you that this was gonna be a short video. I hope you found it informative
in you useful if you haven't already done. So, make sure that you subscribe to this channel,
hit that bell notification, as I do upload new career tips and strategies every Tuesday. And I'd
hate for you to miss anything. Thanks for stopping by. And I look forward to seeing you next week.