Big Little ThingsThe elevator pitch is for people who don’t really care.
A few days ago I ran into an old acquaintance who also works in the creativity business. He said he’d heard that I’d started a studio. Was that true? I said yes.
Then, he looked me in the face and said, “So, what’s it about? Give me your elevator pitch.”
Now, up until that point I had been genuinely happy to see this person, and this request kinda ruined that a little, because it meant he wanted a neatly packaged sound-byte, one that had been scripted, and used many times before. He didn’t want the story of how I spend my days. He wasn’t interested in conversation.
Another story:
This weekend, I met a girl in a bar (no, not that kind of girl). She asked what I do. And because explaining what I do requires a real, honest-to-goodness conversation with someone who may or may not get it anyway, I shrugged and hemmed and hawed and then said, ” It’s sort of hard to talk about. But basically I run a design studio.”
“What kind of design?”
“Communication.”
Then there was a pause, which I tried to fill by saying, “See? Now we have to have a conversation.”
What happened next surprised me: she looked me in the face, and said, “Yes, let’s.”
Here was a person who was willing to spend time learning about me. She didn’t want the short version that she could immediately fit into the pre-existing file tab in her head and then promptly forget. She wanted the one with all the nuance, with all the interesting bits, the one that she could actually engage with.
See, here’s what I mean: An elevator pitch is meant for people who don’t really care. A conversation is for people willing to invest some time to understand the value of what you do. Who would you rather work with?
March 7th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
There are definitely people who just want to feed the elevator pitch into their do-I-care filter. But is it possible to ask for someone’s elevator pitch as a way of starting the conversation? Sometimes I like to give the other person the floor for a minute to let them get out a whole string of ideas before I start jumping all over everything interesting.
I liked where you were going before with the idea that it’s best not to have a stiff, unthinking elevator pitch. But I’m not so sure that it’s a good idea to shut down when someone says those magic words.
March 8th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Good point, Ben. It’s never a good idea to shut down in conversation. But it’s not always easy to take the high road.
March 8th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
You’re correct. The Elevator Pitch as a concept is dead. Explaining what you do in 3 sentences or 30 seconds is one of great uban business myths. It has never worked. It is time for “the Elevator Pitch 2.0″ which is, as you point out, a way of introducing yourself that attracts the attention of the listener and starts a conversation. And a conversation that is more than waiting for your turn to talk. It must be that (sometimes illusive) mix of fact and emotion that resonates with the listener and engages them to think. I work as a professional development trainer (yawn). When I’m asked “what do I do?” I reply, “have you ever been to a training workshop and back at work, on Monday morning, nothing changes?” Everyone nods and the conversation goes on from there.
March 20th, 2008 at 11:30 am
You’re totally right. The hard part, is finding the people that DO care enough-and have enough time-to have a conversation with you. Those that do are gems and great people. But to me, they seem to be diamonds in the ruff.