Whether you’re introducing yourself at a networking event, telling new colleagues about your business, or pitching to another professional — you want to capture attention and get it fast. In situations like these, you need a short and easy-to-grasp explanation of your company and its products, like an elevator pitch.
In this post, we’ll discuss what an elevator pitch is, review some helpful examples, see some elevator pitch templates you can reference, go over some elevator pitch best practices, and cover some key mistakes you need to avoid when delivering one of these speeches.
Let’s dive in.
→ Download Now: 25 Elevator Pitch Templates
- What is an elevator pitch?
An elevator pitch — also known as an elevator speech — is a short, memorable description of what you do and/or what you sell. The goal is to earn a second conversation, not to convince the person you’re talking to that they should hire you or buy your solution.
An elevator pitch is never an opportunity to close a deal. It‘s an opportunity to close more of your prospect’s attention and time. It’s a quick introduction to you, your company, and how you can help your prospect.
Elevator Speech Example
An elevator pitch is never an opportunity to close a deal. It‘s an opportunity to close more of your prospect’s attention and time. It’s a quick introduction to you, your company, and how you can help your prospect.
Download Now: Free Elevator Pitch Templates
E-pitch templates to better sell your product, fund your business, or network.
- Business and investment pitches
- Personal branding pitches
- Customer-focused pitches
- And more!
Learn more
When to use an elevator pitch?
You can pull your elevator pitch out at functions like networking events or conferences, over interactions like warm calls, and even in job interviews or at career fairs. Keep your elevator pitch goal-oriented — for instance, “I help companies like yours increase production by up to 30% without additional cost.“— and always end with a business card or request to connect on LinkedIn.
If you‘re curious about what an elevator pitch should look like, or simply ready to jumpstart the pitch creation process, download the templates below. We’ve compiled several types of templates — from sales pitches to funding requests.
No matter which type of pitch you‘re delivering, keeping things concise is key. You don’t want to waste your prospect‘s, investor’s, or fellow professional‘s time. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how much time should you spend on an elevator pitch?
- How long should an elevator pitch be?
An effective elevator pitch is meant to be no more than 30 seconds, just like the length of time you ride in an elevator. You want to keep your words easily digestible, so avoid trying to get too deep into specifics as it can drag on the conversation — and lose your prospect’s attention.
You should have an effective elevator pitch prepared before you need it since you have such a short window to deliver it. Your pitch needs purpose, flow, and a hook to reel in attention if you want to get the kind of mileage you need out of it in 30-ish seconds.
Let’s take a closer look at how to put one of these pitches together.
How to Write an Elevator Pitch
1. Use elevator pitch templates.
Download Free E-Pitch Templates
Use these templates to help structure pitches for three key audiences: prospects, investors, and potential network connection — making the elevator pitch creation process easier, freeing you up to focus on selling, crushing quota, and living your best life.
Let’s dive into the ins and outs of fleshing out an elevator pitch of your own.
2. Introduce yourself.
The value of a personal introduction in an elevator pitch is multifaceted. For one, it gives your prospect some pretty mission-critical context — you won‘t get too much mileage out of an elevator pitch if they have no idea who you are or who you’re with.
Second, it can make the whole experience a bit more approachable. You don’t want things to be too rigid or imposing when you pitch — a friendly introduction helps set the stage for a more natural engagement.
Bear in mind — you need to know what your prospect needs to know. What I mean is that you have to be mindful of how much information you‘re sharing as part of your introduction. You don’t want to get lost, ramble, and share more information than your prospect needs to know. Get it?
Effective elevator pitches are delivered in a tight window — you don‘t want to waste time rattling off details like how long you’ve worked at your company, what job you had before, or how much you like working for your employer.
Stick to the essentials, be friendly, and get on with the pitch.
3. State your company's mission.
Want me to let you in on some next-level, mind-blowing insight? Ready? Here we go — you need to know what your business does if you’re going to pitch it effectively. Revolutionary stuff, right?
Seriously though, you want to include some insight about your business — and a lot of the time, that means briefly speaking to its mission and goals. Including a section where you give a thoughtfully tailored reference to your company identity can give a prospect valuable context and develop a little trust on a dime.
You don‘t have to give a comprehensive rundown of every project you’re working on or fondly reminisce about the team retreat where you picked up trash on the local beach. It can be as simple as something like, “I’m a sales rep at Better Than the Rest Cable. We help hotels across the U.S. pair with the perfect cable provider and plan for their region and needs.”
That description is both succinct and sufficient. It covers the necessary bases without getting too deep into the weeds. If you were to be cut off after these two sentences, the prospect would still know exactly who you are and what your company does. You know — the stuff your prospect needs to know.
4. Explain the company value proposition.
This might be the most important base to cover. A prospect isn‘t going to be interested in a solution that they can’t see the value in, so naturally, you need to be able to articulate a compelling value proposition in your pitch.
Unless you’re at the forefront of some sort of technological revolution, your product or service exists in a competitive landscape — so your prospect is bound to have some options. Why should they choose you?
You need to provide a sentence or two that covers why your product or service is worth it — why your current customers are so happy with you. Here’s what that could look like:
“I’m a sales rep at Better Than the Rest Cable. We help hotels across the U.S. pair with the perfect cable provider and plan for their region and needs. With regional experts assigned to each account, we help hotels identify the most cost-effective and guest-delighting cable plan for them.”
In one sentence, you‘ve told the prospect what sets you apart and how you can bring them value. You’ve likely piqued their interest, but how can you really grab their attention? Keep reading.
Download Now: Free Elevator Pitch Templates
E-pitch templates to better sell your product, fund your business, or network.
- Business and investment pitches
- Personal branding pitches
- Customer-focused pitches
- And more!
Learn more
5. Grab their attention with a hook.
You‘ve spent the pitch up to this point lining them up, now knock them down. Give them the bit that’s going to prompt that second conversation — hit them with the hook.
That can come in the form of an enthralling story about a customer, some exhilarating information about your company’s founders, a fascinating statistic about your offering, or something else that’s neat and engaging to round things out and keep them interested.
Let‘s finish up the pitch we’ve been running with with an attention-grabbing statistic.
“I‘m a sales rep at Better Than the Rest Cable. We help hotels across the U.S. pair with the perfect cable provider and plan for their region and needs. With regional experts assigned to each account, we help hotels identify the most cost-effective and guest-delighting cable plan for them. On average, we’re able to save hotels up to 25% on their annual cable bills.”
6. Make sure your pitch is more conversational and less “sales-y.”
According to Patrick Beltran, Marketing Director at Ardoz Digital, you want to “[a]void sounding too sales-y. In my experience, people often shy away from elevator pitches that feel like a typical sales pitch. Your elevator pitch should come across more like a casual chat than a sales pitch. The aim is to spark interest, making the listener curious to learn more, not to seal the deal immediately.
“To make your pitch sound conversational, use a relaxed tone and steer clear of jargon. For instance, rather than saying ‘We offer cutting-edge solutions,’ say ‘We provide innovative solutions.’
“And instead of aggressively promoting our brand, we suggest ‘We’re looking to work with companies to address some of their marketing challenges. Perhaps you’d be interested in exploring this opportunity?’“
7. Keep it simple and focused.
Gauri Manglik, CEO and Cofounder of Instrumentl, says, “The most important tip I can offer for creating and delivering an effective elevator pitch is to keep it simple and focused. Have one clear message or key insight you want to convey and structure your pitch around that.
For example, if you have a new product, focus on articulating the core problem it solves and how it uniquely solves that problem. Say something like, ‘We’ve developed a new tool that helps sales teams reduce the time spent on administrative tasks by over 50% each week. By streamlining CRM data entry and reporting processes through an intuitive mobile interface, account managers can spend less time pushing paper and more time building key relationships.’
A simple, focused message like this, with one relevant example or proof point to bring it to life, is all you need for an initial elevator pitch. Resist the urge to cram in too many details or try to explain everything your business or product does.
You have 30 seconds; one clear message is enough to spark interest for follow-up. With practice, a simple pitch can become a compelling story that fuels a meaningful first conversation. Keep it short — make it count.”