how to find an investor, partner or job in one minute

Why every expert, businessman, startupper, manager and any other person needs to have a short self-presentation, how to compose it correctly and where it is appropriate to use it – I answer in this short, informative article.

Hello! My name is Shubin NikitaI consultant, business analyst And HR Project Manager. I collaborate with giants, market leaders in Russia and global brands: “Mars Inc.“, “PJSC Sberbank“, “En+ Group” and other companies of various sizes, for which I help increase revenues, reduce costs, improve operations, implement automation/frameworks, and supervise personnel management issues: adaptation, training, motivation, grading, mentoring, hiring, assessment and rotation. I am currently considering proposals for strategic and operational cooperation, open to new clients and in search of unique experts in their field for networking and cooperation now or in the future.

Above you can see my speech adapted for this specific situation, which has long gone beyond the “elevator” format and is applicable in many situations – at business breakfasts, forums, moments of acquaintance and relaxation at conferences, in publications and even at cultural and entertainment events.

How did the format of short speeches originate and why “elevator”?

It was a long time ago and almost not true: the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, the golden time of business development and the construction of skyscrapers in America, where the chance of a lifetime could turn up right in the elevator: while an important and famous character rides in the elevator for 30-60 seconds, free from external influences and affairs, a unique opportunity is provided to present him with your project for investment, a fresh and unique idea for cooperation, or present yourself as an exceptional employee.

Contents Elevator Pitch / Elevator Speech: what must be present in the speech, and what is better to refuse?

Spoiler alert: discard everything that is not necessary.

Your short speech should contain the following information:

• Name, field of activity, position

• Who do you currently work with or your previous successful experience, which you can confirm with numbers or paper (for example, people like me are not very interested in who you work withLI, because for one reason or another they have already stopped. If you have nothing to say or it’s better not to say, use past experience)

• The benefits and results that a person will receive when collaborating with you

• What exactly is required from the person to whom this match is directed?

• If this is an investment project – Necessarily indicate the volume of investments and their payback periods: it is bad form to come with a project and waste the time of busy people without first working through it in detail and without drawing up a business plan

• For employees and experts whose results directly affect the company’s financial performance, it would be good to indicate the expected financial effect after your arrival or start of cooperation

• Why you and not your competitor/colleague/classmate?

All other information will pile up your short presentation and is not paramount – if necessary, discuss other points at subsequent meetings, now we forget about it.

The main rules in building an Elevator Pitch / Elevator Speech: what you need to remember when drafting, how and where to gain practice

The rules are simple and extremely clear:

• Get your interlocutor interested

• Do not use complex sentences or speech patterns that are difficult to hear

• Do not use narrowly targeted terms and formulations unless you are sure that the person to whom the speech is dedicated knows their meaning.

• Your speech should bounce off your teeth, but at the same time not look like a soulless memorized text: use the correct facial expressions, emotions and gestures, placing accents in your speech and attracting the attention of the other party

• A speech will be stillborn if you use filler words, unnecessary prepositions and pronouns at the time of presentation. A competent and well-constructed speech says more about a person than you think.

Practice the text, speech accents, timbre, facial expressions and gestures in front of the mirror, and then move on to practice: now there are specialized chats for similar purposes, where people are looking for partners to practice speeches and interviews.

Invite your colleagues, friends, and significant other to make a speech and practice with you in this difficult task, which forces you to leave your comfort zone.

Conclusion

Use a short self-introduction appropriately and to your advantage. Preliminarily assess your prospects and capabilities and do not waste either yours or anyone else’s time: respect your interlocutor and your interlocutor will respect you.

At the same time, the ability to present yourself, regardless of what you do, is a very important skill in the modern world. If you have a brilliant idea or experience, it is worthless if you are not able to communicate it in a structured and understandable way.

Let's talk: In the comments, you can practice composing your speech, and I, for my part, will try to independently rate it from 1 to 10 and give personal advice on what could be corrected/added/or where to go to demonstrate this masterpiece 🙂