The Process of making an Elevator Speech
Whether your elevator speech is 15-45 seconds, it is a rehearsed summary of yourself for employers. An elevator speech can be a short speech about your skills, job search, values, and your expectations as an employee. An Elevator Speech is focused on a specific personal or professional goal, it is a helpful tool to ensure you are prepared for the right moment.
An Elevator Speech starts in the reflection and research stage of life. If you are currently job-searching, the research stage involves researching the company, product, service, or area you would like to work for. Research can involve asking workers for feedback on the work environment (whether they enjoy working for the company or not), searching reviews online at places like LinkedIn and Indeed and looking at the history of the company.
The reflection stage is the process of reviewing your values by doing things like; taking self-assessment tests online to find out where you land in your personality traits, habits, as well as reviewing feedback from others and reflecting on what motivates you. Once you have a list from your self-assessments and reflection, look at the job posting you are applying for and pay attention to their terminology, information on the work culture and the company information being shared to ensure it aligns with what you have previously reflected on.
What is an accomplishment statement and how does it affect my elevator speech?
Accomplishment statements are essential in the resume writing, cover letter writing, and interview stages, and can be incorporated into your elevator speech. Accomplishment Statements are set up with a problem or task + the action you did = the benefit or result of your action.
For example: Reviewed past due accounts
BECOMES: Reviewed and negotiated 30 past due accounts in 2 months
BECOMES an Accomplishment Statement: Reviewed and negotiated 30 past due accounts in 2 months that equaled $2,500 debt collection.
An Elevator speech that has 2 or more accomplishment statements provides a potential employer with information that you can do the job, you can do the job well, and the company will benefit from having you in that position.
Another recommendation when preparing for a successful elevator speech is to have your pitch and personal contact information printed on a business card, so that if time is not on your side, you can still be polite, introduce yourself and pass along the business card for consideration.
If you are interested in learning more about how to write an effective resume and prepare a top-notch elevator speech check out our workshop calendar here.