How to Write an Elevator Pitch
Written by Christina Poulton
Approximate reading time: 7 minutes
An elevator pitch is a short, punchy description of who you are and what you do which is designed to grab the right people’s attention.
Imagine you’re getting into the lift at the top of a tall building. The doors are closing and at the last minute someone jumps in and joins you. You realise it’s a well known millionaire who just loves the kind of work you do or the head of commissioning at the organisation you’ve been trying to get into for years. You have until you reach the ground floor to make your pitch, before you lose your chance.
When would I use it?
OK you might not be bumping into millionaires in lifts but if you meet a curator or a director at an event, who you’d love to work, you want to be able to introduce yourself or your organisation in a way which gets their interest and invites further conversation.
It’s also useful to have one or two lines about your work which you can use in things like your CV, funding bids, commission proposals, introductory emails, Twitter bio, Linked In, homepage of your website etc. People’s attention span online is often less than 10 seconds before they click away, so your online elevator pitch needs to work in the same way- to get the right people’s interest in just a few words.
What should I include?
The standard format for an elevator pitch for a product goes something like this:
Customer
Problem or Need they have
Product
Benefits i.e. what makes you better than the competition
For example:
I work with marketing managers (customer) to help them get the most out of social media analytics. We find many of them struggle to make sense of the overwhelming amount of data (problem) and our software- Socialz- makes this easy (product). Unlike other software, Socialz suggests action points for every report you run, resulting in a 20% increase in engagement (benefit).
In our context we’re not usually pitching a product- very often you and your work are the thing you want to “sell”- and so your elevator pitch structure might vary. There are two essential things to learn from the standard format though:
Audience
Why you?
When you write your elevator pitch, keep in mind who you’re talking to- your audience, customers or clients. Start with them- what do they want? Why would they want or need to work with you? What kind of tone would they respond to?
If you work with managers at large commercial venues who are focused on sales, your pitch style is going to be different to if you offer creative support to early career artists, for example. Most people make the mistake of focusing on themselves when they write; flip it round and focus on what you offer and who to.
An elevator pitch is also not the place to be humble. There are thousands of graphics designers out there and you can’t move in a theatre bar without bumping into a writer, so why you? You don’t have to brag but make sure you include what makes you brilliant, so people know why they might want to work with you.
Instead of:
“I’m a choreographer, workshop leader, facilitator and dance artist working with lots of different organisations. I have a particular passion for contact improvisation and love ensemble work and working with young people”
Try:
“I work with arts and education organisations to create and teach on dance projects that change young people’s perspectives on dance. I specialise in managing projects that turn reluctant students into confident performers.
The second one makes it clear what you offer, and is written to speak directly to the people who will contract you. If you’re a school teacher looking for someone to lead a dance project, you would call the second one, even though they could both have been written by the same person.
Do’s & Don’ts
Do…
Add a call to action
If you’re using your elevator pitch online you can end with a link to contact you, read testimonials or find out more. If you offer things like taster sessions or 30 minute consultations, these are an ideal thing to signpost to.
Use punchy language
“I deliver behind-the-scenes admin support to transform and supercharge your creative projects” grabs more attention than “I am a freelance arts administrator providing support for a wide range of arts projects”. Speaking directly to your audience can also help with this. There are hundreds of coaching websites which say something like “consultancy, coaching and facilitation to release your potential and deliver change for organisations”. It grabs more attention to say “Do you feel like hiding under your desk? I can help! Whether you’re putting off a difficult team away day or struggling with the next steps in your career I offer one to one coaching or group facilitation to give you space to think.”
Don’t…
Use arty farty language
The arts and cultural industries have a language of their own. “My work explores the interconnected nature of movement and the human form through mark making, sculpture and large scale installation work” might mean something to visual artists, but to the rest of the world it’s just jargon. Unless the only people who pay, fund or commission you are visual artists too, an elevator pitch in this type of language doesn’t tell them anything about what you do and why they should work with you.
Waffle
An elevator pitch should be short. It’s designed to give an overview rather than your life story. Don’t feel you have to cover every single thing you do either- having a specialism helps people choose you from the hundreds that say “I’m a producer, writer, project manager, performer and dramaturg…” What do you want people to contact you for? What work do you want to be offered the most? Pitch that: “As a dramaturg I make sure you tell the story that needs to be heard. I work on new writing productions from page to stage, as well as offering an ad-hoc ‘outside eye’ in the rehearsal room.”
Getting started
Most people find it difficult to talk about themselves. Here are some tips to get started writing your elevator pitch:
Ask people to describe what you do and listen to the kinds of words they use. Make sure you ask non-arts people too and people in roles similar to your potential clients or collaborators.
Look at websites of people who do similar things to you. Read their opening sentence or two. Does it make you want to read on? Why? If you zone out straight away, why? what do you need to avoid?
Give yourself one minute to write down as many words as possible- one word or phrase per sticky note- which you’d like people to use when they describe you/ your work. Then prioritise the sticky notes to get your top 5 words and include them when you write.
Ask yourself these questions and use the answers to write your pitch: Who will pay me? What do they want? What are their problems and how will I solve them? What would make them pick me?
For example, if you’re a freelance fundraiser working with small arts and heritage organisations, it will usually be the charity manager, artistic director or venue manager who is looking for fundraising support. What they want isn’t a freelance fundraiser specifically, they want someone to take a load off their shoulders, they want to raise money and they want it to be easy and not too expensive because if they could afford a fundraising member of staff they’d already have one. Chatting about being a freelance fundraiser and your Chartered Institute membership and talking about your associates could work, but you might find something like this gets a better response:
“If you’re overwhelmed with your day job and want someone to help you hit your fundraising targets, I offer support that makes sense for small organisations. I bring 15 years experience to everything from reviewing your bids or getting the writing done for you, through to creating a fundraising strategy from scratch that actually works.”