The 30 Second Speech....aka an Elevator Speech?

Everyone needs a 30 Second Speech!

A 30 Second Speech, also known as an Elevator Speech is a clear, concise bit of communication that can be delivered in the time it takes to ride from the first floor to the top floor of a building in an elevator. As it relates to selling your product or services, it communicates who you are, what you can do for the prospect or how the prospect will benefit from working with you.

When we meet people they will usually give us 30 seconds or so to create a reason why they should listen to us beyond that time. They may talk with us longer but they may not be listening. A good 30 Second Speech creates interest and we want to create interest so we can move into the body of the sales call for a longer conversation with the prospect or client.

Basic Components of a 30 Second Speech include:

1. Who are you? Introduce yourself.

2. Tell them the business or the industry you are in. Be concise in your statement.

3. How will your products or services benefit the prospect?

4. What is your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)? What makes you different from the competition? Develop a statement of primary difference between you and your products or services and others. This differentiation is the single most important thing that sets you and your company apart from the competition. This statement should be intriguing and naturally want the prospect to learn more.

5. Always invite the prospect into the conversation with a question at the end of your 30 Second Speech.

30 Second Speech Tips and Suggestions.

In the Ultimate Sales Academy we focus on over a dozen tips and suggestions for improving the effectiveness of a personalized 30 Second Speech. In my mind, here are the top 5.

1) Make your 30 Second Speech sound effortless, conversational, and natural. Not canned.

2) Write and rewrite your speech, be concise and eliminate unnecessary words.

3) Practice your speech. No easy way out here. Use a digital recorder to help you. Play it over and over and re-record. Remember our speech classes where the instructor told us to practice our speeches in front of the mirror? Still good advice. You don't have to have it memorized word for word but you must know the main points.

4) Smile! A smile softens many a heart. A smile is the best way to show friendliness and enthusiasm, and a strong, firm voice is the best way to express confidence.

5) Be passionate about what you do. Passion will bring about natural enthusiasm.

Keep in mind the 30 Second Speech is the attention getter and starts the sales call. That is all it is designed to do. Well done and executed it will get you a receptive audience that will allow you to move into the body of the call.

How about an example? I am at an after hours business networking session and meet Mary Johnson....

Jerry: Hi, I am Jerry Wells, partner of the Ultimate Sales Academy

Mary: Hello I am Mary Johnson, President of Johnson and Associates

Jerry: Mary, my company, the Ultimate Sales Academy, specializes in helping individual sales people achieve greater sales by improving and updating their specific selling skills and techniques.
Mary, how would you rank your sales force in terms of performance and effectiveness?

I've focused on the 30 Second Speech as an attention getter and for starting a sales call however, the principles of a 30 Second Speech can also be applied to introducing a new idea, product, or service. But we will save that for another time.