"Momentum" with Jana Kemp
June 30, 2001

Jana Kemp: Welcome to Momentum this Saturday. I'm Jana Kemp and Momentum is your weekly conversation and dialogue around what are the things we can do, moment by moment, in our daily business lives in order to live more balanced lives throughout the work day and the living day that's beyond the work day. This morning we have a repeat guest joining us from San Francisco. This guest is highly talented in the world of business coaching -- presentation training that brings the package together in a world called "business theater. The founder and owner of Speakers World, Brenda Besdansky, joins us again this morning. Good morning Brenda.

Brenda Besdansky: Good morning Jana, thank you for inviting me back a second time.

Jana: Well, you're very welcome. The first time we talked, we were looking at the work you do in coaching the companies pitching to the venture capitalists. I want to talk this morning about how to perfect "the elevator pitch." What have you got going?

Brenda: Well, you know elevator pitches have been around for awhile but they are back in the common vernacular now because of entrepreneurs having to go out there and raise capital for their businesses. Here in northern California, there is great pressure to have an elevator pitch. But, what is an elevator pitch?

The origins of the elevator pitch were way back when; salespeople would walk into an elevator, see the hot prospects that they had been trying to reach for the last six months, and realize that they had a captive audience, and only had thirty to sixty seconds to get their message out.

The problem in Silicon Valley is that the buildings are very short; they're only three stories high. It's very difficult to walk into an elevator and get your message out in only three stories.

But, what an "elevator pitch" really means, Jana, is the ability to get a clear concise message out to your prospect or to your audience or to a venture capitalist within a very short timeframe of perhaps sixty seconds to two minutes at the most.

Jana: Which means if we were to start right now and, say, time two minutes and be clear and concise in conveying our meaning and impression, we will begin to see how long that is. I've heard people in preparing for the radio show say, ‘I only have three minutes, that is not enough time to tell my story.' So what are the kernels of inclusion necessary to tell that story in sixty seconds?

Brenda: Well let me give your listeners some tips that could help them in designing and developing their elevator pitch. Now, keep in mind I'm giving you tips on the assumption that you're actually going to develop an elevator pitch before you have the opportunity to pitch it. In other words, this is what we call "planned spontaneity," Jana.

Jana: (Laugh) Exactly. If you don't plan it, you can't deliver it.

Brenda: That's right. When people appear to be thinking on their feet very quickly, I would hazard to guess that they've done a lot of preparation, in advance, to look that self-assured and that self-confident in that moment.

Jana: And we have just hit one minute. We've shared that you have to plan, that you have to think through the elements in order to be clear and concise and appear spontaneous, so the plan is what's required.

Brenda: Exactly. The first thing is to identify what your point is or what it ought to be. If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there. I think Yogi Berra said that, or Alice in Wonderland. But you need to know what your point is. Otherwise, you're vague and imprecise. So know where you're going.

Then you need to organize your pitch to fit the specific audiences and timeframe. If you know that you're going to be pitching to venture capitalists and you only have a very short window of opportunity, then make sure that you practice your pitch to fit that timeframe. This is very, very, important. You have to be succinct. You have to get to your point in sixty seconds or less.

And then you script and deliver a powerful pitch that people will find compelling. How do you know what's going to be compelling? Once you design your pitch, you practice it on your buddies, your colleagues, your dog, whoever will listen to you and give you the feedback that tells you whether you're on the right track or not.

Jana: I want to expand on that thought a little bit because it's not only practicing in front of other people. It's practicing so much, so often, that you have internalized it. You don't even have to think at that point because you can say that initial sixty second presentation cold. Somebody can say, "What is it?" and you can deliver right then and there. Because it's that smooth entree into the conversation that will capture the attention and be compelling, as you point out, or your stammering and stuttering will turn people off and you've lost their attention.

Brenda: I am in total agreement with you. The point is that if you know it so well, it will not appear scripted. There's nothing worse than being at a networking event when somebody approaches you and pitches you and it's very clear and obvious that they have this canned pitch. I don't like being the recipient of that; I don't think anyone does.

Jana: Because then it's like being interrupted at the dinner hour by the telemarketer who is calling to pitch on something.

Brenda: Exactly. It's a live telemarketer right in front of you at dinner hour while you're eating your hors d'oeuvres and trying to drink some Chardonnay.

Jana: So practice, practice, practice. Practice in front of your dog, as you point out. Practice in front of the mirror. Practice with your kids. Practice with your family members. Practice with co-workers. Practice with fellow entrepreneurs. I would also offer, practice when you're alone in your car by yourself.

Brenda: Excellent point.

Jana: Just hear your own voice saying the words; you need to really own the words, the sentences, the ideas and the concepts so that you don't have to stumble through it.

Brenda: Let me add to that if you have a tape recorder, I suggest taping your pitch and playing it back to hear how you sound to yourself. Many times we have a very distorted sense of how we come across to other people.

Then I would suggest that you get some professional coaching. I work with a lot of people individually, and I do a one-day elevator pitch workshop. All we do is work on the elevator pitch. By the end of that eight hours people walk out there with confidence, knowing that they can handle any given situation. They've got their pitches in their back pockets.

Jana: Everyone needs an elevator pitch. This is true if we are the owner of the business, if we are the head of marketing and development, or if we are in training and development. For example, the very first sixty seconds of a classroom presentation is part of our elevator pitch.

Brenda: Well, Jana, they say that you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Jana: So whether we're providing customer service or whether we are on the street everyday selling, we all have an opportunity to make an elevator pitch on a daily basis.

Brenda: Absolutely.

Jana: So, Brenda, the elements that we have discussed are: define what my point is, organize to the needs of the audience, and watch the timing. Talk to us about why the timing is so critical. I mean, if they like what I'm saying, won't I get more time?

Brenda: If they like what you're saying they will probably say to you, "Let's take this offline," or "Let's have another opportunity to meet." But here's the thing Jana, one of the last things you do when you're doing your elevator pitch is to move your listener to action. In other words, have a purpose, have a goal, know what you want them to do. Do you want them to call you? Do you want to set up an appointment with them? Do you want them to look at your Web site? What is it exactly that you want them to do?

In other words, don't just leave them with, "Oh, I just met this person for sixty seconds," but provide some kind of call to action. That's the basic tenent of sales presentations. Then, you can take it and develop it further. Remember, you have the sixty seconds to create a good impression, not to give the listener the story of your life. It's essentially to let them walk away going, "You know, I'd like to know more about that person. Perhaps, I'd like to explore the possibility of doing business with them." That's all it's about.

Jana: And that works at the Chamber of Business after-hours meetings.

Brenda: Uh hmm.

Jana: It works at the committee meetings. It works when you're literally in an elevator.

The elevator pitch concept applies for those moment-by-moment interactions that we're having that can be the make or break of a relationship. I met a businessperson in the post office the other day wearing a shirt that had a logo on it and I said, 'Oh, do you work for them?' and it started a conversation. That was his elevator pitch opportunity right then and there at the post office.

Brenda: Did he take advantage of it?

Jana: Yes, he did. And he had business cards in his car and brought a card right back in and placed it into my hand.

Brenda: And he made a good impression on you to the point where you're telling the story today.

Jana: That's right. It was appearance first, the friendly smile and greeting without any words really being exchanged that prompted me to say, "So, do you work for that company?" The elevator pitch includes the appearance, the first impression, but it's the words that we practice.

Why don't we model a sixty-second elevator pitch. I am going to use one of the elevator pitches that I have... actually I haven't used it in a couple years so it might be a little rusty...

Brenda: Well, dust it off!

Jana: This is my elevator pitch for Meeting and Management Essentials. Brenda, will you critique it?

Brenda: I'll be glad to.

Jana: This is a part of the coaching that you give to businesses on a regular basis?

Brenda: Yes.

Jana: So, here we go. All right, I'm at a time mark for my sixty-second elevator pitch.

'Nice to meet you. I'm Jana Kemp and I'm the owner of Meeting and Management Essentials. Now, what I do is help people get into and out of meetings with their hair still in tact. You may be wondering what that means. You've been to those meetings where you've been driven crazy. You wonder why you spend your time there. Well I help you to get in and get something out or make the decision not to go to the meeting itself. Wondering how I do that? Well I'd be happy to tell you more about it. Is there a time when we could get together and I could share more information about the kinds of services and support that I provide?'

Now we're only at the fifty-second mark. I would wait to see what the person says. If they say 'yes,' then I ask for their business card. 'May I have your business card and I'll be happy to follow up with you. When is a good time to reach you? I'll be sure to call you then.'

All right, that was sixty seconds.

Brenda: Very nice. By the way, if you come in under sixty seconds, don't worry about it. I've seen people go, 'Oh another ten seconds, I've got to fill it.' You don't actually.

I've had people come in... actually I have to tell you, in New York now, the standard is thirty seconds or seventeen words or less.

Jana: Of course, a New York minute.

Brenda: Now I am going to mention a couple of things I heard in your elevator pitch. The first thing was you started to establish rapport with your listener. You asked them, 'How are you doing?', or something to that effect. Rather than walk into a pitch, which can be very disconcerting for people, it's good to ease your way in and that's what you attempted to do there.

Then, you did something very, very good. You explained why the information should be of interest to your listener ... what value they were going to get from it. It's very important that you focus on the listener, not on you. Use what we call 'you statements' rather than 'I statements.' What's in it for them? What will they get from it?

Jana: In this case, keeping their hair intact instead of pulling...

Brenda: And I love that picture because you did something that I suggest people do which is to use pictures. To use the kind of language that creates images in people's minds. The hair image really worked beautifully, particularly on a Saturday morning when I've just gotten up.

Now, you didn't give them too much detail. The tendency is for people to tell everything they know in sixty seconds, but the idea is to minimize the amount of detail. Just keep it really broad because you can always fill in the detail later on, once you've got the appointment.

I highly encourage those of you who have technical backgrounds to work on this. It is the biggest concern I see when I work with my technical clients – they always lead off with a lot of detail. A lot of technical detail really turns off listeners. They just can't handle it.

Another comment on your elevator pitch – you got to your point quickly. You were right there.

And did you make a good first impression? Well, if I were meeting you at a Chamber meeting or in Boise or in San Francisco, I would say 'yes.' As a matter of fact, the first time I did meet you in person, you made an excellent first impression. That's why were still buddies today.

Jana: That's true. Brenda first saw me speak at a conference in Atlanta and we kept in contact as a result of the first impression that Brenda had of me. You actually followed up with me and shared that you were impressed, and I was greatly flattered.

But to get back to my elevator pitch, I concluded with a call to action. Was it too direct to say, 'Can we get together?'

Brenda: It depends. It's one of those intuitive situations where you have to assess whether it would be too blatant at that point, or too direct, or too aggressive. I usually play it by ear. I can usually get a sense of the other person's interest. If I'm reading from the other person that I've caught their attention and that they are interested, they will show it non-verbally, through their body language – they'll be nodding their head, they'll be smiling, there will be a lot of direct eye contact. I look for some indication from them that I can proceed with that statement. Otherwise I'll just do an exchange of cards and leave it at that. But most of the time I'll ask permission, 'Would you mind if I followed up with you?' This gives people an opportunity to say yes or no and in most cases, people will not say no. It's too awkward. They'll say yes.

Jana: Another version of a close that I use a lot is, 'What is the best time for you for me to follow up?' I will even ask that question of existing clients. I don't want to call them too often and annoy them, but I also need to know in what timeframe might they be ready to reorder. So, I'll ask, 'What's the best timeframe for me to keep in contact with you? A few weeks? Once a quarter?' And I offer some suggestions if they're not certain, because I'm not going to let them off the hook if I know that there's a reason to keep in contact.

Brenda: That's a good trial close practice, actually. And now with the Internet and email, you can always say, 'Can I stay in touch with you by email or do you mind a phone call?'

Jana: Either way, they have a choice and the result is, you get to keep in contact with them. Now, we just modeled some of the coaching that she will do with individuals who are making presentations on a regular basis whether it's for sales, whether it's for the gaining of venture capital, or whether it's for the selection process, hiring and interviewing. So Brenda, how can people learn more about refining their elevator pitch and their presentations. What do you have to offer?

Brenda: First, I do an introductory teleclass on the elevator pitch which means that people can call me at an appointed time from anywhere in the country. It is a one-hour program on how to design and develop your elevator pitch. You'll see my schedule for upcoming teleclasses on my website at www.speakersworld.com.

Brenda: This is an excellent way to just get your feet wet, get a sense of my coaching style, meet some other people on the telephone, and start the process. And for those of you in the Bay Area or for those of you who would like to take a trip to the Bay Area, I have one-day public workshops called The Five Successful Elements of Elevator Pitching. I do those throughout the year, and the schedule for those is also on the Web site.

Jana: Great and if people want to pick up the phone and call, how can they reach you?

Brenda: They can call me in San Francisco at 415-474-1610. And let me mention Jana that there are a variety of ways to work with me. I do in-house training for corporations and associations, and I do one-on-one coaching as well.

Jana: So, 'There's a variety of ways to work with me. I do in-house presentations; I do consulting; I do workshops. You can reach me via the website and the phone number.' That took you fifteen seconds.

Brenda: Oh, I must be from New York.

Jana: Well, Brenda Besdansky, thank you for being with us again and we'll look forward to having you back again.

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