6 elevator presentation rules

Elevator Presentation (Elevator Pitch or Elevator Speech) is a common term in a business that is about 100 years old. History says that this type of self-presentation appeared on Wall Street, where young clerks had the only opportunity to meet and present their idea to the leader only in the elevator. Interested presenters sometimes waited for their listeners for hours. And when they entered the elevator, they entered with them. And willy-nilly, they were listened to for a couple of minutes while they were on their way.

Today, this technique should be used by everyone who wants to establish professional relations on their own. And not just in the elevator. Prepare yourself carefully once and be ready to win new patrons whenever you are lucky enough to meet them. So, the rules of “presentation for the elevator” are simple.
1. brevity

Filter the floor from the grain. It is the sister of talent - the main component of a laconic presentation. Remember, you have no more than 1-2 minutes while the elevator rises. And they will listen to you, they will not go anywhere from the closed space.
2. Availability

In order for the audience to draw the correct conclusions from your short story, the speech should be clear to both the grandmother and the child, because the interlocutor simply does not physically have the resources to understand complex schemes and systems. The essence and only the essence:

    what we decide;
    how;
    What are the differences and advantages over competitors or other solutions.

3. Benefits

With your presentation you should absolutely clearly outline the benefit of your interlocutor from you, your work, your product or invention. Your story should make him eager to invest.
4. Originality

You have a chance to inspire another only if it inspires you. Therefore, the emission of inspiration, and even passion, is mandatory. Come up with a bold feature - a short story, a rhetorical question, a metaphor - something memorable and clearly characterizes you.
5. Preparation

You need to prepare for a short presentation much more carefully than for the usual one - here the analogy with public speaking is evident. Test on friends and acquaintances who would be able to honestly respond in the form of reviews. It is especially important at this stage to find the boring places of the presentation and replace them with exciting ones. Well, if your presentation leaves a desire to ask questions at the end. But not to be confused with a situation where only questions remain without a hint of answers.
6. Adaptation to the situation

During execution, you always get some kind of unplanned situation, force majeure. Therefore, be prepared to adapt the prepared template for any situation. React and offer a solution. Be open.


“Presentation for the elevator” can be compared with the annotation on the covers of books. Judge for yourself: annotation is the main thing that we pay attention to when choosing a book. This is the main impetus for reading it. Having always in your pocket a “presentation for the elevator” can make the right people want to read you. Tempting, right?