Create an elevator pitch for yourself
Craft a confident 30-second summary of who you are and what you do, then practice until it flows naturally.
- Time:
- 45 min
- Cost:
- free
- Difficulty:
- moderate
- Where:
- Indoors
- Best:
- Solo
"So what do you do?" is asked constantly and answered badly almost every time. An elevator pitch is just a prepared answer that does not trail off into your job title and an apologetic shrug. It takes an hour to build one and the return is every conference, party and interview you attend for the next several years.
Why create an elevator pitch for yourself is worth an hour
The failure mode is describing your job instead of what it produces. Job titles mean different things at different companies and give the listener nothing to respond to. Naming who you help and what changes for them gives them a hook, which turns a dead-end exchange into an actual conversation. That is the entire mechanism.
How to create an elevator pitch for yourself step by step
- 1
Write who you help
Be specific. "Hospital procurement teams" is a pitch; "stakeholders" is filler that could describe almost any job in existence.
- 2
Write what changes for them
The outcome, in their language. Not the tooling you use to get there, which is only interesting to people in your field.
- 3
Add one concrete example
A single sentence about a real thing you did. Examples are what stop a pitch sounding like a mission statement.
- 4
Cut it to thirty seconds
Read it aloud with a timer. Almost every first draft is double the length it needs to be.
- 5
Say it fifteen times
Out loud, in the car, in the shower. It has to sound like speech, not recitation, and only repetition gets it there.
Tips to get more out of it
- Prepare two versions: one for people in your field, one for your aunt. The second is harder and more useful.
- End on something that invites a question rather than closing the topic down. You want a conversation, not applause.
- Avoid words like leverage, synergy and passionate. They make a listener stop hearing content.
Ways to mix it up
If you are changing careers, build the pitch around the throughline connecting your old field to the new one, since that is the question everybody will ask anyway. If you run your own business, write a separate version for potential clients and one for potential hires; they need different things.
Create an elevator pitch for yourself: frequently asked questions
How long should an elevator pitch be?
Around thirty seconds, or roughly seventy words. Long enough to be specific, short enough that nobody is waiting for you to stop.
Won't it sound rehearsed?
Only if you under-practice. Lightly rehearsed sounds stilted; heavily rehearsed sounds natural, because the words stop needing conscious effort.
Do I need one if I am not job hunting?
Yes. Most of its use is at events, in introductions, and in the first thirty seconds of meeting someone useful by accident.
Related activities
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Practise interview questions by matching real examples to the role’s requirements.
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Attend a virtual networking event
A virtual networking event lets you meet people around a shared profession or interest without travelling.