Page 9 - California Woman Fall 2022

Elevator Speech

At our state’s June Training this Chair mentioned the use of and gave a couple
of examples of an “elevator speech” to use in your recruitment of new mem-
bers. This Chair would like to expand on this.

You have just bumped into a friend downtown. After exchanging pleasantries
she asks you what your new club does. You open your mouth, pause, but nothing
comes out. You think ‘where on earth do I start’? Then as you try to organize
your thoughts, she says she must leave for an appointment and she’s on her way. If
you’d been better prepared you are certain that she’d have stayed long enough for
you to tell her and invite her to the next meeting.

This is one situation where it helps to have an “elevator speech”.

An elevator speech is a brief and persuasive speech that is clear and succinct
you use to peak interest in what your club (or job or yourself) does. The idea is that
an elevator speech should last no longer than a short elevator ride of about 25 to 30
seconds. Thus the name.

An elevator speech can be broken down into three sections: the hook, the
body, and the wrap-up. Then you must bring all this content to life with your deliv-
ery. Simply:

The Hook should grab their attention.
The Body is the meat of your speech or pitch.
The Wrap-up brings everything home with a very specific ask.

You must know your elevator speech deeply and intimately. Your delivery is
big -- people need to hear, see, and feel your emotional connection to the work
your club does. So rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse.
Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Create a personal elevator speech by
thinking of answers to a few simple questions: Why my club? How do we serve the
community? What’s the impact?
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