elevator pitch presentation

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How to Give a Great Elevator Pitch (With Examples)

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How to Give a Great Elevator Pitch (With Examples) was originally published on Forage .

Though people are complex and so much more than just their jobs, in a new social situation you’re often asked, “So, what do you do?” or “What are you majoring in?” While you probably have a stock answer ready to go (I’m in sales; I’m majoring in English), the person asking may be able to help you achieve your career goals — but they won’t know unless you’ve got an elevator pitch ready to go.

An elevator pitch is an enticing and interesting three or four-sentence summary of you. But you do more than talk about yourself. Your elevator pitch gets the listener interested in what you’re capable of.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

What Is an Elevator Pitch?

How to write an elevator pitch, elevator pitch examples, elevator pitch bonus tips.

Mike Gardon of CareerCloud sums up elevator pitches like this: “When meeting someone for the first time, we all get asked what we do, right? Well, an elevator pitch is how you answer that question.”

At its core, an elevator pitch is a brief synopsis of who you are and what you do (or are trying to do). It’s named so because of the idea that you’re in an elevator with the one person who can make your career dreams come true. You’ve got the length of that elevator ride (approximately 30 seconds) to convince that person to keep listening to you.

Why You Need an Elevator Pitch (and When You’ll Use It)

In many respects, an elevator pitch is all about you. And though it may seem strange — uncomfortable even — to talk about yourself, a well-designed elevator pitch starts with you and ends with the listener.

Gardon explains, “The elevator pitch is designed to engage the person with whom you are communicating, and get them to take some next action. Think about it like this: if you were writing an email, the elevator pitch would be the subject line plus the next couple of lines that are shown in an inbox. The purpose is to get the recipient to open the email.”

In the case of your elevator pitch, you’re attempting to spark a longer conversation (or later meeting) with someone who could potentially help you professionally.

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Your elevator pitch comes in handy when you’re looking for a job. But you’ll also use various versions of your elevator pitch in situations like:

• Networking events
• Prospecting for new sales and clients
• When you’re interviewing and asked, “Tell me about yourself.”
• As the “about me” on LinkedIn, Twitter, or other social media page
• In the summary of qualifications on your resume

How Long Should an Elevator Pitch Be?

While elevator ride times vary, the general rule of thumb is that an elevator pitch is no longer than 30 seconds, which means your pitch needs to be concise.

So, you can’t include every accomplishment from your last three jobs, just the top most recent ones. As you’re honing your pitch, write it down and limit yourself to four sentences. This will help you focus on your top highlights.

In general, an elevator pitch includes four essential elements: who you are, what you do, what’s unique about you, and what your “ask” is. Though the “meat” of your pitch likely doesn’t change often, you should prepare multiple elevator pitches that you can tailor to your situation.

For example, if you’re a student, the pitch you use at a career fair may not be the same one you use at a networking event. Likewise, if you’re changing careers, you may need to switch up what your “ask” is depending on who you talk to.

Gardon offers an example. “I wear so many different hats and am involved in different businesses. So, if I want someone to be a guest on my podcast, I might tell them how we’ve done over 400 episodes, instead of telling them that I’m a former derivatives trader.”

Also, while the below elements are crucial, they can go in almost any order. While a good elevator pitch usually begins with your name, you may find that listing your skills before your accomplishments is better for your pitch.

Part 1: Who Are You?

Your elevator pitch starts with your name, of course, but also consider throwing in a “hook” that gives the person you’re speaking with an opening to ask you questions. Here are some examples:

“I’m [your name], a recent graduate of [university] with a degree in [your degree].”

“My name is [your name] and I’m a junior at [university] majoring in [your major].”

“I’m [your name] and while I’m currently in product development, I’ve decided I want to change gears and go into graphic design.”

Part 2: What Do You Do?

The second part of your elevator pitch explains what you do. However, you shouldn’t limit yourself to a job title. This is the place to mention one outstanding accomplishment from your job, internship, or even a class that will wow your listener.

Like all parts of your elevator speech, this needs to be brief, but it should also be detailed and help the listener get an idea of what you’re capable of:

“During my marketing internship at [name of company], I grew social media engagement by 43%, which resulted in an uptick in newsletter sign-ups year over year.”

“Our business is small, but that lets us have more personal interaction, which has helped us keep a small but loyal and profitable client base for 15 years.”

“After learning about the stock market, I wanted to test what I learned as well as my skills, so I created a mock portfolio that’s realized a 24% gain over the last year.”

Part 3: What’s Unique About You?

The next section of your elevator pitch includes something unique about you. While this can include specific skills, you can also trace your career path or accomplishments to illustrate how you use your skills.

Because you only have 30 seconds, you might be tempted to list your skills or accomplishments like a grocery list. But try to link them to an outcome or something you can do.

“I enjoy analyzing data and using the results to plan my content calendar, including social media posts.”

“I worked on my college newspaper, starting on the sports beat, eventually moving my way up to chief editor.”

The first example mentions one skill (data analysis ) and two outcomes (planning the content calendar and social media posts). The second example doesn’t mention any skills but illustrates the speaker’s career path (sports beat to chief editor), demonstrating an increase in skills and responsibilities.

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Part 4: Call to Action (or What’s Your Ask?)

The final part of your elevator pitch includes a call to action. Or, more specifically, what are you asking for?

Much like networking, you may not want to blurt out “a job!” even if that’s your desired outcome. This section is what you hope will happen, which could be a job, internship, or just a new networking connection.

“I would love to speak to you about being a potential mentor, if you have time.”

“I’d like to follow up with you about how I can get involved in and conduct summer research.”

“Can you tell me how you decided on [this] career?”

Each of these invites the listener to continue engaging with you either right now or in the future. 

Optional Part 5: Something Memorable

Finally, depending on the situation, you might want to include something memorable in your pitch. This is situation-dependent and only something you should do if you’re comfortable.

For example, the pitch on Gardon’s LinkedIn profile says, “Earned the Title ‘World Champion Funniest Person In The World (to my kids)’ 10 years running.”

Of course, not everyone can be the “Funniest Person in the World,” but your memorable moment could be your love of science fiction, who your favorite author is, or the fact that you just adopted a cat.

Here’s what all the elements look like when you put them together:

“I’m David, a rising senior at XYZ University and an education major. I spent last year student teaching at my old high school, and it was quite the experience being on the other side. I’m graduating in the spring and am looking to teach high school biology.”

“I’m Ella, and I’m currently an individual contributor at XYZ company running the social media accounts. I use Google Analytics to analyze and improve content performance, and my personal TikTok has XXX followers. I’m looking to move to a leadership role at a mid to large-size company where I can mentor others.”

“I’m Mike and I’m a sophomore at XYZ university. When I was a kid, I really wanted to communicate with animals, which is partly why I’m majoring in zoology. I’m not sure what career is best suited for me. Can you tell me how you ended up in yours?”

Once you’ve written (and rewritten) your elevator pitch, you’re almost ready to try it out. Before you do, though, ensure your delivery is memorable — for the right reasons!

• Practice. Practice makes perfect, of course. And while you don’t want to sound too rehearsed, you also don’t want to trip over your pitch or start rambling. Practice in front of a mirror, with friends or family, or record yourself to make sure you’re getting it right.
• Time yourself. Thirty seconds can feel like forever or fly right by. Time yourself to make sure your pitch isn’t too long or too short, and adjust as necessary.
• Use your “excited” voice. While you’ll want to use your “inside voice,” vary your tone. When you give a rehearsed speech, it should be polished but not robotic. Try to bring some excitement to your voice as you speak.
• Speak slowly. You may want to cram as much as possible into your 30 seconds, but that could result in you speaking too quickly to try to get it all in, making it tough for the listener to understand you. As hard as it might be, stick to one or two main points.
• Maintain eye contact. While you don’t want to stare at the listener the whole time, you don’t want to stare at the floor either. Maintain the level of eye contact that feels normal and natural to you, and break eye contact when appropriate.

Make Your Pitch

An elevator pitch is useful in all sorts of professional (and even personal!) situations. By taking stock of what you do and what you want to do, you’ll find the perfect elements to include in yours and impress the next person you pitch it to.

Want more insights into creating the perfect pitch? Check out Ashurst’s Building Your Personal Brand Virtual Experience Program .

Image credit: Canva

The post How to Give a Great Elevator Pitch (With Examples) appeared first on Forage .

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The ultimate guide to creating an ideal elevator pitch presentation in 2023

What is an elevator pitch? What is an elevator pitch designed to do? And even more importantly – what makes a good elevator pitch? It is probably one of the most common presentation types – and it’s easy to see why. It is brief, effective, and utterly universal since you can use this format in pretty much any sphere – from business to making friends. So, let’s find out exactly what it is and how to make an ideal elevator pitch!

Elevator pitch meaning

An elevator pitch, sometimes referred to as an elevator speech, is a brief, memorable summary of your professional background, product/service, expertise, and credentials. This type of presentation should be quick enough to present during a short elevator ride, which is why it’s called an elevator pitch.

This speech is entirely about who you are, what you sell or currently do, and what you plan to do in the future.

Think of it as a Twitter version of your business proposal/plan. You can use over 140 characters to share your ideas during a 60-second elevator ride but only share up to 3 tweets’ during the first contact. The reason is simple: the average English word has 5.5 characters with spaces, and a 140-character tweet is equal to 25 words.

Pro tip: In your elevator pitch, speak at a comprehensible 75 words per minute (a little slower than the usual pace of 120-200 words/minute).

Done right, this speech will help you make a solid first impression on potential investors, employers, or business partners. It can also aid in network development, employment, or establishing connections with new coworkers on your first day at a company. You might even learn something new about your business that you never knew before!

Is this something you are interested in trying?

Good! Because we’ll soon show you how to do it!

Key takeaways:

• Aim to convey your message in no more than 60 seconds and keep your elevator speech short and to the point.
• Maintain a maximum of 75 words per minute.
• With the limited time you have, be enthusiastic and persuasive. Concentrate on the most critical details.
• Use visual aids to grab attention.
• To ensure that your speech is effective, record it or deliver it to a friend. Remember, practice makes perfect.

What is an elevator pitch deck designed to do?

To put it shortly, an elevator pitch is designed to introduce either you or your product or service. Keep in mind that your audience would likely be strangers. Your goal here is to catch their attention and spark interest.

Depending on what you want to achieve, there may be different types of elevator pitch presentations:

• Introductory elevator pitch – fits anywhere from job interviews to sales campaigns and fundraising events – wherever you need to introduce yourself or your product/service.
• Job interview elevator pitch – fits for making a fast overview of your skills and competencies for your potential employer.
• “Selling” elevator pitch for business – fits for either selling your product or getting funding to make one.

Remember, your elevator pitch is as helpful during online networking events, job interviews, and trade fairs as in person.

In this article, we’ll show you how to craft a powerful elevator pitch ppt to attract investors.

What constitutes a good elevator pitch?

The purpose of elevator pitch slides is to give clear and crisp information about yourself or your product/service. That’s why your deck should contain only a few slides. The perfect elevator pitch deck is anywhere between 5 to 12 slides, with smart art and charts.

How to do an elevator pitch for business?

There are a ton of elevator pitch examples available online. And every one of those samples follows a slightly different format template.

This raises an important question: which one is the best?

We at SlidePeak will try to provide a clear answer to that question in this elevator pitch guide. Having explored many alternative options, we found our winning template, which we will now share with you.

Our elevator pitch presentation is divided into 8 sections:

• Introduction
• Problem vs. solution
• Market size and competition
• Business model
• Unique selling point (USP)
• Founding team
• Money milestones
• Call to action (CTA)

Here’s a quick overview of what each elevator pitch slide deck section includes and why:

Section 1: Introduction

You might be tempted to begin an elevator pitch with something startling. After all, you want to draw the investor’s attention, don’t you?

The issue with shocking starters is that they may draw the investor’s attention away from your business, which is the main focus of your pitch. That’s why we recommend starting out naturally rather than shockingly and putting information on 1-3 slides to make the information easy to understand.

You should include these elevator pitch essentials in your introduction:

• The name of the business
• A concise summary of your business (no more than two sentences)
• A breakdown of the top three products/services you offer (optional)
• Your target audience

Make sure to relate all details in no more than 18 seconds or 36 words max. By briefly outlining the details, you give the potential investor a basic grasp of what you do.

Good examples:

Pro tip: You can skip the target audience if it is obvious, like in the example above (anyone can benefit from social media). For other products/services, this is a crucial component that should be clearly defined.

Starting your elevator pitch PowerPoint with a question or hook is also an excellent way to attract the investor’s attention. In such a case, add one more slide before the introductory one.

Example 1: Starting with a question

Example 2: Starting with a hook or interesting fact

The pitch’s beginning or conclusion might both contain a hook. If you’re cold-pitching and use your hook at the beginning, your audience might be intrigued. A lengthier conversation will begin if you place it near the end of your speech during a networking event or job interview.

Section 2: Problem vs. solution

The next section has to throw light on the problem you’re attempting to solve. It can consist of one main problem statement, several smaller ones that are related to it, or one main problem divided into two to three smaller ones.

The objective is to demonstrate that you fully understand the challenge and quickly tell them about the solution you offer. The simpler to understand, the better.

Section 3: Market size and competition

Potential investors are always more likely to invest where they can expect substantial returns. That’s why demonstrating the scale of the opportunity and insights into the competition gives an immediate sense of whether they should invest their time with you.

Good example:

Section 4: Business model

An investor can get a sense of how you plan to make money with a fast elevator pitch slide on the business model. An investor is more likely to convert when a business strategy is clear and compelling.

Section 5: Why choose us or our USP

Your objective in this section is to show potential investors how your company stands out from the competition. At this point, they decide whether or not to spend more time with you.

If they want to hold a second listening to you, you are more likely to get funding.

Pro tip: You should be mindful that you have a maximum of 20 seconds to highlight your USP. Therefore, keep information to a minimum and provide details that are absolutely necessary for your investors to know.

You can also add a slide describing your technology if you offer high-end, technologically oriented products or solutions. If it’s a patented technology, make sure to put it forward during your elevator pitch.

Section 6: Founding team

People invest in people.

Investors are interested in the credentials of the people they spend their money and effort on. To inspire trust in potential investors, always include your credentials, experience, and accomplishments.

Section 7: Money milestones

Investors absolutely love numbers and will remember them long after your elevator pitch is over. Therefore, make sure to demonstrate a well-thought-out investment process right from the start.

A good example from Airbnb:

How to speak at an elevator pitch?

Now that we’re finished with the content part, let’s talk about how you should speak at an elevator pitch.

Actually, time may be quite an enemy here. You start talking faster because you are worried, and there’s so little time for you to speak. And if you are a fast talker, this may result in your pitch feeling rushed and hard to follow.

Try keeping a relaxed approach to how you speak. Your steady and clear rhythm will create a feeling of confidence in what you are talking about. This will result in credibility and give you the highest possible impact.

How to end an elevator pitch?

The ending is as important as the beginning, if not more! In fact, the more creative you can be, the more successful your elevator pitch will be.

You need to consider a concluding statement that will stick in the investor’s mind. The better the line, the more likely your potential investor will remember your message afterward.

This memory trigger could be anything from a catchy phrase to a promise of value. It can be a summary of the pitch. If you can make it rhyme, bonus points for you!

You can also ask whether further explanations are needed, initiate a discussion, or offer your business card – whatever attracts attention and makes your pitch memorable.

What to avoid in an elevator pitch?

The key thing in an elevator pitch, apart from its size, is clarity.

Here are 6 things you should avoid when you write your elevator pitch.

• Avoid truisms, buzzwords, hyperbole, and jargon. Some people can be impressed, but many others will be confused.
• Don’t speak too fast or ask too much of people.
• Weed out fillers and annoyances.
• Don’t give your elevator speech to people who don’t want to hear it or are in a hurry.
• Don’t take a one-size-fits-all approach. Make sure to refresh your pitch if the situation changes.
• Don’t speak in a monotone way or frown. Instead, aim for high energy.

Finally, think about how you move and what you do during your elevator pitch. Too many gestures and overall movement may appear annoying, while not moving at all will make you sound odd. So, try to strike a balance and always be ready for objections!

Some good examples to follow:

The presentation part

The design, appearance, and feel of the deck have an equal impact on your elevator pitch’s success, as does accurately communicated information.

Do not shy away from receiving professional assistance to get the elevator pitch design done. After all, it is your idea that should succeed – an effective elevator pitch deck simply opens the door.

Quick tips for elevator pitch that stands out

• Keep it concise, short, simple, and visually appealing.
• Select bold fonts.
• Give preference to contrasting backgrounds.
• Use words, fonts, and images that are easy to understand.
• Avoid putting all the information in a single slide –the less information, the better.
• Avoid using free stock images – instead, use few but relevant ones.

The bottom line

Stick with the elevator pitch guidelines we’ve offered in this article, and you will present your business with class and style. And if you have any questions or need assistance creating an elevator pitch, feel free to contact our team at any time convenient for you.

We’re always happy to assist business owners and startups in expanding their marketing efforts!

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Home Blog Business Elevator Pitch Guide: The Essentials to Elevator Pitch Presentations

Elevator Pitch Guide: The Essentials to Elevator Pitch Presentations

In her book Resonate , communication and Persuasion Expert Nancy Duarte, a highly praised master of turning story patterns into effective business communications, recommends “Showing your humanness when you present” as a “great way to stand out.” Yet, how do we manage to do that over a conversation that can only last as long as an elevator ride, at best? We’re focusing on elevator pitches over this note, aiming at strengthening your skills in delivering a successful elevator pitch for business in a way that brings your company, efforts, and ideas the best success moving forward. 

Table of Content

What is an elevator pitch?

How long should an elevator pitch be, elevator pitch real-life applications, the basic structure for an elevator pitch, recommendations on delivering your elevator pitch.

• Four Effective Elevator Pitch Examples (with Real-Life Experiences)

According to elevator company Kencor, Inc. , vertical lifts “have variable ride times”. An elevator ride in a small town in Kentucky is certainly not the same as one in New York City. The reason “there may be considerable differences in terms of speed”, as CMA Lifts states , is “because one thing is having to serve maybe a four-story building and much more is having to do with a building that in turn goes to touch a dozen.” Times will vary depending on the type of elevator, too, amount of a building’s stories, and stops made on the way.

In Taipei 101, which CMA presents as “the third highest skyscraper in the world,” a lift can travel 60.6 km to reach the 89th floor “at an altitude of 382 meters, in a time frame of about 40 seconds.” Why does this matter? We can use these times as a starting reference. 

The concept of an “elevator pitch” is most clear when we think of the length of an elevator ride as that timeframe in which you can make a perfect introduction to a potential investor or stakeholder. 

The content of a perfect elevator pitch should be succinct, direct, and plentiful . It’s also certainly one you polish every time you deliver it.

A highly esteemed 30 seconds is the common industry rule for a winning first impression. A half-minute capsule is the average notion of an elevator pitch length. This is one common reference point for elevator pitches. 

The second common standard for elevator pitches is based on a higher ride average stemming from New York City. Harvard Business Review (HBR) actually goes for this higher elevator ride average of 118 seconds. Of course, the higher amount of skyscrapers in that multicultural place makes up for the considerable difference. 

Whether you’re settling for the standard 30 seconds or allowing yourself an extension of up to 118 seconds, the truth is that elevator pitch rides are quick, efficient, and to the point. The goal is to sell your idea or product as fast as the attention you’re likely to get during a single elevator ride.  

The above is very much tied to the standard sitcom, TV, and movie scene of someone selling an episode, a project, or any idea while catching up to the jam-packed, unattainable executive everyone wants a hold of as they walk into the office. 

If we stick to this produced idea of an elevator ride that we see on screen, the most common real-life application is a key potential investor or customer, a person we wish to attract to whom we, in our minds, say: “If only I could pitch my idea to this person for a single minute, I’d sell it!” 

A conference, a demo-day presentation, product launches , and many other networking events are the real-life equivalent of what we see on TV (as in a Shark Tank episode). 

In general, elevator pitches are used to pitch a startup, engage in sales, introduce oneself, present a new venture to a venture capitalist, and even seek a job, even. 

As we said when we presented our Creative Elevator Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template , “The Elevator Pitch for Interview enables users to demonstrate their career portfolio in an engaging manner.” Someone who walks into an office or casually discusses their career over a taxi ride in a way that succinctly showcases their expertise and abilities is much more likely to catch attention for an open position than someone without clarity or ability to express their thoughts, goals, and desires. 

A well-thought-out elevator pitch for a role or as a presentation to a startup, even as a project description in a nutshell, is similar to a very powerful wild card that you pull up your sleeve when that person you know meets you by chance as much as gives you a quick 15-minute introduction to prove your point. Whether an investor can call you back during a 10-minute break or you run into a key business partner in a hallway, on the way somewhere, or at a quick reception at any event, an elevator pitch is destined to convey your ideas across very succinctly so you can pick up longer conversations (or pitches) at a more convenient or later stage. 

As we also said in the article to the template above, “business owners and managers use elevator pitch PowerPoints to discuss ideas briefly.” Templates and business presentations in this category of elevator pitch decks serve the useful purpose of putting ideas up on screen in a nutshell for focused discussion. And that’s usually highly appreciated. 

Further below, we’ll get to a real-life example of a pitch that worked great for Carmine Gallo in working with an esteemed language interpretation company in Monterrey, California. 

For now, if you’re looking to know more about “interview presentations”, including an Elevator Pitch Example for Job Seekers, our article How to Give A Compelling Interview Presentation: Tips, Examples, and Topic Ideas is here to help. We’ll get to more elevator speech examples for entrepreneurs in the section below, as well. 

For now, how do we ideally present our elevator pitches? 

Create visually appealing presentations as much as possible. The goal is for your visuals to give power and create engagement that adds to your message or speech. This can be done either by carefully pairing your presentation templates so the aesthetic remains cohesive, or opt for a software solution like the SlideModel’s AI presentation maker to speed up slide design process. Then, also work very conscientiously on your messaging.

As Nancy Duarte says, “Truly great communicators make it look easy as they lure audiences to adopt their ideas and take action.” To learn how to deliver a presentation pitch, and if we can expand on what the author says, this “isn’t something that just happens automatically; it comes at the price of long and thoughtful hours spent constructing messages that resonate deeply and elicit empathy.” Make sure you put in your focused, attentive hours constructing that ideal message that will resonate with your audience to make them take action. Results will be noticeable if you do, and your confidence in delivering these speeches will naturally and greatly improve as you move forward. This long-term exercise is about being in control of what you’re gearing and how you’re doing so. 

As the already-referenced HBR article states, “The first 8 seconds are the ‘hook’—the time you have to get the ‘lean in’ factor, to snag your prospect, to catch their interest.” For them, “Those first 8 seconds are the key”, as HBR puts it. And that’s essentially so because this first span is where we most commonly capture an audience’s full attention before we naturally lose it.  

Thereafter, you’re looking to answer a few key questions for your audience. In Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs – How to be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience , for example, Carmine Gallo breaks down the ultimate elevator pitch by recommending a presenter: “Simply create a one-sentence answer for the following four questions: (1) What do you do?  (2) What problem do you solve?  (3) How are you different?  (4) Why should I care?”

As promised, here’s what a winning elevator pitch looked like for Gallo in working with an interpretation company (which we labeled here as XYZ) in Monterrey, California: 

XYZ company…

“is the world’s largest provider of phone interpretation services for companies who want to connect with their non-English-speaking customers [what it does] . 

Every twenty-three seconds, someone who doesn’t speak English enters this country [the problem] .

When he or she calls a hospital, a bank, an insurance company, or 911, it’s likely that an […] interpreter is on the other end [how it’s different] . 

We help you talk to your customers, patients, or sales prospects in 150 languages [why you should care] .”

Quite succinctly and like we also said in our Creative Elevator Pitch Deck PowerPoint Template , whenever you’re figuring out how to write an elevator pitch, think of ways “to deliver the concept to an audience in a short description that listeners can easily understand.” The pieces of advice we give above should all assist in knowing how to present an elevator pitch successfully. But we’ve for further recommendations to this end. 

The first of our recommendations has to do with pacing. Just because an elevator pitch is expected to be of short duration, that doesn’t mean you need to race through it. Keep it intelligible. Take your time to breathe. Go slowly at it so your ideas can come through to your audience. Don’t rush through an elevator speech just so you can make up for the short time allowed. Practice, instead. Make sure you choose the right words and learn them by heart. Then, move slowly through them. 

The above leads us to our second piece of advice. If you’re building a perfect elevator pitch, revise, edit, and check again! Go through each word many times until you find the right-suiting one for the precise idea or concept you wish to convey. Get them right! 

Also, if you’re looking for an elevator pitch presentation template specially designed for presenting to VCs, angel investors, or stakeholders, for example, seek out specialized material. Our Formal Elevator Pitch Template for PowerPoint might work better in that case. The material is a framework of various slides designed for users to customize and perfect their sales pitches. You’re starting off with a base. 

On the other hand, seek to put yourself out there to family and friends. Especially seek business partners, colleagues, and people in and out of your field who can tell you how you’re doing with your elevator pitch for business. Rather than fight, be offended, take observations or corrections personally, and let alone justify your pitch’s content as you present to people outside the industry, seek to truly listen to feedback, take note, and make sure you incorporate it later. 

The reason behind this observation is that a perfect business pitch contemplates the human aspect of everyone listening. As Duarte puts it in her book, “Even with mountains of facts, you can still fail to resonate. That’s because resonance doesn’t come from the information itself, but rather from the emotional impact of that information.” So, seek to connect emotionally. 

Acknowledging emotion is frequently left out of everything business-related; yet, note how specialist Duarte recommends presenters “Use plenty of facts, but accompany them with emotional appeal.” Listen to your audience and polish your content and delivery until you can sync both the importance of data with the emotional calling that gets audiences to forget what and how you said it, but they walk away changed, with a new vision, and, more importantly, ready to support you and your endeavors. 

Let’s check how people have achieved this before you. 

Four Effective Elevator Pitch Examples (with Real-Life Experiences )

Our first examples of elevator pitches come from a German impact food startup. Though a bit on the longer side with a final 3-minute length, the video introduces the problem and solution flowingly with a captivating start. It includes benefits, creates an overall experience in itself for viewers as it appeals to the senses, and also incorporates a concise call to action that describes exactly where their efforts will be focused. This is a good example to get started in perfecting your upcoming elevator pitch. 

From the college side, Utah State University’s Cooperative Extension Services has an elevator pitch winner who made a compelling business case in less than 2 minutes. This is a perfect example of a 118 elevator pitch that needs a bit of pacing down to be perfect. Instead of rushing, this coffee cup business idea can easily be conceived to go much further on a slower scale. The pitch merits it. Yet, the data and sentiment, the surprise, and all the background work are there, making this a great academic example that can easily guide any executive into winning business presentations.

On the last note, The National Science Foundation came up with a video series on elevator pitches titled “Real People. Real elevators.” Check out episode 2 here for tips with a real-life dramatization and setting if you’d like to picture the situation of a real-life example a bit further. 

Now that we’re moving to the more cinematic side, one of Vince Vaughn’s characters has also made a point on product elevator pitches that we can rescue in a light spirit. The reason is that Vince’s character’s pitch works thanks to how he conveys a clear business idea with a captivating (though risky!) introduction to selling a powerful concept to a group of executives. The scene appears fueled by a writing team that apparently knows the back works of pitching an idea fairly well. Here’s what’s been labeled as “The best elevator pitch of the world” in a YouTube clip of 2011’s movie Dilemma . 

Here, we provide a range of elevator pitch examples to cater to different scenarios:

Business Elevator Pitch Examples:

Imagine you are the founder of a sustainable fashion startup, and you’re pitching your idea to a potential investor:

“I’m the founder of GreenStyle Apparel. We’re disrupting the fashion industry by producing high-quality, eco-friendly clothing made from recycled materials. With a growing consumer demand for sustainable fashion and our innovative supply chain, we’re well-positioned to capture a significant market share. Our recent partnership with [Notable Retailer] has already proven the appeal of our products. I invite you to join us in creating a more sustainable future while enjoying impressive returns on your investment.”

Imagine you’re the founder of a health tech startup and you’re pitching to a potential investor:

“I’m the founder of HealthTech Innovations, a startup dedicated to transforming healthcare through innovative technology. Our flagship product, HealthLink, is a telemedicine platform that connects patients with healthcare providers in real time, improving access to care, and reducing healthcare costs. With the recent surge in telehealth demand, we’ve already secured partnerships with major hospital networks and insurance providers.

Elevator Pitch Examples for Students:

As a college student majoring in communications, you’re networking at a career fair:

“I’m currently pursuing a degree in communications with a focus on digital marketing. During my internship at [Prominent Agency], I had the opportunity to work on campaigns for major clients like [Well-known Brand]. I excel at creating engaging social media content and analyzing performance metrics to drive results. I’m eager to bring my creative skills and data-driven approach to a dynamic marketing team like yours.”

Imagine you’re a marketing major and you’re introducing yourself at a networking event:

“I’m a marketing enthusiast with a passion for creating meaningful brand experiences. Throughout my coursework, I’ve honed my skills in market research, digital marketing, and campaign management. During my internship at [Marketing Agency], I had the opportunity to work on a social media campaign that resulted in a 25% increase in brand engagement.

I’m particularly intrigued by the intersection of technology and marketing, and I’m excited to leverage emerging trends to drive brand success. As a student, I’ve been an active member of the American Marketing Association, where I’ve collaborated with peers on real-world marketing projects. I’m eager to connect with professionals in the field and explore opportunities to apply my knowledge and creativity to your marketing initiatives.”

Elevator Pitch for Interview Example:

You’re interviewing for a project management role at a tech company:

“I’m excited about the opportunity to join your organization as a project manager. With a solid background in project management and a PMP certification, I’ve successfully led cross-functional teams to deliver complex projects on time and within budget. In my previous role at [Former Company], I was recognized for improving project efficiency by 20% through streamlined processes. I’m confident that my skills and experience align with your company’s goals and can contribute to its continued success.”

Elevator Pitch Examples for Interview (Technical Role):

You’re interviewing for a software engineering position at a software startup:

“I’m a software engineer with a passion for creating innovative solutions. In my previous position with [Tech Company], I was the lead developer on a project that resulted in a 40% increase in app user engagement. I specialize in backend development and have experience with a wide range of programming languages, including Python, Java, and Ruby. I’m excited about the opportunity to bring my technical expertise to your team and help drive your mission of revolutionizing the industry.”

You’re interviewing for a data scientist position at a software startup:

“As a data scientist with a strong background in statistical analysis and machine learning, I’ve been at the forefront of turning data into actionable insights. During my tenure at [Analytics Firm], I developed a predictive model that reduced customer churn by 15% for a major telecommunications client. I have experience working with large datasets and utilizing tools such as Python, R, and TensorFlow. My passion for data-driven decision-making and my commitment to staying at the cutting edge of data science techniques make me the ideal candidate to contribute to your data-driven culture and help your organization make informed strategic decisions.”

These real-life elevator pitch examples demonstrate how individuals can effectively present their qualifications, accomplishments, and enthusiasm in various professional contexts, such as entrepreneurship, networking, and job interviews. The key is to tailor your pitch to the specific situation and audience to make a memorable and impactful impression.

A few key aspects of perfecting a product elevator speech (or an elevator pitch, for that matter) is to keep it short. Be brief. From 30 to 118, we’re speaking of a few seconds put together for you to be persuasive, share your goals, problem, solution, and skills, and make a difference in attracting your intended audience. 

Practice, practice, and then practice some more. Mastering a pitch of this kind truly takes a lot of practice to go over the right words at the right pace, and powerfully impact a person or group. 

Also, keep a business card handy. If your pitch works, a quick and efficient way of giving your contact details to your stakeholders will do wonders to move your business forward. 

What’s next? Our recommendations

Before you go, here are a few real-life examples of how to end a presentation , in case they help in general. And, if you’re looking to Create a Great Investor Pitch Deck and Close the Deal , this other article might be useful. We’re giving you The 11 Key Slides For Creating A Winning Investor Pitch Deck there, too. 

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Carmine Gallo, Elevator Pitch, Garr Reynolds, Nancy Duarte, Pitch Deck, Sales Filed under Business

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11 actually great elevator pitch examples and how to make yours

There's a trope in late '90s movies where a motivated, ambitious main character does everything they can to get on the same elevator ride as the CEO of some powerful company.

It usually ends the same way. Our protagonist makes a nervous, fast-paced speech that the CEO ignores while repeatedly pressing the elevator button, and we get a five-second scene with sad music of our main character watching them walk away.

That nervous, fast-paced speech is an elevator pitch example—a bad one, because otherwise, those movies would be nine minutes long and uninspiring. In the real world, an elevator pitch can make a powerful impression and pave the way for business ventures, employment opportunities, and networking. It won't get you a corner office and a fancy title one week into your new job, but it can be an important step in the right direction. 

To highlight that difference—and to really dismantle "The Pursuit of Happyness" as a plot—I've put together some elevator pitch examples and a guide on how to write one that actually works.

Table of contents:

What is an elevator pitch?

An elevator pitch is a concise speech in which you introduce yourself and a few key points about what you're pitching, whether it's to acquire investors, promote a product, advertise a business, or even sell yourself as a potential employee. If it takes longer than a minute to get the point across, it's getting too long.

You're not trying to convey your entire business strategy or all your selling points. Your goal here is to raise interest, make a connection, and facilitate an opportunity for business in the future.

Let's say you're in the fintech industry and are attending a networking event full of bank representatives and decision-makers. Instead of spending an hour going through your company's history and how it's aiming to be carbon-neutral by 2157, you'd find more success introducing it concisely, pointing out one or two key features and how they could serve your audience's interests. 

Components of an elevator pitch

The pitch begins with a hook to draw your audience in, veers into the value you offer, provides some proof to support your statement, and wraps it all up with a display of what makes you different.

It's relatively easy to incorporate these elements into a short pitch. The difficulty lies in choosing a good hook and phrasing your proposition in a way that appeals to the other side of the conversation.

The hook: This element doesn't need to be fancy or complicated. Make it simple and get straight to the point. For example, if you're pitching a time management tool, your hook can be a personal story like: "When I first started my business, it felt like there was too much to do and not enough time to do it." It can also be a statistic. If you're pitching an online collaboration tool, your hook can be something like: "73% of all teams will have remote workers by 2028."

The evidence: The person you're talking to may be nodding, but that doesn't necessarily mean your point is getting across. Some proof of past success or stats that speak to your success could make that nodding a lot more genuine.

The differentiator: Let them know that you're different—that your product or service isn't just another iteration of what came before. You get brownie points for originality and not quoting any movies.

11 elevator pitch examples done right

I rewatched "The Pursuit of Happyness" to see if there was anything I could salvage, but all I walked away with was frustration at the misleading lesson that passion can overcome anything. Passion cannot, in fact, overcome a busy decision-maker who can't wait for you to stop talking.

If you're at all like me, you'll find the following examples a much better use of your time.

1. Startup pitch example

Everyone's got ideas for [shared goal] . But ideas aren't enough.

We took [shared goal] and turned it into a reality.

We developed [solution] at [company name] that's [list of qualities] . We made it possible for [target audience] to [shared goal] .

What sets us apart is our [differentiator, followed by brief overview] .

If you're passionate about [high-level goal] and interested in [benefit of collaborating with you] , let's connect.

This elevator pitch example demonstrates how to approach potential business partners and investors with a clean energy project. The hook is simple. It leans on the issue and the harsh reality of how little the world does to achieve utopian sustainability. Then it introduces the solution as the company's proactive effort to change the status quo. It pitches efficiency, reduced costs, and access to a larger customer base. Finally, it addresses how ease of use sets the solution apart from the competition and invites further collaboration. 

This example is ideal for startups in that it focuses more on the product, what makes it unique, and the features that set it apart, rather than the company's past achievements, success stories, or revenue metrics. It can easily be used to pitch investors and potential clients alike.  

You can follow this example by making the problem the centerpiece of the hook. Open with the issue, and position your company's service or product as the solution.

2. Job seeker pitch example

It took me [period of time] to [achieve goal] .

It's always been my priority to deliver [high-level result] , but I want to put my [expertise] to use making [high-level goal/impact] .

At [company name] , I [past experience] that [measureable results] .

I love what I do. But I [differentiator, high-level goal] .

If you're looking for a [position/title] who's [differentiator] , let's chat. I'm eager to explore how I can help your organization achieve its [field] objectives.

Since tropes are only a good idea when I propose them, I've decided that our job seeker would be making a pitch to GreenCorp, the company from our previous example. Will Smith will not be playing this role.

In this example, the author of the pitch isn't trying to sell a company or a product; they're trying to sell themselves. The hook addresses their background, expertise, and goals. It then veers into past performance results and highlights the key skill set. The uniqueness factor here speaks to GreenCorp's mission, showcasing that the author shares the company's grand goals, empathetic mindset, and desire to help build something positive. 

If you're ever job hunting, open your pitch with a concise and direct overview of your background, share your most impressive achievements, and do your research into the company you're pitching.

3. Sales pitch example

Most people [relevant statistic, followed by explanation] . 

At [company name] , we've taken the [pain point] out of the equation. 

Our [products] are designed for [value proposition] .

They're more than just [product] . They're [differentiator, followed by supporting evidence] . 

We're not just salespeople; we're [differentiator] .

So, are you ready to find [product selling point] ? Let's [CTA] .

In this example, a guitar shop is pitching its unique guitar design to potential customers. It recognizes a very common problem and ties it to a feeling that most guitar enthusiasts know all too well: giving up too soon. It later positions the author as an expert and fellow musician and utilizes customer reviews as supporting evidence.

4. Networking pitch example

I'm a [position/title] at [company name] , and I've worked on [past experience] . 

Over the past [period of time] , I've had the privilege of working with diverse industries, from [industry] to [industry] , and what truly excites me is [shared interest] . 

I'm here to connect with other professionals who share my enthusiasm for creative and innovative [field] ideas. I really want to explore new [differentiators and shared interests] .

Let's connect on [communication channel] . I have quite a few compelling [field] resources to share and talk through.

This networking pitch resembles the job seeker pitch with one major difference: the audience shifts from an employer to a colleague. The objective changes, and that affects the entire approach. 

Ahead of your next networking event, tailor your pitch so that it speaks to your expertise and knowledge without going into too much detail.

5. Investor pitch example

At [company name] , we [business concept offer] , plain and simple.

We [value proposition] .

Our portfolio contains [supporting evidence] .

Why us? Well, we [differentiator] .

We roll up our sleeves and get involved. 

We're currently prospecting [target audience] to join us on our journey. If you're ready to be part of the next [field] disruption, let's talk about how [company name] can help.

Investors have heard it all a million times over. It's why their faces are so hard to read—set in unimpressed silence. So it's best to make your hook short and to the point. "We do X to achieve Y" can be a breath of fresh air when your job is listening to entrepreneurs pitch their ideas five days a week.

In this example, YZTech Ventures aims to secure investors for promising companies. The hook is straightforward and simple, slowly veering into an overview of the company and why it works.

6. Nonprofit pitch example

Every day, [pain point] .

[Company name] is working to change that.

We're a nonprofit dedicated to [high-level goal] . We've already provided [supporting evidence/achievements] .

We don't want to treat the symptoms; we want to face the root cause of [pain point] . But this will be a losing battle if we're fighting it on our own.

We're always looking for individuals who share our vision and drive to build a better world where [high-level goal] .

If you're ready to make a difference, let's discuss how you can be part of the solution.

Empathy is the name of the game here, and charities and nonprofits can use it as a unique selling point. The good news is there's very little risk of doing this wrong. The example outlines the cause, its aim, and the efforts being made to find a solution. 

If you're pitching a nonprofit or a charity to potential donors, lean heavily on the charity's message and accomplishments.

7. Personal branding pitch example

I'm [name] , and I'm a dedicated [title] . I've helped [past expertise and achievments] .

I do what I do by [value proposition, followed by differentiator] .

I'm here to [offered value] .

There's " [position] " in the title, but I'll be [differentiator] .

Let's schedule a meeting and discuss what you can do.

Personal branding comes into play when you're pitching yourself, the individual. Just as companies share their unique idea, proposition, and values, the life coach does the same at a personal level. 

If you're ever writing a personal branding pitch, approach it as you would a business. The key difference is to showcase your values and what makes you unique as a person rather than as a corporate entity.

8. Product launch pitch example 

I'm very excited to share with you [product selling point] .

At [company name] , [products] aren't just a [basic nature of product] . We see them as a game-changer in [selling point] .

This is why we developed our [product] , a cutting-edge [product overview] .

Imagine all of your [value proposition, followed by key features] .

Our product has already received rave reviews during beta testing, with users reporting [survey results] .

[Product] is now available for preorders! [CTA].

This example focuses less on the company and more on the newly revealed product. The new release speaks for itself and the business at the same time.

The hook immediately positions the product as the future or "the next best thing." The pitch dives into what makes the new product unique, utilizing a hypothetical to paint a picture of what it can achieve.

If you're writing a product launch elevator pitch, focus on the product and let it speak for the company.

9. Rebranding pitch example

We've done great things as [company name] . We've helped businesses [services and past achievements] .

We've since been on a journey of transformation, and it's time for a fresh start.

Our company has grown, adapted, and innovated in response to changing market dynamics. We've [outlined change] . Now, [company name] is about to become [new company name] .

Why the change? We've rebranded to [rebranding reasons] .

With [new company name] , you can expect the same quality, expertise, and dedication you've come to trust. But now, we're adding a fresh perspective and a dynamic spirit to our brand.

We invite you to join us in this exciting phase of our journey. [New company name] is ready to [service/value proposition] .

Let's schedule a meeting and explore how our renewed brand can better serve your evolving needs.

In this example, the hook immediately delivers the reasoning behind the change. 

Instead of a value proposition, the pitch offers an assurance that the rebranding won't have detrimental effects. It's designed to address stakeholders and clients as well as provide context.

10. Consulting services pitch example

At [company name] , we specialize in [value proposition] .

With a team of seasoned experts in [field of expertise] , we've successfully guided organizations to [high-level goal] .

Our approach is all about partnership. We take the time to deeply understand your unique market and audience. From there, we [differentiator] .

[Company name] can be the catalyst for your business's transformation. Whether you're looking to [goal] or [goal] , we're here to help.

Let's schedule a virtual meeting to discuss where your company stands and where we can take it.

This pitch is designed to attract clients for a consulting service. It takes a collaborative tone in its approach and focuses on areas of growth that pretty much every decision-maker worries about. It makes the solution the centerpiece of its hook instead of the problem, and goes on to briefly outline how the firm's process is structured. 

11. Technology solution pitch example

[Relevant statistic].  

That's how it goes for your [pain point] .

Imagine you didn't have to worry about [pain point] .

Our [product] is designed to enhance [process] . We help businesses [value proposition] .

One of our recent success stories includes helping a [supporting evidence] .

The thing is, [differentiator] ; we make sure our [product] is specifically customized for your organization's needs. 

Are you available to meet next week for a personalized demo?

In this example, the hook is a statistic that lays the foundation for the problem and the value proposition. It's a powerful hook that captures the audience's attention and helps you transition into what you really want to say.

How to write an elevator pitch

You can be an optimist and decide to improvise an elevator pitch. But you'll likely end up taking too many pauses under the guise of sipping your water, and stumbling over your words mid-pitch might waste a precious conversation.

It pays to be prepared, and writing an elevator pitch beforehand can make a big difference.

1. Outline a clear objective

Your objective will help you pinpoint the information you want to mention in your pitch. 

Tip: Establish success metrics relevant to your objective. Investors will want to know how much revenue your business can generate, while potential clients will want to know the benefits of your product or service. Make sure your success metrics speak to your audience's concerns.

2. Define your audience

One speech won't work across the board. Hollywood says the up-and-coming manager likes to be impressed with a Rubik's cube, while the CEO likes to hear your heartfelt speech about how much this job means to you and how you're expertly overcoming odds. 

Both those things are wrong, but the point remains that identifying who your listener is and what matters to them is a nice way to tailor your pitch so that it speaks to their concerns, needs, and bigger pain points. The more you resonate with your audience, the more impactful your pitch will be, and the closer you'll get to a tearful Will Smith movie ending.

Defining your audience goes beyond knowing the name and nature of what might make a potential client. 

Tip: Conduct in-depth audience research by diving into your chosen market, competitors, user data, and digital marketing analytics. Then comb through that information to define your audience's pain points and how you're uniquely positioned to address them.  

3. Craft a hook

You know what you want to say and why. Now you need an opening statement—a hook that grabs their attention and gets them invested in the rest of your pitch. You want to set the stage for the elements that come next. Make it clear and engaging, but keep it concise. The goal here is to get an attentive listener, not a bored one.

The hook needs to spark the audience's interest. You need to speak their industry's language, show knowledge and expertise, and put your audience research data to good use by pointing out the difficulties and issues they face.

Tip: Use a personal story, a statistic, a fact, or an interesting hypothetical to draw your audience in.

4. Explain your value proposition

Once your audience is paying attention, it's time to dive into the proposition and the value within. What do you and your idea bring to the table? What problems do you solve, and how does that make your listener's life better? How does your solution differ from those they've heard pitched a thousand times before?

Point out the differentiating factors that make you and your business unique, whether it's the groundbreaking tech you've patented or the better pricing options your competitors can't keep up with. 

Tip: Write down all the aspects that make your business different, and choose the most compelling ones for the pitch.

5. Support your pitch with evidence

Who doesn't like real-life measurable data? Well, Hollywood doesn't, but that's just because no amount of Hans Zimmer music can make your 325% ROI cinematically engaging. You can be confident that your audience will want to hear success stories that support your proposition.

Have a few successful case studies from former and current clients ready to drive the point home and turn a semi-interested listener into an engaged party.

Tip: Draw on your own expertise, and use performance statistics and relevant metrics from previous projects. 

6. Keep it concise

It's called an elevator pitch for a reason. You have under a minute to get your entire pitch across to a busy decision-maker who doesn't have all day. Cut the fluff, and only say what you feel certain will convince your recipient to take your side.

Tip: Practice reading your pitch out loud in the mirror. Use a timer to measure how long it takes to deliver it comfortably.

7. End with a clear call to action

Since the point of an elevator pitch is to generate interest, you'll want to end it with a clear call to action—one that evokes a response and maybe a more in-depth conversation.

If you're pitching a service, you can offer to schedule a meeting to further outline your services and how they can help the listener. If you're pitching a product, you could offer to schedule a demo to prove it can improve their business. Get creative here, and aim to turn that interest into a meeting.

Tip: Lead your audience to connect with you beyond the pitch. Schedule a meeting or a coffee chat, exchange contact information, and make sure there's room for a longer discussion.

8. Prepare to answer questions

You can't just deliver your pitch and then hit the open bar at the networking event. Be ready to answer questions.

Questions at this stage mean your listener is intrigued, curious, and interested. At this point, feel free to provide as much context in your answers as you'd like. The elevator pitch has already ended, and it served its purpose. Go in-depth and provide context.

Tip: Write down a few questions based on your own market research. Ask yourself what your customers, investors, and audience might be curious about. Prepare your answers so you're never surprised.

Make a unique first impression

Opportunities are fleeting, especially when businesses are launching every day. In an oversaturated environment, an elevator pitch can help you make an impression that lasts. And who knows, you might just have what it takes to inspire a 50-million dollar movie that Will Smith can "misty-eye" his way through.

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Hachem Ramki

Hachem is a writer and digital marketer from Montreal. After graduating with a degree in English, Hachem spent seven years traveling around the world before moving to Canada. When he's not writing, he enjoys Basketball, Dungeons and Dragons, and playing music for friends and family.

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15 creative elevator pitch examples for every scenario

A good elevator pitch can be the difference between landing your next big opportunity or falling short of the competition. But the reality is, people want to have meaningful conversations without the forced sales pitch. So how do you pitch yourself during a job interview or client meeting with authenticity? 

First things first: What is an elevator pitch?

An elevator pitch, also known as an elevator speech, is an opportunity to share a quick summary of yourself and your product offerings. But a pitch can also be your chance at making a real connection that you can use later down the road. It’s not always an immediate benefit, but you should be prepared for any scenario in which you could be giving an elevator pitch. 

In reality, most people have given an elevator pitch whether they realize it or not. That’s because there are many different types of pitches—from interviews to new business opportunities. That makes preparing for your next pitch an important step in marketing both yourself and your company. 

When it comes to figuring out who to deliver your pitch to, you should aim for the best point of contact, not just the highest point of contact. Choosing connections that are related to or interested in what you’re offering will give you a better chance at making your sale. 

How long should an elevator pitch be?

One of the biggest unknowns about creating sample elevator pitches is how long they should be. In most cases, it will depend on what it’s about and who you’re pitching. A good rule of business etiquette is to make it as short as possible by carefully selecting the most important points. 

A study conducted by Microsoft found that the average person has an attention span of around eight seconds, meaning you’ll have to fight for that undivided attention. That’s no small task. So when it comes to a great elevator pitch, aim to keep it around 30 seconds—though the exact length can vary depending on your industry and what you’re pitching. 

When looking at pitch length based on industry, each one differs to some degree. Let’s take marketing for example. Your pitch opportunities will likely be to customers that come across your brand. And in that case, you have very little time to get your message across—whether it’s text, video, or imagery. But when it comes to sales, you may get the opportunity to expand your elevator pitch past 30 seconds. You will likely have plenty of networking opportunities where people are more than willing to listen to what you have to say. It really just depends on your medium and the audience’s eagerness to listen. 

But what if you can’t cut your elevator pitch down to 30 seconds? It may seem like your brand is too complicated to distill down to such a short timeframe, but if you’re pitching to the right audience you shouldn’t have that problem. Make sure you pitch to people related to your industry or a tangential audience that will be able to interpret your offerings. 

How to write an elevator pitch 

When it comes to writing an elevator pitch, it can be hard to decipher important facts from unimportant ones—this is why knowing how to effectively communicate in the workplace is important in the first place. For example, while it’s good to personalize your communication tactics wherever possible, it’s not necessary to give prospects an entire history lesson on your business. Only the most recent and relevant details should be included. To get started creating your own pitch, you first need to understand the basic components that make up any good elevator pitch.

Introduce yourself

All good pitches start with a short introduction. It could be as simple as stating your name and who you work for if those details apply. But the more personal you can make it, the more natural your elevator pitch will seem. Body language is also an important part of a solid introduction, as is eye contact. Here are a few tips to keep in mind when introducing yourself to a new prospect. 

Greet your audience in a way that’s appropriate for the occasion. Go formal for a business pitch or more casual for a fun event. With business meetings and networking events being held virtually, you’ll need to get creative with your introductions over video chat. You could even start with a lighthearted joke to break the ice. But whatever you do, make sure it’s relevant to your audience. 

Present the problem

All solutions start with a problem. Whatever you or your business is trying to solve, it’s important to get the point across early on in your elevator pitch to set the theme for the rest of your speech. An example problem: coordinating work between teams is chaotic.  

If possible, relate the problem back to your audience by using real-world examples. This will help make the problem more relevant and, hopefully, grab your audience’s attention. If your problem isn’t easy to explain, try using more than one example or a visual to really paint a picture for your audience. 

Offer the solution

If the problem is what draws the audience in, then the solution is what hooks them. This is your time to show them why they need your help. Here’s an example solution: Asana gives teams a system to organize and manage work so they know what to do, why it matters, and how to get it done.

The solution is arguably the most important part of an elevator pitch, so spend time perfecting it. If you’re pitching for a business, it’s likely the quick solution pitch has already been created. But again, it’s always better to personalize your pitch. So don’t be afraid to tweak it to fit your audience. If pitching for yourself, talk about the unique skills you’ve developed and why they would be beneficial to your prospect. 

Explain your value proposition

Now that you’ve piqued your audience’s attention, it’s time to seal the deal by explaining why your solution is better than anyone else's. An example value proposition is: Asana is the only platform that connects goals with the work needed to achieve them. 

The value proposition differs from the solution by focusing on why your audience should use your solution over a competitor’s. If you don’t have that answer just yet, perform a competitive analysis to compare your offerings or look to your executive summary. 

If your market is extremely niche and you don’t have a clear differentiator or significant competition, look to communication and interface capabilities. Consider why your idea or solution is original enough that someone would want to use it.   

Engage the audience

While most of the hard work is done, it’s important to engage your audience with a compliment or question before you part ways. Always err on the side of being genuine rather than delivering a scripted goodbye. 

There is no right or wrong way to engage your audience. While ending with a question can create a dialogue between you and your audience, a genuine compliment can go a long way. Think about what made you want to pitch them in the first place and use that to end the conversation. Lastly, don’t forget to swap contact information, such as a business card, if you don’t already have it. 

A foolproof elevator pitch template

Now that you know the basic components of a pitch, the next step is creating your very own elevator pitch. This template can work for just about any situation, from a job interview to pitching a small business or startup. That’s because we analyzed some of the most famous templates from industry experts—from Harvard research to Guy Kawasaki’s art of pitching—to create a foolproof template that will work in any situation. 

Plug your information into our elevator pitch template to draft a quick speech. While you won’t necessarily recite it word for word, it’s a great model to keep in mind in case you find yourself in a position where you’re not prepared with a personalized pitch.

Whether you’re looking for a pitch template for a job interview or for pitching your business, this template is a foolproof example for any situation you might find yourself in. 

General elevator pitch template

Use our elevator pitch template to start constructing your speech by adding statistics and personalized greetings where needed. This template incorporates the four parts explained above to hit all of the important details of a good elevator pitch. 

Introduction : “Hi I’m [name], a [position title] at [company name]. It’s great to meet you!”

Problem : “Since you work with [company name or industry] I figured you’d be interested to know that [problem + interesting statistic].”

Solution : “The great part about working at [your company’s name] is that we’ve been able to fix just that problem by [solution].”

Value proposition : “In fact, we’re the only company that offers [value proposition].”

CTA : “I think our solution could really help you. Are you available this week to speak further on this?”

Don’t be afraid to change up your pitch template based on your personality and professional expertise. We’ve also included personalized 30-second elevator pitch examples below to inspire personal facts you can add to create a more engaging speech .

30-second elevator pitch examples

Let’s dive into the best 30-second elevator pitch examples to help you create a pitch that’s both engaging and informative. Our examples take inspiration from the four elements included in the template above, to demonstrate how you'd pitch project management software to  increase productivity . Try a few or try them all to find one that best fits your personality and value proposition. 

Example 1: Short and sweet

This example is one of the most common you’ll come across. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the best, but it’s a great example of a quick and easy pitch that fits almost any situation. When working on this type of elevator pitch, be sure to keep it as short and to the point as possible. Try to stick closely to the 30 seconds or less rule since the point is to be brief and transparent.

The problem is that work is chaotic no matter what industry you’re in or how good you are at your job. But a good project management software can help improve productivity and communication. I haven’t missed a deadline in years. If you’re interested in how it can help your team, give me a call and I can take you through some numbers. 

Example 2: Relatable over reliable

Sometimes the best way to grab your audience’s attention is to reel them in with a personal anecdote they’ll relate to. While it’s still important to drive home your solution, this approach puts more weight on making a personal connection rather than an immediate sale. 

It’s so great to finally meet you. How is business going? I heard you’ve been struggling with communication issues. My team and I struggled with that too. It wasn’t until we added project management software into our routine that we really saw an improvement in teamwork and overall communication. I hope you find a solution that works for your team. 

Example 3: Savvy with stats

Start your pitch off with a hook by dropping an attention-grabbing statistic. It’s important to have hard data to back up your statistics to ensure their accuracy before pitching. When it comes to a statistics pitch, it’s a good idea to come full circle at the end and connect how your solution can help solve that statistic.  

Did you know that despite having more ways to connect remotely, 60% of workers’ time is spent on work coordination with just 26% spent on skilled work and 14% on strategy? No wonder teams need help with project management. Implementing project management tools can decrease time spent on work coordination and help increase skilled work.

Example 4: Question everything

This example uses questions to make your pitch easily comprehensible. It also forces the audience to join in on the conversation rather than just presenting them with a speech. Try starting and ending with a question that makes the audience think about your pitch long after you leave the room.

Do you ever feel like you spend too much time on work about work? I’ve talked to so many people who share the same frustrations. I used to work long hours every day just trying to catch up. But do you know what? Ever since we started using project management software, I've been able to get so much more work done. Have you tried anything similar in the past?

Example 5: Comedic twist

If your pitch isn’t about a serious topic, you can add comedic twists to engage the audience. This is especially useful if giving a presentation. Add a GIF or quick funny clip in between slides to lighten the mood. If using this example, be sure it fits the occasion and tone of your company. 

Did you know that the average person can only pay attention for eight seconds? That’s not even long enough to place my coffee order in the morning. Maybe that’s why my barista always gets it wrong. But seriously, I think that’s why so many companies struggle to hit deadlines. 

Example 6: Tell a story

Use customer testimonials or your own personal story to paint a picture for the audience. This can be especially helpful if your topic is hard to explain in 30 seconds or less. Telling a story is a great way to add a relatable twist. 

We have a customer that transitioned to a fully remote workforce this year and needed help making sure deadlines were met. With our help, they were able to get up to 10% of their time back in their day and focus on more important things like strategic planning.  

Example 7: Emotionally driven

While this type of pitch may be more difficult to create, you have a better chance of winning over your audience if you can make your pitch emotionally driven. It’s also more likely they’ll be willing to share the experience with someone else down the road. It’s important to keep the emotions on the lighter side to prevent the conversation from steering too dark. Here is an example to inspire your own speech. 

It may seem like any other tool, but when you look closely it really is helping teams connect. And not just that, but it’s helping cultivate teams that actually enjoy working together on new projects. That’s something that’s hard to come by, but something everyone is looking for.  

Example 8: Write it first

While most speeches start by writing a general outline, you can opt to write the entire pitch from start to finish. This tends to create a thought-provoking and poetic flow once you do present your pitch. You’ll have to memorize this pitch, so practicing is a key element to this strategy. 

Hi, my name is Kelly! It’s great to meet you. You work for Apollo Enterprises, right? I’ve heard a lot about them. I actually heard that you’re looking for project management help. In my experience, any organization—whether sales or suppliers—needs help coordinating work and team communication. Work can be rather chaotic, especially now, without it. That’s why we’ve created a software tool that helps both individuals and teams organize their projects and communications all in one place. Have you ever thought about using something similar?

Example 9: End with a one-liner

Making a grand exit doesn’t come easily, but if you can pull it off your audience is sure to be impressed. Stay away from cliche one-liners and make your closing authentic to you. The point here is to leave them with a thought that they’ll remember after the meeting is over. Consider sharing a surprising statistic or question relevant to their business.

Over one-quarter (26%) of all deadlines are missed each week because of a lack of clarity. But with the right project management tools, that number could be much lower. So the question is, can your business afford not to use project management software? 

Elevator pitch examples by scenario

Now that we’ve covered the types of pitch examples, let’s dive into example elevator pitches for different scenarios. Whether you’re pitching for your business or yourself, you can use an elevator pitch to organize your thoughts and prepare for the real deal. Let’s look at key tips for any situation you may find yourself in. 

Example 10: Networking event

A networking event is probably the most common scenario you’ll run into. And with the new virtual-first culture, it may be even more challenging to make meaningful connections over video chat. That’s why it’s so important to prepare an elevator pitch that’s compelling no matter where you’re pitching it from. While most salespeople pitch casually in this environment, you may get the opportunity to meet an important executive. In which case, you’ll want to be prepared with a versatile pitch template. 

Great to meet you, I’m Kelly with Apollo Enterprises. We’ve been able to improve productivity and collaboration for teams all over the world. If you ever need help with project management, just reach out. I think we could make a huge impact on your company. I’ll make sure to keep your contact information handy as well. 

Example 11: Job interview

Looking for a new job or have career fairs coming up? Most interviews—whether with human resources, a recruiter, or a hiring manager—start with some form of the phrase, “Tell me about yourself.” This is an opportunity for job seekers to briefly explain themselves and their professional experience using industry buzzwords and key skills. Having an elevator pitch ready can ensure that you’re prepared when the opportunity presents itself. 

I’m Kelly, a specialist at Apollo Enterprises. I chose a career in project management because I had a passion for it, and now I can proudly say that I’ve been able to make a real difference in people’s lives. That’s why I’m looking to continue my career with an employer who shares those same values. I know my unique skills can make a big impact at your company because I’ve proven my results with a few key projects. 

Example 12: Formal meeting

You’ve landed the meeting, congratulations! Now is the time to create a formal elevator pitch to really get them interested. When presenting a formal pitch, a presentation can be a great addition to traditional elevator speech examples. But whether or not you choose to create a presentation, this meeting is about selling your product in the most professional way possible. So dress the part and don’t forget your unique selling proposition. 

I took a look at your current productivity figures and noticed an opportunity for improvement. With our project management software, you could get back up to 10% more of your workday. Not only would that mean more work getting done, but it would also have a positive impact on the overall success of your business. Not to mention, our tool is the only one in the industry that has goal capabilities to ensure teams stay on track. 

Example 13: Sales pitch 

Professionals often pitch traditional sales jargon, but the real key is creating a human connection while lightly sprinkling in what you’re selling. Start with a personal story or light-hearted introduction instead of the typical sales presentation. You can also prepare by creating sales team goal templates to ensure your team is on the same page. 

Our team really struggled to transition to a remote workforce. Communication wasn’t organized and people struggled to find the correct information to complete projects. But, thankfully, we found a solution to our problem. Implementing project management tools not only improved productivity but also improved overall teamwork. Every company prefers different tools, but I can say without a doubt that our software was the best at connecting goals with the work needed to achieve them. 

Example 14: Social introduction

Now, more than ever, professionals are choosing to meet virtually rather than face-to-face. Whether you’re chatting over LinkedIn or have a virtual meeting set up, it’s important to make your pitch personal and use clear visuals to help sell your point. Here’s a great example of a social media pitch. 

Thanks for connecting! I noticed that your competitors are outperforming you when it comes to year-over-year growth. I took the liberty of doing a competitive analysis and didn’t find any outlying problems. I’m wondering if it could be an issue with productivity. How has the transition to remote work been? If you’re interested, I could run you through some productivity figures if you were to add project management tools to your current processes. 

Example 15: Entrepreneurs and business owners

Pitching to a business owner is much different than pitching to an executive. They can be harder to sell because they are often hesitant about new investments. The most important tip is to use examples as they pertain to the business when explaining a problem and solution.  

I love your products at Apollo Enterprises. I’m a huge proponent of your mission. I did realize that there may be some opportunities to improve productivity and collaboration internally. Have you ever considered project management software? I think it could have a big impact on business growth now or even down the road. 

4 tips to perfect your elevator pitch

In addition to creating the perfect elevator pitch, you should also work on sprucing up your delivery. There’s nothing worse than sitting through a boring speech, so make sure yours is anything but. From posture to tone, there’s a lot you can practice to make sure you look professional and knowledgeable. Consider these four tips when trying to nail a successful elevator pitch. 

1. Stick to your outline

To prevent getting off-topic, it’s important to stick to your outline at least to some extent. While you don’t need to recite it word for word, it’s best to memorize the majority of your pitch. That way you won’t need to worry about checking your notes. 

2. Speak slowly and clearly

Many professionals tend to talk quickly when they’re nervous—hey, we’re only human. But it’s important to enunciate and speak slowly so the audience can understand you. This is especially important when presenting over video chat. But try not to slow yourself down too much or you’ll go over your allotted time. 

3. Record your pitch

Record yourself reciting the pitch to work on any areas that need improvement. Practice your pitch a handful of times by playing the recording back and working out any pain points. A couple of key areas to focus on are speed and tone. It’s better to sound overly energized rather than monotone. 

4. Practice, practice, practice!

There’s nothing more effective than practicing your pitch until you’re able to recite it in your sleep. If possible, practice in front of friends and family to get constructive feedback on how you can make your pitch even better. Even if you have years of experience, you can never go wrong with being overly prepared. 

Elevate your first impression with an elevator pitch

An elevator pitch is a chance to show off your strengths and pitch your solutions. While it may sound nerve-wracking, using the 15 elevator pitch examples above will help you develop your own method using personal tidbits that tie into your innovative solutions.

While your pitch is an important part of leveling up your business, there are many avenues you can take to achieve growth. One of those ways is by determining whether project management vs. work management tools are right for your team. Not only will they help connect your team members, but the right tools and software can also help your organization set strategic goals. That means more time spent on bigger projects to help your business reach next-level growth. 

Related resources

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Write better AI prompts: A 4-sentence framework

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23 Elevator Pitch Examples to Inspire Your Own [+Templates & Expert Tips]

Published: May 06, 2024

Whether you're introducing yourself at a networking event, telling new colleagues about your business, or pitching to another professional — you want to capture attention and get it fast. In situations like these, you need a short and easy-to-grasp explanation of your company and its products, like an elevator pitch.

In this post, we'll discuss what an elevator pitch is, review some helpful examples, see some elevator pitch templates you can reference, go over some elevator pitch best practices, and cover some key mistakes you need to avoid when delivering one of these speeches.

Let's dive in.

Table of Contents

What is an elevator pitch?

Elevator speech example, how to write an elevator pitch, elevator pitch templates, 30-second elevator pitch examples, elevator pitches from real sales leaders, elevator speech best practices, what not to do in an elevator pitch.

An elevator pitch — also known as an elevator speech — is a short, memorable description of what you do and/or what you sell. The goal is to earn a second conversation, not to convince the person you're talking to that they should hire you or buy your solution.

An elevator pitch is never an opportunity to close a deal. It‘s an opportunity to close more of your prospect’s attention and time. It's a quick introduction to you, your company, and how you can help your prospect.

Hi, I‘m an account manager with Vacation Locator. We help travelers across the world plan their perfect holiday based on their interests, budget, and location preferences. With travel experts assigned to each account, we find the best deals and most unique experiences for each client, so they can enjoy their vacation, instead of stressing out about planning it. On average, we’re able to save travelers up to 30% on expenses such as hotel and airfare.

When to use an elevator pitch?

You can pull your elevator pitch out at functions like networking events or conferences, over interactions like warm calls, and even in job interviews or at career fairs. Keep your elevator pitch goal-oriented — for instance, "I help companies like yours increase production by up to 30% without additional cost . " — and always end with a business card or request to connect on LinkedIn.

If you‘re curious about what an elevator pitch should look like, or simply ready to jumpstart the pitch creation process, download the templates below. We’ve compiled several types of templates — from sales pitches to funding requests.

No matter which type of pitch you‘re delivering, keeping things concise is key. You don’t want to waste your prospect‘s, investor’s, or fellow professional‘s time. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how much time should you spend on an elevator pitch?

Download Now: Free Elevator Pitch Templates

E-pitch templates to better sell your product, fund your business, or network.

• 4 Fundraising Pitch Templates
• 2 Networking Pitch Templates
• 2 Sales Pitch Templates

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

How long should an elevator pitch be?

An effective elevator pitch is meant to be no more than 30 seconds, just like the length of time you ride in an elevator. You want to keep your words easily digestible, so avoid trying to get too deep into specifics as it can drag on the conversation — and lose your prospect's attention.

You should have an effective elevator pitch prepared before you need it since you have such a short window to deliver it. Your pitch needs purpose, flow, and a hook to reel in attention if you want to get the kind of mileage you need out of it in 30-ish seconds.

Let's take a closer look at how to put one of these pitches together.

1. Use elevator pitch templates .

Download Free E-Pitch Templates

Use these templates to help structure pitches for three key audiences: prospects, investors, and potential network connection — making the elevator pitch creation process easier, freeing you up to focus on selling, crushing quota, and living your best life.

Let's dive into the ins and outs of fleshing out an elevator pitch of your own.

2. Introduce yourself.

The value of a personal introduction in an elevator pitch is multifaceted. For one, it gives your prospect some pretty mission-critical context — you won‘t get too much mileage out of an elevator pitch if they have no idea who you are or who you’re with.

Second, it can make the whole experience a bit more approachable. You don't want things to be too rigid or imposing when you pitch — a friendly introduction helps set the stage for a more natural engagement.

Bear in mind — you need to know what your prospect needs to know . What I mean is that you have to be mindful of how much information you‘re sharing as part of your introduction. You don’t want to get lost, ramble, and share more information than your prospect needs to know. Get it?

Effective elevator pitches are delivered in a tight window — you don‘t want to waste time rattling off details like how long you’ve worked at your company, what job you had before, or how much you like working for your employer.

Stick to the essentials, be friendly, and get on with the pitch.

3. State your company's mission.

Want me to let you in on some next-level, mind-blowing insight? Ready? Here we go — you need to know what your business does if you're going to pitch it effectively. Revolutionary stuff, right?

Seriously though, you want to include some insight about your business — and a lot of the time, that means briefly speaking to its mission and goals. Including a section where you give a thoughtfully tailored reference to your company identity can give a prospect valuable context and develop a little trust on a dime.

You don‘t have to give a comprehensive rundown of every project you’re working on or fondly reminisce about the team retreat where you picked up trash on the local beach. It can be as simple as something like, “I'm a sales rep at Better Than the Rest Cable. We help hotels across the U.S. pair with the perfect cable provider and plan for their region and needs.”

That description is both succinct and sufficient. It covers the necessary bases without getting too deep into the weeds. If you were to be cut off after these two sentences, the prospect would still know exactly who you are and what your company does. You know — the stuff your prospect needs to know.

4. Explain the company value proposition.

This might be the most important base to cover. A prospect isn‘t going to be interested in a solution that they can’t see the value in, so naturally, you need to be able to articulate a compelling value proposition in your pitch.

Unless you're at the forefront of some sort of technological revolution, your product or service exists in a competitive landscape — so your prospect is bound to have some options. Why should they choose you?

You need to provide a sentence or two that covers why your product or service is worth it — why your current customers are so happy with you. Here's what that could look like:

“I'm a sales rep at Better Than the Rest Cable. We help hotels across the U.S. pair with the perfect cable provider and plan for their region and needs. With regional experts assigned to each account, we help hotels identify the most cost-effective and guest-delighting cable plan for them.”

In one sentence, you‘ve told the prospect what sets you apart and how you can bring them value. You’ve likely piqued their interest, but how can you really grab their attention? Keep reading.

5. Grab their attention with a hook.

You‘ve spent the pitch up to this point lining them up, now knock them down. Give them the bit that’s going to prompt that second conversation — hit them with the hook.

That can come in the form of an enthralling story about a customer, some exhilarating information about your company's founders, a fascinating statistic about your offering, or something else that's neat and engaging to round things out and keep them interested.

Let‘s finish up the pitch we’ve been running with with an attention-grabbing statistic.

“I‘m a sales rep at Better Than the Rest Cable. We help hotels across the U.S. pair with the perfect cable provider and plan for their region and needs. With regional experts assigned to each account, we help hotels identify the most cost-effective and guest-delighting cable plan for them. On average, we’re able to save hotels up to 25% on their annual cable bills.”

6. Make sure your pitch is more conversational and less “sales-y.”

According to Patrick Beltran , Marketing Director at Ardoz Digital , you want to "[a]void sounding too sales-y. In my experience, people often shy away from elevator pitches that feel like a typical sales pitch. Your elevator pitch should come across more like a casual chat than a sales pitch. The aim is to spark interest, making the listener curious to learn more, not to seal the deal immediately.

"To make your pitch sound conversational, use a relaxed tone and steer clear of jargon. For instance, rather than saying ‘We offer cutting-edge solutions,’ say ‘We provide innovative solutions.’

"And instead of aggressively promoting our brand, we suggest ‘We’re looking to work with companies to address some of their marketing challenges. Perhaps you’d be interested in exploring this opportunity?’ "

7. Keep it simple and focused.

Gauri Manglik , CEO and Cofounder of Instrumentl , says, "The most important tip I can offer for creating and delivering an effective elevator pitch is to keep it simple and focused. Have one clear message or key insight you want to convey and structure your pitch around that.

For example, if you have a new product, focus on articulating the core problem it solves and how it uniquely solves that problem. Say something like, ‘We’ve developed a new tool that helps sales teams reduce the time spent on administrative tasks by over 50% each week. By streamlining CRM data entry and reporting processes through an intuitive mobile interface, account managers can spend less time pushing paper and more time building key relationships.’

A simple, focused message like this, with one relevant example or proof point to bring it to life, is all you need for an initial elevator pitch. Resist the urge to cram in too many details or try to explain everything your business or product does.

You have 30 seconds; one clear message is enough to spark interest for follow-up. With practice, a simple pitch can become a compelling story that fuels a meaningful first conversation. Keep it short — make it count."

8. Read and edit the pitch.

Once you have everything written out, read it aloud to make sure it sounds natural. Overly rigid, borderline-robotic pitches are rarely compelling. If it seems too stiff and formal, go back to the drawing board — at least a little.

Ideally, this pitch will be a prelude to a professional conversation — so striking a balance between professional and conversational with your pitch is in your best interest.

Now that you know how to write an elevator pitch, download HubSpot's eight free elevator pitch templates to put your learnings into action. These templates can be used to make a sale, start networking, or jumpstart a deal for business capital.

Featured Resource: 8 Free Elevator Pitch Templates

Our templates follow established best practices for elevator pitches. Each one includes:

• A personal greeting: Start every pitch by establishing a human connection and making your prospect feel seen and heard.
• A statement of your company's mission: Your mission can be blended with your value proposition and vice versa. But this piece of information is essential to get your prospect's buy-in, quickly.
• A hook to get your audience's attention: The hook can be as simple as a probing question or a highly personalized statement that‘s been tailored to your prospect’s needs. Either way, the hook will often seal the deal.
• A real example: See the template in action by reading a filled-out example, allowing you to visualize what your pitch may look like as you refine and edit it.

Using these templates allows you to save precious time and focus on the essence of the pitch instead of minute details, such as how to start it off or how to organize it. Your prospect's time is valuable, and so is yours.

If you're looking for some inspiration, look no further. The following elevator pitch examples illustrate different ways to describe what you can offer in 30 seconds or less.

1. An Attention-Grabbing Question

And like the previous one, it speaks to a “common but specific” pain point for the prospect on the other side of the pitch, covering an issue that many (if not most) marketers deal with consistently — and the “look at how many of your peers I talk to every month” element supports that.

And finally, it ends with an accessible but vivid metaphor about how efficient the resource is. I‘ll go out on a limb and assume that most prospects have poured a cup of coffee in their lives. It’s a frame of reference that's equal parts relatable and engaging — in short, it works.

3. The Surprise Ending

You want to know how many leads from your webinar campaign became customers versus leads from your trade show booth. But only customers who bought two products — and weren't already in your database.

How long would it take you to create that report?

If you had AnswerASAP, a data and reporting tool, you'd already know. It creates reports in a matter of seconds.

Holy heck! My goodness! What a twist! Bet you didn't see that ending coming — and neither will your prospects!

Okay, that might be overkill, but still, this kind of pitch works — for a few reasons. For one, it starts with a relatable approach. It runs through a “common but specific” scenario that businesses in the prospect‘s industry likely deal with. That shows that you’re familiar with a prospect's space, giving you some instant credibility.

From there, it offers an engaging, cheeky way to plug your solution. You raise a pressing pain point and immediately position your offering as the best way to solve it. It's slick, creative, and fun — taken together, those elements give you some serious staying power.

4. An Outlandish Stat

Dan Ponomarenko , CEO of Webvizio , offered this pitch:

“At Webvizio, we streamline web project management for digital teams, making collaboration seamless. Our platform allows you to visualize changes, communicate in real time, and manage feedback efficiently — all in one place. We eliminate the clutter of back-and-forth emails, so you can focus on what you love: creating. Interested in simplifying your project processes and enhancing team productivity?”

2. "Deliver a clear tech talent solution with EchoGlobal Tech . "

Lou Reverchuk , Co-Founder and CEO of EchoGlobal Tech , offered this pitch:

“Hello, I‘m Lou, representing EchoGlobal Tech, where we bridge the gap between innovative tech projects and top remote software developers. At EchoGlobal, we understand that the right talent makes all the difference. That’s why we guarantee no AI matchmaking and no juniors pretending to be senior devs. Always quality over quantity with us. Imagine having a dedicated expert who truly understands your project‘s vision and transforms it into reality. Let’s set up a time to discuss your hiring needs.”

3. "Simplify the insurance buying experience with Dundas Life "

Gregory Rozdeba , CEO of Dundas Life , offered this pitch:

“Imagine buying life insurance the way you shop online — quick, easy, and transparent. At Dundas Life, we streamline the complex process of finding the right insurance, making it accessible at your fingertips. With us, you‘re not just a policy number; you’re in control, informed, and secure. Let’s make insurance straightforward together.”

4. "Engage with real estate investment expertise with EZ Sell Homebuyers. "

Mike Wall , CEO of EZ Sell Homebuyers , offered this pitch:

“Looking to maximize your real estate investment? With over two decades of experience and a portfolio of over 30 properties, I provide tailored advice that turns real estate into real results. Let’s discuss how I can help you achieve your property investment goals today.”

5. "Enhance your online visibility with CodeDesign . "

Bruno Gavino , Founder and CEO of CodeDesign , offered this pitch:

“Hi, I’m Bruno from CodeDesign. We often see companies struggle to gain visibility in the digital space, losing potential revenue to competitors who dominate online. Our agency specializes in leveraging advanced data analytics and custom digital strategies to enhance your online presence, driving more traffic and increasing sales. Imagine what it would be like to see your business outperform competitors by simply optimizing your digital marketing. Let’s chat about how we can make that happen for you.”

6. "Illuminate spaces with quality lighting with Festoon House . "

Matt Little , Director at Festoon House , offered this pitch:

“Imagine transforming your space with lighting that‘s not only beautiful but also built to last. At Festoon House, we’re dedicated to crafting premium lighting solutions that elevate your style, enhance your ambiance, and stand the test of time. From modern chandeliers to industrial-chic fixtures, our products are designed to inspire and impress. Join the Festoon House family and let's brighten up your world together — one light at a time!”

7. "Solve food waste with RedBat.Agency . "

Gert Kulla , CEO of RedBat.Agency , offered this pitch:

“We're tackling the issue of food waste in restaurants. Our app allows diners to buy surplus food at a discount while helping venues reduce waste and generate extra revenue. This creates a win-win for businesses and customers looking to save money and curb food waste.”

8. "Elevate travel with JetLevel Aviation . "

Fahd Khan , Director of Marketing and Technology at JetLevel Aviation , offered this pitch:

“At JetLevel Aviation, we provide top-tier private jet charter services, ensuring fast, flexible, and seamless travel for high-profile clients. Unlike traditional charter companies, our bespoke solutions and access to a wide range of luxury jets guarantee that your travel experience is not just efficient but also tailored to your specific preferences and schedules. Let us elevate your travel experience to the next level.”

1. Keep it brief.

The purpose of an elevator speech is to be as brief as possible while capturing a prospect‘s attention. Try to stay under 60 seconds — including your introduction. Even if you’re delivering your elevator speech during a formal presentation, where you have time to elaborate if needed, keep the bulk of your pitch under sixty seconds.

If you don‘t, you won’t be able to use your pitch when you're chatting with prospects in situations with tighter time constraints — such as a tradeshow or a chance meeting.

2. Practice multiple times beforehand.

You may have written the most incredible elevator speech for your product, but if you hamper the delivery by misremembering or even forgetting parts of your pitch, it won't be an effective tool. Be sure to practice by yourself, with your manager, and with your colleagues.

The goal isn't just to memorize it, but to practice your tone, pace, and overall delivery.

3. Come prepared with additional materials.

When you‘re delivering your elevator pitch, be prepared to provide your prospect with what they need to continue the conversation. Whether that’s a business card, a brochure, or a short demo, carry all that you might need with you.

The elevator speech is your opportunity to begin a deal on the right foot and speed up the nurturing process. Typically, you might take weeks emailing a prospect before they're ready to schedule a meeting with you, but an elevator pitch speeds that work. You want to have the materials you need to keep the conversation going.

4. Be positive and enthusiastic.

It‘s essential to show your personality during your elevator pitch, but whether you’re a quiet, calm introvert or a charming, excitable extrovert, you should still convey positivity and enthusiasm.

You can use your body language and expression to keep things positive, even if your tone is quiet and calm. You might highlight the amazing benefits your prospect will enjoy if they sign up, or tell a positive story from one of your previous clients.

Most importantly, you should make it obvious that you want to help your prospect more than anything — which will make you sound positive by default.

5. Vary the tone of your voice.

As you deliver your pitch, vary your tone and modulation to keep your listener engaged. This will help you emphasize the most important parts of your speech — such as the benefits — while keeping your prospect‘s attention. The pitch may be short, but you’ll be surprised at how easily people can tune out based on your tone alone. We don‘t want to risk it! Especially if it’s a prospect you've never spoken with.

1. Don't ramble.

I‘ve been a rep at Sales-R-Us for five years now. They’re the best company I‘ve ever worked for. I’ve loved my time there. I started as a BDR and have worked my way up to a senior position. I‘ve never looked back. I also love the services we sell. I can’t wait to tell you about them. Sales-R-Us help companies become more efficient with their sales through training, evaluation, and leadership management — and that‘s just to name a few. We have a unique approach that’s been honed by lots of sales experts over the years, and I‘ve seen our solution really help a lot of companies and teams. I’ve had many clients whose businesses have been saved because of our genius solution. I know we can do the same for you. Would you be interested in learning more?

This elevator pitch is not effective because:

• It's way too long.
• The rep spends way too much time talking about themself.
• It never gets specific or actionable.
• It never provides actual examples or attention-grabbing facts.

2. Don't use too much jargon.

At Stratosphere Solutions, our OS-level virtualization delivers software in containers, all of which share the system of a lone operating system kernel. These containers are isolated but can communicate with one another through well-defined channels. Ultimately, this lets you use fewer resources than traditional virtual machines.

• It's inaccessible to someone without relevant technical knowledge.
• It features too much jargon.
• It tries to condense an extremely complicated topic into 30 seconds.
• Its value proposition isn't clear-cut.

3. Don‘t insert your prospect’s personal information.

I visited your Instagram and noticed that you have a pitbull. I have a pitbull, too! I bet he sometimes distracts you when you work from home, which is the absolute pits when you‘re trying to put together a report for your boss. Your dog — what’s his name? — may be asking for your attention, but I assure you you can still create a report as easy as 1-2-3 with AnswerASAP. While petting your pupperino.

• It sacrifices the hook in favor of creating a “personal connection.”
• It's too familiar with the prospect to the point of discomfort.
• It makes assumptions about the prospect's work-from-home tendencies.
• It uses informal slang (“the absolute pits,” “pupperino”) for unnecessary humor.

4. Don‘t under-emphasize the problem you’re solving.

It's possible that you may run into issues when putting reports together for your boss. For instance, things may go awry every once in a while, such as disappearing data or disagreeing sources. With AnswerASAP, you can lay those worries to rest. We have a few features that will help you with those issues if you ever run into them.

• It treats a customer problem as a possibility and not an urgent reality.
• It‘s vague (“things may go awry”) and doesn’t emphasize how those issues can hurt the prospect.
• It doesn‘t specify the product features that will solve the prospect’s challenges.
• Because it never goes into detail, it shows little research and care.

Remember, an elevator pitch should only come at someone else‘s prompting. If you’re spontaneously reciting it to random people, you're not doing yourself any favors. But if they ask, you want to be prepared with an interesting, well-crafted pitch.

Reel in Clients with an Effective Elevator Pitch

While a short speech may seem insignificant, those first conversations can hold some weight. With a well-crafted pitch, you can turn a single conversation with a prospect into a long-lasting customer, or even into a business partner. We hope you found these examples helpful and are inspired to craft your own effective elevator pitch.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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Top 7 Killer Elevator Pitch Examples

Make short, sharp, and on-the-spot presentations by modeling your presentations after these elevator pitch examples.

I’ve scoured the business management internet space to bring you the best, most-impressive elevator pitches. In the following paragraphs, I’ll show you how to model your communications on these winning archetypes. (Spoiler alert: some of these examples show what not to do, so read closely.)

What is an elevator pitch?

Think of your elevator pitch (or elevator speech) as a Twitter version of your business plan/proposal. You may use more than 140 characters to communicate your ideas during a 30-second elevator ride; however, don’t share more than three tweets’ worth of information in “ first contact ” situations.

Because the average English word has 4.5 characters (5.5 with spaces), a 140 character tweet equals roughly 25 words.

Most people speak 120-200 words per minute ; use a comprehensible 75 words (slightly slower than the average speaking speed) in your 30-second elevator pitch.

Speaking slowly (while still showing your passion for the subject) demonstrates confidence and competence.

Don’t just wing it and stumble your way through a rambling, improvised elevator speech the next time you get a chance to speak with an industry influencer.

Create and practice your elevator pitches right away–you never know when you’ll run into that next big opportunity.

Business networking means always having a business card in your hand and a smile on your face.

Give the same care and attention to the way you describe yourself (and your company) as you do to your professional attire, branding, and product design.

However, don’t spend too much time on this effort; track your time to ensure you spend an appropriate amount on this project without obsessing.

You can use an elevator pitch for everything from getting a job/promotion to landing a new client or investor. You’ll find these short, refined introduction speeches in all areas of business communication.

Staying ahead of the competition and managing industry rivalry means always presenting yourself in the best possible light. Later in this article, I’ll provide elevator speech examples for each of the popular variants. However, let’s use a basic elevator pitch template to get started.

Use a simple elevator speech template

You can find many outline variants and elevator pitch examples online; I’ll describe my favorites in this article. However, to keep things simple, I’ll start with a simple method used by the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology:

• State the Problem
• Present Your Solution
• Explain Why People Should Trust You
• Describe Your Value Proposition
• Offer a CTA (Call to Action)

In the following fill-in-the-blank template, I use one sentence per point to clarify the structure of this system. Feel free to break this rule and create a natural-sounding elevator pitch. As you practice your speech out loud, keep tweaking your phrasing to sound personable and precise. Just remember to maintain a maximum of 75 words!

A simple Harvard-MIT elevator pitch template

• Problem: “[Customer Type] are often frustrated by the effort it takes to [Action].”
• Solution: “[Your New Solution] eliminates the need to [Customer’s Old Solution].”
• Why You: “For [Duration], [Customer Type] have trusted [Your Company] to provide the best solutions in [Customer’s Industry].”
• Value: “With [Your New Solution], you can [spend less/make more] [time/money] [Action].”
• CTA: “I’ll give you a call to learn more about your situation (Get Contact Info). Thanks for your time.”

Elevator pitch example #1: Nice and simple

“Ranchers are often frustrated by the effort it takes to hand-shear their angora alpacas. DroneClip eliminates the need to chase, restrain, and trim these beautiful beasts. For over 5 years, alpaca farmers have trusted DroneClip to provide the best solutions in alpaca ranching. With our safe and reliable drone aircraft, you can spend less time shearing and manage a larger herd. I’ll give you a call to learn more about your situation. Thanks for your time.”

Use a comprehensive speech outline template

When making an elevator pitch (or any other presentation, for that matter) you may want to follow a programmatic speech format like this one from UC Davis :

• Smile and make a “hooking” statement to capture your audience’s attention.
• Introduce yourself (and your company).
• Explain what you do and why you love it.
• Describe the contributions you’ve made, including the problems you’ve solved.
• Give a short, striking example of your value.
• Explain your interest in your listener(s).
• Describe your product/service/solution.
• List the ways people benefit from working with you (instead of your competitors).
• Provide a brief story about a satisfied customer.
• Ask for an appropriate response to this interaction (contact info, a referral, an appointment, etc.)

Even when working with this model, remember to keep it brief. A 75-word elevator pitch only includes 5-6 sentences. In fact, this detailed outline contains over 100 words.

Take a look at this example and learn how to sharpen your sentences into quick, powerful points. Some people like to use a lot of words to get your ideas out of their heads and onto paper.

If you’re one of these types, write a verbose first draft of your elevator speech just to get your thoughts in order.

Then, review the document a few times and find ways to make each sentence do its job with slightly fewer words than before.

To make this outline work, you’ll need to include many points per sentence, as I have below:

Elevator pitch example #2: Follow a comprehensive outline template

“Do you hate shearing stubborn alpacas by hand? I’m Joe Neely from DroneClip. I enjoy connecting animal lovers to technologies like our DroneScoop waste solution. I’m here at the Alpaca Festival to learn from you, the experts. Our hands-free DroneClip shearing system outperforms hand-shears so you can limit your employee hours. We saved one rancher, Bob Mikabob, over 40 weekly work-hours. When can I visit your farm, demonstrate our product, and meet your neighbors?”

Construct an elevator pitch for any purpose: example of custom writing

A simple format like Monroe’s Motivate Sequence may help you create the best elevator pitch for your purposes. This flexible structure can be adapted for everything from job interviews to investor meetings–and beyond:

• Get Attention
• Establish a Need
• Satisfy This Need
• Visualize Consequences
• Present a CTA

Say you want a promotion from Assistant Alpaca Wrangler to Chief Wool-Gatherer. Tailor Monroe’s Motivate Sequence to your needs and make a quick, 30-second presentation (to anyone who will listen). Let your colleagues, supervisors, and managers know why you deserve this lofty position.

Elevator pitch example #3: Adapt this format to your needs

“Yuck–I can’t believe how much loose alpaca hair floats around in our barn. I just got some in my mouth! Wouldn’t it be great if someone kept this place hair-free? I’d be glad to go around and scoop it all up. If we added a Chief Wool-Gatherer position, it would surely pay for itself by reducing waste and increasing profits. Tell the boss you want me to start, right away!”

No matter your desired outcome, it always pays to present your plans in a coherent, logical fashion. Make your speeches short and to the point, only mentioning the most relevant facts and opportunities.

The elevator pitch writing process

Sometimes it helps to see the process itself. You can adjust your speechwriting efforts according to the following brief, step-by-step elevator pitch example. To keep this section readable, I’ll create a short 30-word blurb, not an entire 75-word elevator pitch.

Elevator pitch example #4: Working with words

1) Write down all your ideas, regardless of word count.

“I’m Joe Neely and I want alpaca lovers to buy my T-shirts. I want people to feel proud of their animals and spread the word about our brand. Our brand is called DroneClip. We offer hands-free alpaca shearing solutions like FAA-approved UAV/UAS quad-copters for ranchers who want to save time and money and have more resources to invest in other aspects of their operations.”

2) Get rid of unnecessary details. The 64-word paragraph I created in Step 1 is a good start, but I can do better. First, I can cut the redundancies in my extremely-long final sentence:

“I’m Joe Neely and I want alpaca lovers to buy my T-shirts. I want people to feel proud of their animals and spread the word about our brand. Our brand is called DroneClip. We offer hands-free alpaca shearing solutions like FAA-approved UAV/UAS quad-copters for ranchers who want to save time and money.”

3) Remove any confusing or unfamiliar industry jargon. Now I’m down to 53 words. I must remove the drone-specific language in the last sentence to avoid confusing listeners. (I can always provide educational materials defining these terms in later interactions with my customers.)

“I’m Joe Neely and I want alpaca lovers to buy my T-shirts. I want people to feel proud of their animals and spread the word about our brand. Our brand is called DroneClip. We offer hands-free alpaca shearing solutions for ranchers who want to save time and money.”

4) Shorten and connect your sentences. You can communicate your entire unique selling proposition quickly if you limit your use of “ stop words .” These little connectors help sentences flow, but you don’t need as many if you combine 2-3 statements.

“I’m Joe Neely–Alpaca lovers buy my T-shirts to share their love of Alpacas and DroneClip. We offer hands-free alpaca shearing solutions for ranchers who want to save time and money.”

5) Review and ask, “What’s in it for the listener?” I’ve pared down my key points to a reasonable length (31 words). Before I polish up my final product, I need to make sure I’ve addressed the benefits customers can expect from my product. Sure, I’ve told people what the product does, but I’m selling T-shirts, not drones, in this example.

“I’m Joe Neely from DroneClip. Get our T-shirts to share your love of Alpacas and impress people by promoting the latest technology. We offer hands-free alpaca shearing solutions for ranchers who want to save time and money.”

6) Polish your speech and hit your target word count. This little blurb says everything I need it to say. I present both my T-shirt enticement product (which would also work well as a freebie) and my big sell (DroneClip drone systems).

Now, I just need to combine my introduction with my final sentence and add a few tweaks (for example, “time and money” became “resources” and then simply “frugal”).

“I’m DroneClip’s Joe Neely. We offer hands-free shears for frugal ranchers. Buy a T-shirt, show you love Alpacas, and impress people with this fun new technology.”

I’ve narrowed down my word count, added an idea, and refined my language. With similar efforts on your longer, 75-word elevator speech, you can maximize your potency. Make the most of your limited time and say the most you can in fewer words!

Sample elevator pitches you do not want to emulate

Elevator pitch example #5: avoid truisms, buzzwords, and hyperbole.

“Hi, I’m Joe Neely–I’m here to tell you all about the best drones ever constructed. The U.S. military has nothing on our sUAS and UAV options. With DroneClip, the world’s greatest corporation, you’ll be flying over the sky in your own battle robot–which also clips alpaca hair! If you’re flying, you’re flying with DroneClip–and winning the battle against hand-shears!”

In this elevator pitch example , I didn’t hold back and spoke as I would to a drone enthusiast. Not only are many of the claims in this blurb highly-exaggerated (hyperbole), I’ve also used unfamiliar buzzwords/industry terms.

Instead of providing clear and concise content , I’ve fluffed-up this elevator pitch so much with useless and obvious statements (truisms) that I didn’t have room for a CTA.

Elevator pitch example #6: Weed out fillers and annoyances

“Do you hate alpaca hair? Do wish you’d bought yaks instead? No? Do you love alpacas and say, ‘leave the yaks to the hacks?’ Well, I’m Joe Neely–come one, come all to the DroneClip side of the street. You can’t go wrong with this system –it’s the best in the business. Do you want the finest alpaca hair machine money can buy? Well, step right up and buy one today!”

If you include too many fillers like leading questions and side tangents, you’ll only annoy your customers. Don’t come off like a carnival barker ; you want people to view you as a professional who knows when not to come on too strong.

Don’t insult your audience’s attention by filling their ears with unfounded claims. Be sure to describe a valid consumer need–and how your product/service meets it.

Elevator pitch example #7: Don’t change the subject and ask too much of people

“Hi–I’m Joe Neely and I want you to–I mean, if you want to, you can… Buy the DroneClip right now, my friend. You don’t need to see how it works – trust me when I say it solves all your problems, champ. I hope you like this product, sweetie, because I don’t know if… I meant to say DroneClip is the best alpaca hair solution and you’ll save a lot with it. Just ask your neighbors–in fact, my man, buy one for each of them!”

Let’s face it. No one will buy a major piece of farm equipment unseen and untested. They certainly won’t buy one for their neighbors/competitors. Ask your customers for too much too soon, and you’ll look silly. Also, changing the tone from indecisive to enthusiastic makes people uncomfortable. Calling people by inappropriate and unprofessional nicknames and trailing off mid-sentence makes you sound completely insincere–as if it were your first day on the job (or the planet).

The bottom line

Stick with the elevator pitch examples and outlines I’ve offered earlier in this article, and you’ll present yourself with class and style. Take the necessary time to sculpt, polish, and practice your speech.

An award-winning elevator pitch can’t sell by itself; you must devote time and effort to making it sound natural in your best speaking voice.

Once you have a good speech prepared, you need to try it out in real-life situations. Whether you sell big or flop the first time, you’ll gain the experience you need to keep improving.

You’ll keep improving your sales skills throughout your career; just get out there and start talking to people–today!

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How to Write a Killer Elevator Pitch [Templates Included]

Anuj Malhotra

Let’s face it - In this age of information overload, people do not have the time to listen to our long introductions. Whether our attention spans are decreasing or not (that’s a debate for some other time), one thing is for sure - the audience is becoming very selective in what they pay attention to. They instantly tune out our technical gibberish or anything that goes above their heads. Nobody has the time to untangle complicated knots of information. Simple and interesting stuff works with them.

That brings us to writing the elevator pitch - a short, simple description of your company or yourself that can be understood in seconds. The name, as most of you already know, came after the practice of quickly introducing yourself to a fellow person sharing the elevator ride with you. This ride takes less than a minute and that’s the time you have to quickly introduce yourself and make the other person interested in knowing more about you. This brings us to the question-

What is an Elevator Pitch and What It is Not-

An elevator pitch is not a sales pitch. It is not just jumping at the first opportunity to start describing what you sell. It is an attempt to make people familiar with what you do and make the person interested in knowing more about you. A good elevator pitch will initiate a further conversation where you can sell yourself. Not in the first elevator pitch.

Who needs an elevator pitch? Practically everyone in this business of selling a product, service or idea. And where do we need it? When you are on an elevator of course, but also sharing a public ride, at a networking event, at your investor pitch proposal, at your interview, or a chance encounter with a stranger. You need to perfect your pitch so that you lose no time in picking the ‘right words’ and say the ‘right’ words with confidence.

How to Write an Elevator Pitch-

What are the “right’ words? The words that connect with the receiver. Here are some tips to get started:

Writing an Elevator Pitch for Yourself:

Step 1- Give an Insight into Yourself- 

Think of what do you say when someone asks “What do you do?” Do you just vomit out quickly your designation? 99 out of 100 people do that. There is no soul behind those words. It is just a fact that you are sharing. 

Average Introduction - 

I am a graphic designer. Better Elevator Pitch - I am a freelance graphic designer passionate about making beautiful things and experiences for my clients.

Download this Creative Editable PowerPoint Template

Step 2- Describe Your Services

Now, that you have set the stage for who you actually are, describe quickly what you offer as your product or service. Remember that you are not selling anything just sharing what you do as a matter of fact.

Download this Creative Digital PowerPoint Template

#3- Show What You Do

Well, if you are riding in an elevator, then you cannot simply take out your phone and start showcasing your work unless the person said, “I would love to see your work.” But if you are presenting before an audience, say you have made a visual resume for a company, it makes sense to not just tell what you do but also show it. The first two slides have just taken 10-20 seconds, you still have a few seconds left to convince the audience of your credentials and create a memorable impression.

Showcase your work by showing a visual of the same:

Download the Portfolio Briefcase

If you can show a before-after, that is even better because nothing convinces more than seeing the transformation thanks to your service…

Download this Before After PowerPoint Template

Step 4- Any big achievement to your credit?

If you have been awarded for your work or you helped the client achieve big success, it would be an opportunity lost not to share it. There’s no bragging about it but a matter of fact statement.

I don’t know if you have viewed my presentation on “7 Sure-Shot Ways to Multiply Your Earnings” on SlideShare. It was awarded “Presentation of the Year” by SlideShare last year. 

Such a statement is bound to impress any tom dick and harry. Even if it’s not a ground-breaking achievement but a value that you offer to your clients, it will work.

I am Tom Phelps and I am a career counselor. Basically, I help my clients find their talent and put it to best use. Two of my clients recently got featured in New-Age Entrepreneurs Magazine for their disruptive startups.

Download this Key Achievements PPT Template

Step 5- Share Your Contact Details

Last but not least, don’t forget to share your business card with the listener. All your effort of leaving a good impression goes down the drain if they can’t connect with you in the future when your services are needed. If it is a visual resume or a presentation at an event, share your contact details and also share your presentation copy so that you can be contacted in the future.

Download this Contact Us Presentation Slide

Creating an Elevator Pitch Presentation for Your Company:

In most cases, you need to pitch your company services before clients. The steps are the same - go for an easy-to-understand, interesting approach that connects with the audience. 

Step 1- Start with a Hook

Pique the audience’s interest with a catchy opening. Here are three common ways to capture audience's attention right from the start-

#1- Ask a Question

Involve the audience in a conversation by asking them a question.

Download the Thumbs Up Icon Template

#2- State a Fact

Facts add credibility to a presentation. Logical people are more convinced when data and statistics are presented before them.

Download Social Media Marketing Slide

#3- Share a Story

Stories always connect with the audience at an emotional level. They give a face to the facts and data you share. Story could be of a client in distress and how the fortunes turned for them once they started utilizing your services. It is not a brag story but a genuine description of a problem that many in the audience would be facing and how you rose to the challenge. 

Step 2- Who are You & What Do You Do

Once you have captured the audience's interest, it is time to do the most important thing - Introduce your company. There are two ways to go about it - First, Introduce your brand name and a short line description of what you do.

The second way is - Introducing your brand name and tagline that describes the value you offer to others.

Download Digital Marketing PPT Diagram

Step 3- Who’s Your Target Audience  

If the audience is obvious like in the example above (every business can benefit from social media presence), you can skip this step. For many other products and services, this is a very important part of the elevator pitch.

Step 4- What’s Your USP

What makes you different from your competitors? Highlight your Unique Selling Proposition that will convince the audience to choose you over others.

Download this Business Approach PowerPoint Template

Step 5- Client Testimonial/Case Study

Showcase the good work you have done for your clients. Case studies and client testimonials add credibility to your claims.

Download Case Study PPT Template

Step 6- Contact Us Details

You can’t forget to share your business card if you are conversing face to face. While presenting an online slideshow, don’t forget to add the contact details towards the end.

Download the Contact Us Slide

Case Study: Best Elevator Pitch

You realize the power of an elevator pitch when you read the case study of DollarShaveClub. Their pitch video went viral on YouTube helping them build a billion dollar business. 

Here’s what we learned from it:

Top 10 Tips to Create a Killer Elevator Pitch:

• Show Your Human Side

Brands are faceless organizations. That is why, it is difficult to connect with them right from the start. We just hear their names and if it is an unfamiliar one, it gets lost amongst the dozens of brand names we come across every day. So, for a new brand wishing to make an impressive elevator pitch, we can take a cue from DollarShaveClub. 

The CEO himself introduces the brand - Hi, I'm Mike, founder of DollarShaveClub.com. What is DollarShaveClub.com? Well, for dollar a month, we send high-quality razors right to your door. Yeah a dollar. 

P.S. Also notice how he asks the straightforward question to engage viewers. 

• Highlight Your USP

A startup can take over business giants if it has something valuable to offer that others do not. The USP has already been highlighted in the opening line - it is just a dollar a month! But is that it? Is money the only selling factor. No. The pitch quickly establishes the quality of service-

Are the blades any good? No, our blades are f**king great! Each razor has stainless steel blades and aloe vera lubricating strip and a pivot head. It's so gentle a toddler could use it.

• Throw Light on Problem

The reason why your business exists is to solve a pain point. What is that pain point? Articulate it well so that even if the people were not aware of it, thanks to you they are. DollarShaveClub launches a scathing attack on a big brand by articulating the pain point perfectly...

And do you like spending $20 a month on brand name razors? 19 go to Roger Federer... And do you think your razor needs a vibrating handle, a flashlight, a back scratcher and ten blades. Ask your grandfather - had one blade and polio. 

• Offer Your Solution

Now that you have presented the problem, the next logical step is to present your solution. Although the same is indirectly covered when you described in the beginning the service you offer, you can elaborate upon that briefly over here. 

Stop paying for shave tech you don't need and stop forgetting to buy your blades every month. Alejandro and I are gonna ship them right to you.

• Social Promise is a Bonus

Millennials are motivated by cause marketing and less by monetary reward. In a study on millennials and buying behavior, it was found that 42% of millennials bought from a company with a social mission as compared to 14% of older Americans. The shaving company includes social appeal in its pitch smartly.

We're not selling razors. We're also making new jobs.

• Make it Humorous

Nothing engages like humor. The brand knew how to add fun to their pitch and lighten up the viewers. The pitch has many funny moments like the grandfather reference, love for tennis, and boss-worker bonhomie.

Alejandro, what were you doing last month? Not working. What are you doing now? Working. I'm no Vanderbilt but this train makes hay.

• End with a Memorable Call to Action

The listeners might be engaged with your story but is that all you want? You want them to take the next step - look up at your service and make the next buying move.

So stop forgetting about your blades every month and start deciding where you're gonna stack all those dollar bills I'm saving you. We are dollarclubshave.com and the party is on!

Isn't it about time?

• Have a Catchy Slogan/Tagline

A slogan that sticks works great for your business. But it should highlight your customer value, your value proposition. DollarShaveClub addresses both their benefits in their catchy tagline - It helps you save money (just a dollar a month) and time (product is shipped right to your door).

Shave Time Shave Money

• Keep It Short Elevator pitches should be no more than 30-60 seconds. Attention spans are decreasing. You have to grab their attention quickly. Where video format is concerned, DollarShaveClub packs a lot of punch in just 90 seconds.
• Keep It Simple

This is where many elevator pitches go wrong. They use their industry jargon thinking everyone understands the same. Test your elevator pitch on those outside your industry to get a fair idea.  Work on the pitch to make it as simple as possible.

Professionally Designed Elevator Pitch PPT Templates

If you need single-slide Elevator Pitch templates to pitch the main points in one slide, here are some professionally designed templates to help you keep your message succinct and visually impactful...

Download this Editable Elevator Pitch Template

Grab this Elevator Pitch PPT Diagram

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Access this Elevator Pitch Presentation Template

Grab this Elevator Pitch Layout

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Access this Elevator Pitch Case Study

Grab this Elevator Pitch Example PPT

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Template 10

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• Top 15 Elevator Pitch Templates to Present Extraordinary Business Ideas
• [Updated 2023] 50 Best Company Presentation Templates To Ace The Corporate Ladder
• [Updated 2023] Top 10 Business Strategy Google Slides Templates To Empower Your Team

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Elevator Pitch: Definition, Types, Step-by-Step guide

If you found an investor in an elevator and had a minute or less to wake up your interest, would you be ready for this challenge? This situation helps to think of a quick and direct way to present the value and differential of your company. In the world of startups and investors, the term for this is Elevator Pitch. 

In this article, we’ve covered some examples of elevator conversation and tips to help you understand, create, and deliver your second-hand message. What is elevator speech, and how to pitch in seconds?

What is an Elevator Pitch? 

An elevator pitch is a short oral communication exercise aimed at arousing the interest of a group, a company, or a  nobody. This is to briefly describe your personality, skills, and experience and give specific or original information about your areas of interest in 30 seconds – 1 minute, i.e., the average time you would spend in an elevator with your interlocutor.

How to Take an Elevator Step: Step-by-Step Instructions 

Your elevator pitch will have a slightly different purpose depending on the situation. That’s why the first thing you need is to identify your purpose. 

• Do you want to get a job in a particular company?
• Do you want to land a new strategic client? • Maybe you have a great business idea and are looking for an investor?
• Heck, maybe you want to casually introduce yourself and explain what you do for a living… 

Whatever you want to achieve, we have what you need. Here’s how to create an elevator pitch for three different occasions. 

(If you want to see examples of elevator pitches for reference and inspiration, please scroll down to the next section.)

In which situations can I use the elevator pitch? 

Although the name of the pitch may make your think can only be done in elevators, it can be used in several situations, for example, to get in touch with a particular person, hold the attention of a crowd and convince them in a short time to create a link or obtain an appointment or for a business opportunity . It can also be used to stand out during a personal presentation or a job interview.

3 Types of Elevators Pitch 

1. elevator pitch for career fairs .

Job fairs are busy environments. Hundreds of candidates are vying for attention from a few big fish. 

Events such as trade fairs and congresses are ideal situations for meeting investors, getting in touch with other entrepreneurs, or even finding new customers. Using the elevator pitch allows you to create links and make contacts. 

Whether it is to approach business leaders or to present an idea to investors, it is essential to use a relevant argument. Your presentation needs to be crafted at every opportunity to leave a good impression.

2. Elevator Pitch for Job Interview 

During a job interview, using the elevator pitch technique helps you stand out from other candidates. In particular, it allows you to make a short presentation while highlighting your qualities, talents, skills, and professional qualifications. 

To persuade your future employer and achieve a perfect pitch, your presentation must reflect who you are. It is a method that allows you to show your motivation and interest in the position and the company.

3. Elevator Pitch in Social Networks 

Meetings on professional social networks can be excellent opportunities to connect with potential clients or investors. Indeed, the latter are generally not interested in too long messages. 

Using the elevator pitch allows you to make yourself known or present your project while ensuring that your message will be read. This practice makes it possible to sell ideas and attract new customers or investors.

5 Steps to Make an Elevator Intro Pitch 

I. Get their attention.  

Open your elevator speech with something compelling and relatable. For example, identify a common industry problem with which they will be familiar. 

II. Spark curiosity 

Tell them you found a solution for that very problem but for that, you need to know WHO you are talking with and what their needs are. 

III. Summarize what you do 

Then tell how you happen to have the magic solution for their problems or how helpful you might be by explaining what you do.

IV. Be ready for more questions 

A good elevator pitch is an invitation to a conversation, not an advertising slogan. So it would be best if you were ready to explain any doubt you crowd might have.

V. Have a business card in hand 

If the person you’ve been talking to wants to continue the conversation later, handing them a business card will be more professional than just giving out your phone number.

5 TIPS TO WRITE AN ELEVATOR PITCH

1. start from scratch .

Before you can sell your idea, you need to have an idea! And it needs to be good. Take a blank sheet of paper and brainstorm how you envision your business: who the customers will be, what market you will be operating in, what demands will be met, etc. 

2. Set your Goals 

Now that you have a design of your idea and your target audience, define your goals: what are your audience’s needs, and what will you do to meet them? Explain what exactly the service you are creating is and what it does.

3. Shape your idea 

Organize clearly and cohesively all the previously defined ideas and objectives. You can use, for example, a Lean Canva to help you with this structuring. 

To give shape and face to your idea, do not forget to choose a name for your service or business, even if it is temporary; this helps summarize the concept in a few words. Finally, clarify what makes your idea different and why it deserves to be heard.

4. Create an irresistible hook 

You can develop a metaphor, a joke, an anecdote, or ask an intriguing question, but the important thing is that you create something that holds the attention and engages the listener. Remember, you need to present your idea in a few minutes, so you need to make sure you get your message across without being boring. With a square presentation, you lose your chance of success within seconds.

5. Write your speech script 

All your ideas are in order. Do you know your differential and still have a fantastic hook to engage your audience? So now it’s time to script your “elevator speech .”.”Please write what you want to communicate, showing the potential of your business, and read it aloud (preferably timing) until you reach a speech of up to 3 minutes. Finally, practice, practice, practice, and practice more! 

Leave your speech impeccable and have everything on the tip of your tongue. Perhaps, the first few times you present your idea, you will still choke a little, but each time you will gain more confidence, and this is the essential tip for success: have confidence in your business! Now, wait for that elevator ride that could change your life.

Examples of a Good Elevator Pitch

Let’s look at some examples of elevator conversations for a variety of roles and situations that you might refer to when creating yours: 

I. In a Job interview 

“Hi, my name is Michelle Catra.  Thank you so much for sitting with me today. 

After graduating with a degree in Business Administration, I have spent the last three years building professional experience as an Executive Assistant. I successfully managed end-to-end event coordination and generated a solid professional network for my colleagues. 

I was excited to learn about this opportunity in the sports management space – I have always been passionate about the way sports unite cultures and would love the opportunity to bring my project management and leadership skills to this position.”

II. Looking for a Mentor

“Hi, I’m Jonathan Barbosa; nice to meet you! I’m a graphic designer at XYZ Ltd., where I’m passionate about creating beautiful and intuitive designs for various marketing materials for our premier clients.

Before that, I did my specialization in Graphic Design. I am looking for experiences to learn more about career paths and ways to take on an art director role in the coming years.

Your work with the WWW brand has inspired me, particularly the way I think about design – I’d love to talk more about potential mentorship with you if it’s something you have the time and are interested in.”

III. Networking

“Hi! It is a pleasure to meet you.

My name is Mark Brown. I have just over ten years of experience creating data-driven solutions for various business problems. Specifically, I love and have had great success in strategically evaluating data analytics with my current work executive team. 

It sounds like you do similar work – I’d like to stay in touch to learn more about what you and your company do.”

IV. Looking for a job opportunity 

“Hi, I’m Maria Prates. I spent the last eight years learning and growing in my role as a Media Planner, where I developed and optimized strategic media plans for our leading client and managed a subset of planners as a Team Leader.

One of my proudest achievements was a project recognized as one of the top nonprofit campaigns last year. I’ve been interested in switching to nonprofits for a long time, and I love what your company does in education.

Would you mind telling me about any media planning needs you might have on the team?”

Conclusion 

There are no secrets to making a good elevator pitch. You need to be brief and create a speech that varies in length from 30 to 60 seconds. 

The elevator pitch is so named because it is short enough that it could be used even on a quick elevator ride. So it needs to be very objective, say who you are, what you do, and what you want to do (if you’re looking for a job). 

It is not necessary to present all of your professional and academic histories. However, this presentation should briefly recap who you are and what you do.

References and Further Reading 

How to Create an Elevator Pitch With Examples. Balanced Careers.

Crafting an Elevator Pitch. Mindtools.

Tips to Create the Perfect Elevator Pitch  

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Crafting an Elevator Pitch

Introducing your company quickly and compellingly.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

(Also known as an Elevator Speech or Elevator Statement)

You've just bumped into a former client at the airport. After exchanging pleasantries, he asks you what your new company does. You open your mouth, and then pause. Where on earth do you start?

Then, as you try to organize your thoughts, his flight is called, and he's on his way. If you'd been better prepared, you're sure that he'd have stayed long enough to schedule a meeting.

This is one situation where it helps to have an "elevator pitch." This is a short, pre-prepared speech that explains what your organization does, clearly and succinctly.

In this article, we'll explore situations where these are useful, and we'll look at how to craft an effective pitch.

About the Technique

An elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive speech that you use to spark interest in what your organization does. You can also use it to create interest in a project, idea or product – or in yourself. A good elevator pitch should last no longer than a short elevator ride of 20 to 30 seconds, hence the name.

It should be interesting, memorable and succinct. It also needs to explain what makes you – or your organization, product or idea – unique.

When to Use an Elevator Pitch

Some people think that this kind of thing is only useful for salespeople who need to pitch their products and services. But you can use an elevator pitch in other situations too.

For example, you might use one to introduce your organization to potential clients or customers. You could use one in your organization to sell a new idea to your CEO, or to tell people about the change initiative that you're leading. You could even craft one to tell people what you do for a living.

Creating an Elevator Pitch

It can take some time to get your pitch right. You'll likely go through several versions before finding one that's compelling and that sounds natural in conversation.

Follow these steps to create a great pitch, but bear in mind that you'll need to vary your approach depending on what your pitch is about:

1. Identify Your Goal

Start by thinking about the objective of your pitch.

For instance, do you want to tell potential clients about your organization? Do you have a great new product idea that you want to pitch to an executive? Or do you want a simple and engaging speech to explain what you do for a living?

2. Explain What You Do

Start your pitch by describing what your organization does. Focus on the problems that you solve and how you help people. If you can, add information or a statistic that shows the value in what you do.

Ask yourself this question as you start writing: what do you want your audience to remember most about you?

Keep in mind that your pitch should excite you first. After all, if you don't get excited about what you're saying, neither will your audience. Your pitch should bring a smile to your face and quicken your heartbeat. People may not remember everything that you say, but they'll likely remember your enthusiasm.

Imagine that you're creating an elevator pitch that describes what your company does. You plan to use it at networking events. You could say, "My company writes mobile device applications for other businesses." But that's not very memorable!

A better explanation would be, "My company develops mobile applications that businesses use to train their staff remotely. This results in a big increase in efficiency for an organization's managers."

That's much more interesting, and shows the value that you provide to these organizations.

3. Communicate Your USP

Your elevator pitch also needs to communicate your unique selling proposition , or USP.

Identify what makes you, your organization, or your idea, unique. You'll want to communicate your USP after you've talked about what you do.

To highlight what makes your company unique, you could say, "We use a novel approach because, unlike most other developers, we visit each organization to find out exactly what people need. Although this takes a bit more time, it means that 95 percent of our clients are happy with the first version of their app."

4. Engage With a Question

After you communicate your USP, you need to engage your audience. To do this, prepare open-ended questions (questions that can't be answered with a "yes" or "no" answer) to involve them in the conversation.

Make sure that you're able to answer any questions that might come back at you, too.

"So, how does your organization handle the training of new people?"

5. Put It All Together

When you've completed each section of your pitch, put it all together.

Then, read it aloud and time how long it takes. It should be no longer than 20-30 seconds. Otherwise, you risk losing the person's interest, or monopolizing the conversation.

Try to cut out anything that doesn't absolutely need to be there. Remember, your pitch needs to be snappy and compelling, so the shorter it is, the better!

"My company develops mobile applications that businesses use to train their staff remotely. This means that senior managers can spend time on other important tasks.

"Unlike other similar companies, we visit each organization to find out exactly what people need. This means that 95 percent of our clients are happy with the first version of their app.

6. Practice

Like anything else, practice makes perfect. Remember, how you communicate is just as important as what you say. If you don't practice, it's likely that you'll talk too fast, sound unnatural, or forget important elements of your pitch.

Set a goal to practice your pitch regularly. The more you practice, the more natural your pitch will become. You want it to sound like a smooth conversation, not an aggressive sales pitch.

Make sure that you're aware of your body language as you talk, which conveys just as much information to the listener as your words do. Practice in front of a mirror or, better yet, in front of colleagues, until the pitch feels natural.

As you get used to delivering your pitch, it's fine to vary it a little – the idea is that it doesn't sound too formulaic or like it's pre-prepared, even though it is!

You may want to keep small takeaway items with you, which you can give to people after you've delivered your pitch. For example, these could be business cards or brochures that talk about your product idea or business.

Remember to tailor your pitch for different audiences, if appropriate.

An elevator pitch is a brief, persuasive speech that you can use to spark interest in what your organization does. You can also use one to create interest in a project, idea or product.

It needs to be succinct, while conveying important information.

To craft a great pitch, follow these steps:

• Identify your goal.
• Explain what you do.
• Communicate your USP.
• Engage with a question.
• Put it all together.

Try to keep a business card or other takeaway item with you, to help the other person remember you and your message.

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The 7 Key Components of a Perfect Elevator Pitch

Noah Parsons

9 min. read

Updated May 10, 2024

Whether you are trying to raise money from angel investors or venture capitalists for your business, or just want to perfect your business strategy, a solid elevator pitch is an essential tool for achieving your goals. An elevator pitch that describes your business in a nutshell can be delivered as a speech ( ideally in 60 seconds or less ), a pitch presentation, or as a one-page overview of your business.

An easy way to think of your pitch is as an executive summary that provides a quick overview of your business and details why you are going to be successful.

• How to build a winning elevator pitch in 7 steps:

1. Define the problem

The most important thing is to identify a problem that is worth solving . If your product or service doesn’t solve a problem that potential customers have, you don’t have a viable business model . Simple as that.

Now, you don’t have to be solving a massive problem where the solution will change the world. That’s great if you are tackling such a problem, but for most businesses, that’s not the reality. Problems can be simple—and that’s OK. As long as you, as an entrepreneur, are solving a problem that customers have, you can build a business.

Here are a few examples of problem statements that could be highlighted in a pitch:

“Transferring photos from mobile phones is a difficult and complex process.”

“There are no good Chinese restaurants in Eugene, Oregon.”

“Analyzing results from MRI tests is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive.”

Try and distill your customer’s problem down to its simplest form. Ideally you should be able to describe the problem you are solving in one or two sentences, or potentially a few bullet points. In the long run, your company may solve multiple customer problems, but initially you will be more successful if you just focus on one core problem.

2. Describe your solution

Too many entrepreneurs start their elevator pitch by describing their solution: a product or service that they think the market needs. They skip step 1 and don’t identify the problem they are solving. As a smart entrepreneur, you can avoid this mistake by first making sure that you are solving a real problem that customers actually have before you define your solution.

Once you have clearly defined the problem you are solving, you need to explain your solution. A clear problem statement will help you focus your solution on solving that one problem, and not stretch the solution to solve multiple potential problems.

Again, try and distill your solution description down to as few words as possible. You should be able to describe your solution at a high level in just a few sentences or bullet points.

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3. Know your target market

As you define the problem you are solving, you should naturally be thinking about the potential customers who have this problem.

In the target market section of your elevator pitch, you will define exactly who has the problem you are solving and figure out how many potential customers you will be trying to sell to.

Market segmentation

You should try and divide your target market into segments—smaller groups of people whom you expect to market to.

It’s always tempting to define a target market that’s as large as possible, but that does not make for a credible pitch. For example, if you have a new shoe company, it would be tempting to say that your target market is “everyone.” After all, everyone has feet and everyone needs shoes, don’t they?

But, realistically, your new shoe company is probably targeting a specific group of people, such as athletes. Within this group of athletes, you might segment the market into additional groups such as runners, walkers, hikers, and so on.

How big is your potential market?

Once you have created a good list of target market segments, you’ll need to do a little market research and estimation to figure out how many people are in each segment. Take a look at our Bplans market research resource guide .

What do your customers already spend?

Next, try and estimate what an average person in each group currently spends each year on their current solution to the problem you are solving. Now, just multiply the number of people by how much they currently spend and you will have a realistic “market size” number or your target market.

In your pitch, you will want to talk about the market segments you are targeting, how many people are in each segment, and the total amount they currently spend. These numbers are critical and must be part of any good pitch presentation.

If you need more help with this section, check out our guide on defining your target market .

4. Describe the competition

Every business has competition . Even if no one has come up with a solution similar to what you have come up with, your potential customers are solving the problem they have with some alternative.

For example, the competitors to the first cars weren’t other cars. The competition was horses and walking. As you think about your competition and existing alternatives, think about what advantages your solution offers over the competition.

Are you faster, cheaper, or better? Why would a potential customer choose your solution over someone else’s? Describing your key differentiators from your competition is a great exercise and ensures that you are building a unique solution that customers will hopefully choose over other alternatives. These differentiators will also help you focus your marketing on the key value proposition that you offer, but your competitors don’t.

5. Share who’s on your team

As great as your idea is, only the right team will be able to effectively execute and build a great company.

In the “team” portion of your elevator pitch, you should talk about why you and your business partners are the right team to execute your vision, and why your team’s skill set is precisely what is needed to lead your company to success. People often say that a company’s leadership team is more important than the idea—and this is often true. No matter how great or unique your solution is, if you don’t have the right people on board, you won’t be able to see it to fruition.

It’s also O.K. to not have an entire team in place. It’s more important to understand that you have gaps in your management team and that you need to hire the right people. Knowing what your team is missing and recognizing that you need to find the right talent to fill the gaps is an important trait in any entrepreneur.

6. Include a financial summary

For a great pitch, you don’t necessarily have to show a detailed five-year financial forecast . What’s more important is that you understand your business model .

“Business model” may sound like something complex, but fortunately it’s not. All you need to know is who pays your bills and what kinds of expenses you will have.

For example, if you are starting an online news site, the customers that pay the bills are your advertisers. Your costs will be writers, graphic designers and web hosting. As you learn more about your industry, it is certainly helpful to put together  a sales forecast and expense budget . You will want to ensure that you can build a profitable company based on your assumptions. But, for your elevator pitch, a won’t have to include a detailed forecast. You should certainly have a forecast completed so that you can talk about the numbers if you get questions and provide the forecast if your potential investors are interested in learning more about your business.

7. Show traction with milestones

The final key element of your elevator pitch is conveying your business milestones, or your schedule .

Here you will talk about your upcoming goals and when you plan to achieve them. If you have already accomplished notable milestones, you should mention those. For example, if you have invented a new medical device, potential investors will want to know where you are in the clinical trial process. What steps have been accomplished and what’s the projected schedule for final approvals from the FDA? If you are opening a restaurant, investors will want to know about plans to sign a lease, design the interior, and open for business.

Talking about upcoming milestones in your pitch makes your business a reality. This section of the pitch illustrates how well you have thought through the detailed steps it’s going to take to open your business and start making money.

If you’re lucky enough to have made progress on your business and have evidence that your business is going to be a success, you’ll want to talk about that, too. For example, if you have pre-orders for your product or other evidence of strong customer interest, investors will want to hear about the successes you’ve had—this is often called traction .

• Put it all together into a presentation

If you need help putting together your pitch deck for a presentation, check out our article that outlines exactly what slides you should include in your presentation and what should be on each slide .

And if you need inspiration, check out our analysis of real-world pitch decks like Uber, DoorDash, and Facebook to learn why they work so well.

You can also create a one-page plan which is a great hand-out if you are giving an elevator speech and also a good solution for sending a pitch via email. Check out our one-page plan template if that sounds like the right solution for you.

• Bonus component: The one-sentence pitch

Let’s say you’re at a dinner party and one of the guests asks you, “So, what do you do?” Can you answer in one sentence so that they understand your company?

Being able to distill what your company does into one simple sentence is incredibly valuable. It helps you, as an entrepreneur, focus on exactly what you do and who you’re doing it for. It also helps you clearly market your business. A simple headline at the top of your website or brochures will communicate the core essence of your company and generate interest in learning more about what you do.

There are certainly other components you can include in your pitch, but these seven are really the “must-have” pieces, whether it’s written down in a pitch deck presentation or literally delivered as a speech in an actual elevator.

• View this as an infographic:

Noah is the COO at Palo Alto Software, makers of the online business plan app LivePlan. He started his career at Yahoo! and then helped start the user review site Epinions.com. From there he started a software distribution business in the UK before coming to Palo Alto Software to run the marketing and product teams.

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10 Elevator Pitch Examples from Successful Startups

What is an elevator pitch?

It's a short description of an idea, product, or company. It's meant to be shorter than an elevator ride, meaning, 30 seconds or less. The concept also applies to pitching yourself, as an individual, to introduce yourself and or land a job- but we'll be focusing on the company/startup version of this. So- an elevator pitch should be enough to explain your startup idea and leave the investor curious for more. 

I love the concept of an 'Elevator Pitch.' It's a fantastic mental exercise for you as a founder and one that is very commonly overlooked.

Now, this is not to be confused with the concept of a pitch deck.

How to write an Elevator Pitch

Elevator pitch outline.

In this article, we are going to look into some tactics to approach writing your elevator pitch, lessons learned. Then I'll take a stab at writing some elevator pitch examples from companies you are probably familiar with.  

Let me give you my Slidebean Elevator Pitch first, and then we'll break it down:

-Do you ever need to make slide presentations?

‍ (I'll assume you said yes).

-How long does it usually take you? ‍

(Insert any answer here, it's probably going to be hours).

-We discovered that the reason why it takes so long is that all presentation platforms give you a white canvas: you need to figure out the content of the deck while figuring out how it's going to look. It's just very inefficient- and if you're not a designer, slides might not look too good.

So we created Slidebean , a tool where all you need to do is add the content, and the design of the slides gets generated automatically. Over 10 million slides have been created with our platform.

So here's a quick teardown,

Starting with a question

We have the advantage of tacking a problem that most people in an office have experienced. We can 'bet' on what the answers to those questions might be. The question also allows you to turn this into a [controlled] conversation rather than just a pitch. The focus here is to be relatable- to speak to a problem that the potential customer or potential investor will probably have experienced. Not all companies can get away with this- but try to find something that applies to your business idea.

Slidebean is visual. It's a lot easier for me just to show you how it works, but I can't do that in the elevator.

Amount of Details

Notice how I mostly focused on this problem/solution combination. This is what an elevator pitch is mainly made up of- it's a teaser of the company, enough to get people interested.

Also notice how I didn't use any fancy terms like Artificial Intelligence, online collaboration, viewer tracking. Too many tech terms put together sound like jargon.

A hint of traction

You might or might not want to share details about customers and revenue, but showcasing A metric that gives a sense of the scale of the business is pretty useful.

Elevator Pitch Templates

Mastering the art of delivering a concise and impactful elevator pitch is a crucial skill. An elevator pitch is your golden opportunity to capture attention, convey your value proposition, and leave a memorable mark on your audience.Whether you're introducing your startup, seeking a job, networking at an event, pitching a product, or rallying support for a nonprofit cause, these templates provide a foundation to help you craft compelling and effective elevator pitches. Let's check them out:

Startup Entrepreneur Pitch Template:

"Hi, I'm [Your Name], founder of [Your Startup]. We're [briefly explain your unique solution or product] for [industry]. In just [mention a timeframe], we've [share a remarkable achievement]. Our vision is to [describe your long-term goal]. With a passionate team, we're poised to [impact or disrupt]. Let's connect to discuss how we're innovating [industry]."

Sales Pitch Template:

"Hello, I'm [Your Name] from [Your Company]. We provide [Your Product/Service], solving [specific problem] for [target clients]. Using [unique approach], clients typically experience [quantifiable benefit]. Let's chat about how [Your Product/Service] could elevate [Prospect's Company]."

Job Seeker Pitch Template:

"Hello, I'm [Your Name], a [Your Profession] with [X] years in [expertise]. I've [highlight accomplishments/projects], and I excel at [emphasize a key skill]. I'm eager to bring this to [Company Name]. Can we explore how I fit into your team?"

Networking Event Pitch Template:

"Hi, I'm [Your Name], specialized in [Your Expertise]. I've [mention an achievement]. I'm here to connect with fellow [industry] enthusiasts. Let's exchange insights on [specific topic] or potential collaborations."

Nonprofit Fundraising Pitch Template:

"Hi, I'm [Your Name], dedicated to [Your Cause] with [Nonprofit Name]. We've impacted [mention achievement] through [specific program]. To continue, we seek support from like-minded individuals. Your contribution can help us [tangible outcome]. Interested in joining our mission?"

Use these templates as a guide to build you own elevator pitch.

Elevator Pitch Examples

Moving into elevator pitch examples, if you run a Google search for this term, you'll hopefully come across this article and our video. But beyond that, there are a bunch of articles from different sources, showing some examples. None of them stood up- so I figured we could imagine how the Elevator Pitches of some popular startups would have looked.

Airbnb Elevator Pitch

Most tourists booking online care about price- and hotels are one of the highest costs for when traveling.

On the other hand, platforms like Couchsurfing have proven that over half a million people are willing to lend their couches or spare bedrooms.

We have created a platform that connects travelers with locals, letting them rent our rooms, or even entire places. Travelers save money, and locals can monetize their empty rooms- we just take a 10% commission.

How does that sound?

Again, assuming that this is being pitched in 2009- with the information available on their original pitch deck. ‍

A few pointers here:

- Notice how I started mentioning tourists, not just any traveler. Airbnb doesn't necessarily target business. - It's easy to agree that people looking to travel care about price, so there's no market research or validation needed to come up with that statement, - On the other hand, it might be arguable that people will be willing to rent out their homes to strangers. I used the Couchsurfing validation to avoid that statement being questioned.

WeWork Elevator Pitch

There are 40MM independent workers in the US: consultants, freelancers, and small business owners. Solving office space is tough and expensive, especially in cities like New York. We created the concept of space as a service. We have 20 locations in the city- where people can rent a desk or an office without any of the complications of a traditional lease, effectively saving at least 25% of the cost. They get access to a shared front desk, mailroom, and a community of like-minded people.

Once again, this is based on the company stage they had by the time they made this pitch deck.

Slack Elevator Pitch

There is no publicly available pitch deck for Slack, but let's assume the company is just starting up:

The average office worker receives 304 emails per week. They also attend an average of 62 monthly meetings, half of which they consider 'wasted time'. Slack was made to make work more efficient. It organizes conversations by channels and drastically reduces the need for emails or meetings. It's integrated with 100s of productivity tools like Google Docs, Calendars, Email, Dropbox, Zoom... so you can receive automatic notifications and take action without leaving the interface.

Pitch Deck vs Elevator Pitch

As we mentioned above, an elevator pitch is a succinct 20-30 second speech geared to convince someone about a product or company. Having a good elevator pitch ready can help entrepreneurs make the best of brief encounters with potential investors at parties, business events, or elevators. An elevator pitch is a prime chance to make a good first impression and generate interest in the company.

Capturing someone’s attention in a short span of time is quite a challenge.

On the other hand, a pitch deck is 10-15 slide presentation to introduce a business proposal- mostly associated these days with an investor pitch deck. If you are looking for that, we have a couple of videos and articles focusing on pitch decks , as well as a neat pitch deck template. ‍

1. Information to Include in the Elevator Pitch Deck:

The key to crafting a good pitch deck is to keep it short and crisp while covering all the pertinent information. All the relevant information from the pitch deck should be condensed into a concise 30-second speech. It should explain the genuine need for the product in the market, its unique selling point, what differentiates the product from its competitors and the business model—all of this in under 30 seconds.

Take a look at the following pitch to understand this:

We are a boutique recruitment agency that helps tech companies hire the best programmers. We run our own hackathons to identify talent and match them with our clients. This helps companies hire top talent without too much effort on theirs. We have some clients on retainer, but we also work with some companies for specific openings. You could stop by at our next hackathon in Palo Alto to get a better sense of how we scout talent.

2. Capture Attention:

Fantastic elevator pitch examples are all conversation-starter; the ultimate aim is to progress to a meeting where the business model can be discussed at length. So, the priority for the pitch should be to capture the listener's attention and make them want to know more. Look at the following pitches:

• ‍ “I work on nanotechnology to deliver medical therapies to targeted cells”

This pitch is too technical and difficult to grasp.  Besides, it does not clearly present what the product does and how it adds value to the field of medicine.

• ‍ “We are using the manufacturing techniques of the computer industry to make better vaccines”

The second pitch is crisp and explains what the company does in a way that piques the listener's interest. This was the elevator pitch that got Joe DeSimone's company, Liquidia, funding from Bill Gates's Foundation.  

Also, it's essential to use the right presentation software in order to capture the audience's attention. An elevator pitch should have visuals elements along with eye-catching slides.

3. Avoid Jargon:

The purpose of an elevator pitch is to get your message across clearly. Using complicated business jargon and buzzwords that don’t really add any value to your message can undermine your message. Consider this pitch:

• ‍ “Our company's core competency is building synergy between top consumer brands and their customers. We help these companies to upsell and cross-sell their products while delighting their customers with new products.”

Here, the message is lost in the jargon.

• ‍ “Our proprietary customer relationship management software helps companies to track data about their consumers more efficiently. Companies that have switched to our software have reported a 20% surge in return customers.”

This pitch captures all the essentials in simple, everyday language and is far more effective in getting your message across.

4. Start with a Question:

Ronald Regan famously said, “Ask yourself, are you better off now than you were four years ago?” This succinctly summed up the core essence of his campaign.

Known for his par-excellence presentation skills, Steve Jobs is famous for making one of the best elevator pitches . While trying to convince John Sculley to leave Pepsi Co., for Apple Inc., Steve Jobs asked him, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want a chance to change the world?”

DOWNLOAD THIS TEMPLATE

5. focus on your listener:.

In the previous example, Steve Jobs's focus is not on what Apple does, but on what Sculley wants to do. Draw listeners in by addressing their needs. If it sounds like a marketing spiel, people tend to switch off. Flip the process of writing a pitch: it should not be a list of features of the product, but it should focus on telling listeners how it can help solve their problems.

This introduction for JustPark, a parking app which won the Pitch to Rich contest with Richard Branson exemplifies this:

“Let's face it. Parking can be a real nightmare. It can be infuriating to find, extremely pricey and by the time you find that spot you would have lost time, petrol, and caused a lot of unnecessary traffic and pollution. Well, there's an answer, parkatmyhouse.com. We are an awesome little company, backed by an awesome big company called BMW. Now, listen in: You can reserve parking in a private property and save up to 70%. Need to park at a sports match or local station? Sorted. ... Just go to parkatmyhouse.com and simply type in where you want to park and what dates. It is that simple.”

This pitch also slips in a reference to BMW, which adds to their credibility. This brings us to our next point about elevator pitches.

Buffer pitch deck Example:

6. Provide Proof of Results:

Incorporate information about your company's big achievements, or major associations in your pitch. Risk perception is a big barrier for investors.  Put them at ease by telling that you have a product or service with proven results. In the example above, knowing that JustPark is backed by BMW makes them seem more reliable, and customers are more likely to trust their cars with them.

7. Add an Emotional Benefit Statement:

Leadership expert Simon Sinek believes that it is important to show enthusiasm and help people see why you do what you do. As much as people would like to believe that decision-making is a purely rational activity, research has shown that it actually stems from our emotions. So, it is good to include an emotional benefit statement at the end.

Facebook Pitch deck Example:

8. Clear Call to Action:

The pitch is not an end in itself, it is just the beginning. So, in the presentation design, there should be a call to action that provides clear next steps on how people can get in touch with you to take the discussion forward. You could end your pitch with a simple line, like the one suggested by Cayenne Consulting:

‍ “If you’re interested in learning more, I’d love to stop by at your office in the next week or two to give you a live demo. Would that work for you?”

9. Keep it Natural:

Not just the content of the pitch, but the overall presentation and personality of the presenter impact how people respond to pitches. This is a personal interaction, and it should feel natural. It should not sound too rehearsed. The pitch should be conversational and leave scope for people to raise questions and share their opinions.

Airbnb pitch deck Example:

10. Bonus Example:

Here's a brilliant pitch for Tesla by Elon Musk, which is a good reference for how an elevator pitch should be drafted. This is slightly longer than the usual pitch, but still a great example:

11. Bonus Content:

If you are a student make sure to check our elevator pitch examples for students. Also, check our Pitch Deck Examples blog for more inspiration. The article includes a list of the best pitch deck examples like:

• Airbnb Pitch Deck
• Uber Pitch Deck
• Facebook Pitch Deck
• Slidebean Pitch Deck

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Free Elevator Pitch Templates: Business, Networking, and Personal

By Joe Weller | June 23, 2022

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We’ve collected the top elevator pitch templates for students, businesses, networking, and personal use to help you prepare for events and meetings where you have limited time to pitch yourself, business ideas, or products. 

Included on this page, you’ll find a basic elevator pitch template , an elevator pitch template for students , an elevator pitch template for networking , and an elevator pitch template for sales.

Basic Elevator Pitch Template

Download Basic Elevator Pitch Template Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Use this elevator pitch template to ensure that you include all pertinent information in your brief presentation. In a typical elevator pitch, you’ll have 30 seconds to introduce yourself, provide an overview of your experience, hook the audience with clear goals, and present a simple action plan. Adapt this template to meet just about any personal or business need and make sure your idea is clearly presented. 

Check out our resources on how to write a great elevator pitch for more information.

Elevator Pitch Template for Students

Download Elevator Pitch Template for Students Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Students seeking internships, jobs, or further study opportunities can use this template to prepare an elevator pitch for job fairs, internship applications, or chance meetings with hiring managers. Fill in the sections for personal information, the reason why your proposal matters, and a call to action. Writing a pitch ahead of time helps you appear prepared and qualified when meeting with hiring professionals. 

Check out more elevator pitch examples to meet the needs of any short presentation.

Elevator Pitch Template for Networking

Download Elevator Pitch Template for Networking Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

Use this template to build your elevator pitch for any networking opportunities on the horizon. Customize your pitch by type of event, audience, and networking goal. Write and rehearse a simple but targeted elevator pitch by answering the questions on this template, and arrive at your next meeting with a concise pitch to help you stand apart from the crowd.

Elevator Pitch Template for Sales

Download Elevator Pitch Template for Sales Microsoft Word | Adobe PDF

When you have a new product or service to sell, an elevator pitch will help communicate your idea to potential buyers or customers. Answer questions about target customers, existing market solutions, product details and features, and next steps to develop a concise and effective elevator pitch.

Elevator Pitch Deck Template

Download Elevator Pitch Deck Template — Microsoft PowerPoint

Use this pitch deck template to highlight your product or service in a clear, concise presentation-ready format. Edit the customizable slides to present key information about your business, products, or services in a short time frame, including the problem(s) you hope to solve and how you will solve them.

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