sample elevator pitch business plan

On my first LSAT, I scored a 148. I ended up with a 174 and a Harvard Law degree. My experience as a student and as an in-class instructor led to the creation of LSATMax, a vastly superior LSAT prep experience. And now, with the LSAT being administered on a tablet, our once radical idea has become the norm for LSAT prep. So what are you waiting for? Download our free app and see for yourself.

2. Personal services elevator pitch example – Podcast ad

I hear this Better Help elevator pitch in podcasts all the time. Have a look:

Better Help is online therapy that offers video and phone and even live chat-only therapy sessions so you don’t need to see anyone on camera if you don’t want to. Better help is much more affordable than in-person therapy and is available worldwide. Better help will assess your needs and can match you with your own accredited therapist in under 48 hours. Visit betterhelp.com and join the over 2 million people who have taken charge of their mental health with the help of an experienced professional.

3. SaaS elevator pitch example – Facebook profile

The description in your Facebook business page is the perfect opportunity for an elevator pitch. Take Stryve’s :

Hiring’s hard. We’ve made it easy. Stryve is a revolutionary cloud-based ATS helping you find, nurture and hire the talent your business needs to succeed. Our mission is to help growing companies thrive and using our technology, build brilliantly diverse teams. We want to positively impact both humans in business and our planet; our commitment to B Corp helps us do just that.

elevator pitch example in a facebook business bio by stryve

4. Freelancer elevator pitch example – cold outreach email

This elevator pitch example comes in the form of a guest pitch for a blog post .

Hi [name] Did someone call for a small business genie? Now I don’t have as many years in the field as Genie from Aladdin, nor am I as powerful…or blue BUT, three wishes I can grant for you and the team at WordStream are: adding value, reducing workload and providing knowledge! A reward awaits you, should you choose to take part. All you have to do is pick a number between 1 to 3. Here are your choices based on your decision: Title #1 Title #2 Title #3 The next step? Let me know which title you landed on and before you can say ‘hey presto’, I’ll have the content conjured up and delivered to your inbox ;). Wishing you a magical day, [name].

5. Product elevator pitch example – About us page

In addition to excellent visual imagery, Zolt’s about us page has excellent elevator pitch inspo:

Plants survive and thrive by releasing endogenous biochemicals that help them flourish under various circumstances, and many of those plant botanicals can help humans perform at their best, too. That’s why Zolt superdrinks are powered by plants (a whole entourage of ‘em) and optimized for performance. Each formulation of adaptogens, antioxidants and terpene botanicals is tailored to key areas of human function like sleep, immunity, energy, balance, and overall cognitive performance.

elevator pitch example - zolt's about page

6. Chiropractor example – Zocdoc

This chiropractor’s ZocDoc bio uses a combination of data, social proof, and emotional copy to prove her value and differentiate herself from others:

Dr. Diane Arrigo is a graduate of the Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic in 2006. She founded Chiropractic Health in 2007 to offer the benefits of chiropractic care to the citizens of the Metro-West Framingham area. Dr. Arrigo has dedicated her life to healing the body, spirit, and mind. She believes that chiropractic treatment is the most sensible and effective way to treat many common health problems. She also believes in the preventative power of chiropractic care. Dr. Arrigo is a proud member of the Federation of Straight Chiropractic Organization, and the Massachusetts Chiropractic Society. In her spare time, Dr. Arrigo enjoys cooking, hiking, and spending time with her family

6. Virtual services elevator pitch example – Linkedin bio

And finally, your LinkedIn company page is another place for your elevator pitch. Teladoc’s LinkedIn bio is great elevator pitch material:

Teladoc Health is on a mission to empower all people everywhere to live healthier lives by transforming the healthcare experience. Recognized as the world leader in whole-person virtual care, Teladoc Health addresses the full spectrum of health and well-being — powered by human expertise, advanced technology and insights—to deliver improved clinical outcomes at scale. Serving more than 175 countries and ranked Best in KLAS for Virtual Care Platforms in 2020, Teladoc Health leverages extensive expertise and data-driven insights to meet the growing healthcare needs of consumers and healthcare professionals.

Let’s close off with some final tips for making your elevator pitch the best it can be:

Meet The Author

Kristen mccormick.

Kristen is the Senior Managing Editor at WordStream, where she helps businesses to make sense of their online marketing and advertising. She specializes in SEO and copywriting and finds life to be exponentially more delightful on a bicycle.

See other posts by Kristen McCormick

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12 Elevator Pitch Examples to Inspire Your Own [+Templates]

Published: March 15, 2023

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.

salesperson using an elevator pitch or speech

In situations like these, you need a short and easy-to-grasp explanation of your company and its products, like an elevator pitch.

An elevator pitch — also known as elevator speech — can better introduce professionals to your company. In this post, we’ll discuss why you should use a pitch, discuss different types, learn how to write your own, and give you tips on how to make a memorable one.

After all, the person(s) you're speaking with might turn out to be a perfect fit for your business — or know someone who is.

→ Download Now: 8 Elevator Pitch Templates

What is an elevator pitch?

It's 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 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.

Pull it out at networking events, conferences, warm calls — and even job interviews or career fairs. Keep your elevator pitch goal-oriented (e.g., " 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.

Remember to be engaging and friendly, and practice your pitch, so it's clear, concise, and well-paced.

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.

8 Elevator Pitch Templates

Fill out the form to get free e-pitch templates..

No matter which type of pitch you’re delivering, concision is essential. You don’t want to waste your prospect’s, investor’s, or fellow professional’s time. With that in mind, how much time should you spend on an elevator pitch? Let’s find out.

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 time to deliver it.

To show your value in under a minute, your pitch needs purpose, flow, and a hook to reel in attention — all of which we’ll discuss as follows.

How to Write an Elevator Pitch

How do you create an effective elevator pitch? Let's take a look.

1. Use elevator pitch templates .

Download Free E-Pitch Templates

Get your pitch started by using HubSpot’s easy-to-use templates. As you write your pitch, you can adjust it as required to address the specific needs of the recipient.

The templates include three different types of pitches: For sales prospects, investors, and potential network connections. No matter what you aim to do with your pitch, having a strong starting framework is essential. Telling your or your company’s story in less than a minute can be a challenge, and using templates can help you more effectively hone your message.

Once you’ve downloaded your templates, tailor them by following the steps below.

2. Introduce yourself.

Before jumping into your elevator pitch, you'll need to introduce yourself to the person you're talking to. Write a sentence about who you are and what your role is at the company (e.g., " I'm a sales rep at Better Than the Rest Cable. "). This will help you start the conversation off on the right foot.

Remember not to ramble. Researcher Diana Tamir shows that when we talk about ourselves, our brains show activity in the areas linked to value and motivation. Our bodies are rewarded when we talk about ourselves, so, especially when we're in high-stress situations, we resort to what feels good.

Tamir says , "This helps to explain why people so obsessively engage in this behavior. It's because it provides them with some sort of subjective value: It feels good, basically."

The problem with rambling in an elevator pitch scenario is that you haven't earned the prospect's interest or attention yet. They don't care who you are yet, how long you've worked in your company, or what job you had before. Keep the information about yourself to a minimum and earn the right to share more later in the deal.

3. State your company’s mission.

Have a clear understanding of what your company does. What's the company's mission and goals for its product or service? Include a section in your pitch where you introduce the company. The more you know about the business, the easier it will be to cater your pitch to the person you're talking to.

For example, " 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. "

This is a succinct description of what the company does — without getting 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.

4. Explain the company value proposition.

What does your company do exceptionally well that sets its product or service apart from the rest? Write a brief, 1-2 sentence statement about the value the product or service provides to current customers.

You've introduced yourself and your company, now it's time to get to the goods. Let's see what that looks 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 us apart and how you can bring them value. You've likely piqued their interest, but how can you really grab their attention? Read on.

5. Grab their attention with a hook.

Pull in your audience with an exciting story about a customer or the company founders. Or offer up a fascinating fact or statistic about the product. An attention-grabbing hook keeps people engaged with what you're saying. Let's finish up our pitch below with an attention-grabbing statistic.

6. Read and edit the pitch.

Read your pitch aloud and make sure it sounds natural. If your pitch is overly formal, you could come off as stuffy and uptight. Instead, make your pitch conversational. This will keep your audience captivated and more likely to continue the conversation.

Elevator Pitch Templates

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.

30 Second Elevator Pitch Examples

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

1. An Attention-Grabbing Question

Length of pitch: 30 seconds.

breaking down "the question" elevator pitch into: ask a question, empathize, pivot, add value

This elevator pitch is effective because:

It grabs your attention with a question.

It reminds you of an annoying — and frequent — pain.

It demonstrates empathy for your situation.

It's straightforward and doesn't use jargon.

As an account executive for AnswerASAP, I talk to hundreds of marketers per month. And 99% of them hate creating reports. It's time-consuming, it's tedious, and it's usually not your highest priority. That's where our tool comes in — it pulls from all of your data to create any report you want in less than the time it takes to pour a cup of coffee.

It demonstrates the speaker's authority.

It reinforces how strongly you hate making reports.

It uses a common metaphor to highlight the tool's ease of use.

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.

It has a "surprise ending."

It illustrates how valuable the product is creatively.

It forces you to compare your current situation to a better world.

4. An Outlandish Stat

breaking down the statistic elevator pitch example: use a stat for the problem, ask them a question, provide social proof

It demonstrates value.

It gives you a chance to say, "Sure, tell me more," or "I'm good, thank you."

7. The Reality Check

breaking down the reality check elevator pitch example: state the problem, aggravate it, tease solution, add value

It helps you understand exactly how the product works with a simple example.

8. The Joke

Length of pitch: 20 seconds.

How many marketers does it take to do monthly reporting? None if they've automated the process with AnswerASAP. Each employee that uses this tool saves 30 minutes per day on average, which is time they can spend on marketing tasks more worthy of their time such as improving performance on campaigns and increasing ROI across the board.

It engages the audience (at least, if you use a joke that's actually funny).

It provides instant relatability.

It draws on a known truth about the industry and positions an unexpected solution.

9. The Emotional Appeal

When I started my career in marketing, I thought I would be making a difference for my organization right away, but as the junior member of the team, all the reporting and administrative tasks were pushed onto me. I was spending so much time creating reports for key stakeholders that could've been diverted to more important revenue-generating activities. If you're not using AnswerASAP, you're spending too much of the organization's time, money, and talent on something that can be generated by our tool on-demand in 30 seconds.

It evokes emotion and empathy through storytelling.

It establishes a pain or problem you can relate to.

It draws a hard-hitting conclusion as a natural "moral of the story."

10. The One-Liner

Length of pitch: 10 seconds.

breaking down the one-liner elevator pitch example: demonstrate value, explain the advantage, tell the feature

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.

Elevator Speech Best Practices

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 sixty 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 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.

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

10 Elevator Pitch Examples from Successful Startups

15 best investor pitch deck 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.

Best Elevator Pitch Templates and 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.

Have a better suggestion? Write me and let me know.

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.

elevator pitch example slide Capture attention with description

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?”

Elevator pitch example, Slidebean pitch deck slide describing the problem

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:

Elevator pitch, Buffer pitch deck traction slide

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:

Elevator pitch examples, Facebook pitch deck slide

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:

Tesla pitch deck, image contains Elon musk

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:

Year 2021 is passing by quickly, eh? Yet, we’re still in a good time to consider what industries are blooming in the startup world. So we’ve drawn a list of the 14 best innovative startup ideas for you.

Pitching to investors can be a daunting task for entrepreneurs, especially when you're trying to secure funding for your startup. But with the right approach, you can make a compelling case for your business and increase your chances of getting the funding you need. In this article, we'll take a look at some tips and best practices for pitching to investors.

This is a functional model you can use to create your own formulas and project your potential business growth. Instructions on how to use it are on the front page.

An elevator pitch is named as such because oftentimes you must describe your business succinctly; in an elevator pitch, you must describe your business within 30 to 60 seconds, about the time it takes to travel from the ground to the top floor in a short elevator ride.

6 Components of a Great Pitch

Your company’s elevator pitch should include the following:

What Makes a Great Elevator Pitch?

A quality elevator pitch:

Below you’ll learn the 7 keys to writing an effective elevator pitch with examples from successful companies.

Then you’ll see our elevator pitch template to allow you to skillfully create your own elevator pitch for your business.

Moritz recalls being impressed with the crispness and clarity of the pitch. The lesson here is that your pitch needs to be concise but with a clear sense of purpose and direction, which makes it memorable and easy to deliver.

3. Hook Them with What Makes you Unique

Your elevator pitch should spark interest, arouse curiosity, and make people want to engage with you to know more about your business and/or idea. It should be creative and distinctive.

Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs was a star presenter who perfected the art of the hook. At the 2007 iPhone launch he began his pitch with the following statement:

Once you have people hooked you can expand upon your idea, depending on the time you have.

4. Include Numbers in Your Pitch

Instead of industry jargon, incorporate numbers into your elevator pitch. Investors understand numbers and a single relevant data point can do most of the influencing for you.

Consider the premise of The Laundress, a non-toxic fabric care company founded in 2004 that sold to Unilever for a reported $100 million in 2018:

Almost no one understands the specialized textile science that underpins The Laundress’ products. But almost everyone understands that dry cleaning is expensive and uses harmful chemicals. The 90% figure is an attention-grabbing statistic that immediately prompts curiosity around how The Laundress will clean your clothes while saving money on dry cleaning and reducing your environmental impact.

5. Prepare Several Elevator Pitches for Various Stakeholders

When getting your business off the ground or trying to scale it you will pitch different stakeholders.

You might find yourself pitching to an investor, coworker, or client. All will have a different agenda and need from your business. So, your elevator pitch to each one of them should be slightly varied to account for their needs and prospective benefits.

Consider a fictional startup aerosol disinfectant company and the below elevator pitches as framed to various stakeholders:

Prospective investor : Aeroclean’s portable disinfecting equipment creates the finest mist on the market and performs twice as effective at killing bacteria and viruses as the leading competitor. We estimate the market for products like ours will double in the next 24 months and, because we are the best in the business, your $500,000 investment will triple in that same period.

Prospective salesperson : You will be joining Aeroclean at the front end of a massive market expansion never before seen in the disinfectant space. We expect that your past experience in chemical sales coupled with our competitively priced state-of-the-art product will result in a six-figure commission opportunity over the next 12 months.

Prospective client : Keeping your common spaces bacteria and virus free will keep your workforce healthier and more productive, but 3 out of 4 companies we meet with haven’t found a solution that works for them. Aeroclean is portable, twice as effective as our competitor and priced at $1,500, payable over six months, and comes with a money-back guarantee.

Understanding how to get your audience’s attention is important for any pitch situation. Make sure you practice giving your elevator pitch so you can effectively communicate your business or idea to the right audience.

6. Have a Key Takeaway

Make sure your audience knows what you want from them at the end of your elevator pitch, be that their business, capital investment, or endorsement.

Consider Heal, a mobile app that facilitates doctor house calls for patients. Founder and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Renee Dua makes this pitch to potential patients on Heal’s website:

The takeaway here is a bid to you as the consumer to switch to Heal from other alternatives for your family’s healthcare needs.

7. Rehearse Thoroughly

Practice your pitch whenever you can and on whoever you can. Record yourself and play it back to see how you come across. Practicing also fosters confidence so that in an actual pitching situation you do not stall or come across as robotic.

Your body language also matters, so practice in front of a mirror to see how you move. Sit up straight, make eye contact and use hand gestures to help communicate the important points.

Your delivery must be smooth, conversational, and delivered in a compelling way. Seeing you entirely in control and confident will automatically inspire the audience’s confidence in the idea and/or business you are selling. The way you deliver your pitch is a great indication of the amount of passion you hold for your business. Hearing a passionate pitch can convince investors who invest in people as much as they invest in ideas. But, be sure to have your business card handy.

Business Elevator Pitch Examples for Inspiration

Some specific examples of how to craft your company’s elevator pitch can be helpful. The following sample elevator pitches cover a wide range of businesses and organizations.

“We sell eco-friendly home goods online. We’re better than the other guys because we have a commitment to sustainability and offer high-quality products that last.”

“We develop mobile apps. We’re different because we design for both Android and iOS, and we have a team of experts who can make your app stand out in the App Store.”

“We help small businesses grow. We do this by creating and implementing online marketing campaigns that generate leads and sales. We’re the best at this because we have a team of experts who know how to leverage the latest digital technologies.”

“We offer a cloud-based customer relationship management system. Our CRM is different because it was built from the ground up to be mobile-friendly. We also have a team of experts who can help you get the most out of our CRM.”

“We sell and install solar panels. We’re the best at this because we have a team of experts who can help you choose the right solar panel for your needs and budget, both for installation and maintenance. We also have the best warranties in the industry.”

“We are a children’s boutique with one-of-a-kind clothing for kids 0-5 years old. We offer free shipping when you spend $50 or more, which is our way of saying thank you for supporting our small business.”

“We are the smartest sales lead generation company in the industry. We provide intelligence to clients through our proprietary platform, which is powered by big data and machine learning. But what really sets us apart is our team of experts who manage every facet of your lead gen campaigns.”

“We are the only company that offers a complete solution for your event planning needs. We have everything from venues to catering to décor, and we can take care of all the details so you don’t have to worry about anything. Plus, our team of industry experts will make sure your wedding is the stuff of fairy tales.”

Some other real-world elevator pitch examples include:

DoorDash : “DoorDash is the fastest way to get food from great restaurants to your door.”

Blue Apron : “Blue Apron helps you cook incredible meals at home.”

Warby Parker : “Warby Parker is a better way to buy glasses.”

ZocDoc : “ZocDoc makes it easy to find and book appointments with top doctors and dentists.”

While these elevator pitch examples are great for inspiration, remember that the best pitch is the one that fits your company perfectly.

To make the perfect elevator pitch, focus on what makes your company different and how you are helping your customers. If you think about your pitch as a conversation between two people, it should flow and sound natural.

You can also try using one of these elevator pitch examples as a starting point or our template below from which you can craft your own elevator pitch. However, keep in mind that the best way to have a successful pitch is by tailoring it for each potential investor.

General Elevator Pitch Template to Help You Write Your Pitch

The following elevator template includes six questions to help you develop a good elevator pitch for your business.

Combine the key points from Questions 1-6 into a 35 word or less statement that describes your business.

Say it aloud to make sure it sounds good and makes sense. Tell it to friends to make sure they “get” it. Tell it to team members and other employees to confirm that they can repeat it back to you.

Business Elevator Pitch Conclusion

Developing a strong elevator pitch is essential for any business. It can help you sell your company to potential investors, employees, and customers.

The best elevator pitches are clear, concise, and easy to understand. They highlight what makes your company different and why customers should choose you over the competition.

Remember to tailor your pitch to fit each individual investor and to make sure it sounds natural and normal. Practice saying it aloud to make sure everything flows together well.

If you follow these steps, you will have a much better chance of selling your business to investors and achieving great success for your business.

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.

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.

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 .

You can also create a Lean 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 Lean 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. If I’ve missed anything that you think is critical to include, please let me know on Twitter @noahparsons .

View this as an infographic:

This article is part of our Complete Elevator Pitch Guide . Check it out to learn everything you need to know about pitching.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2012. It was updated in 2019.

Noah Parsons

Noah is currently the COO at Palo Alto Software, makers of the online business plan app LivePlan. You can follow Noah on Twitter .

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How to Write an Elevator Pitch

What’s an elevator pitch? An elevator pitch is a brief e-mail summary of your business. Or a short story that you can tell in the course of a elevator ride. You use the elevator pitch to get meetings with prospective investors. Typically, you ask someone whom the investor trusts to pass along your elevator pitch […]

What’s an elevator pitch?

An elevator pitch is a brief e-mail summary of your business. Or a short story that you can tell in the course of a elevator ride.

You use the elevator pitch to get meetings with prospective investors. Typically, you ask someone whom the investor trusts to pass along your elevator pitch with a thumbs-up.

And if you don’t have an introduction, an amazing elevator pitch is critical to a successful cold e-mail.

Your elevator pitch is more important than a business plan or executive summary . In fact, with a good introduction and elevator pitch, you don’t really need a business plan or executive summary.

We crafted this annotated elevator pitch using information we gleaned from one of Marc Andreessen’s blog posts about Ning (Marc is also the founder of Netscape):

Subject: Introducing Ning to Blue Shirt Capital [A useful subject line!]

Hi [Middleman],

Thanks for offering to introduce us to Blue Shirt Capital. [Reiterating the social proof of the introducer.] I’ve attached a short presentation about our company, Ning. [He attached a deck.]

Briefly, Ning lets you create your own social network for anything. For free. In 2 minutes. [What’s the high concept pitch? What does the product help the customer do? Who is the customer?] It’s as easy as starting a blog. [What’s the metaphor?] Try it at: http://ning.com [Link to the product, screencast, or screenshots.]

We built Ning to unlock the great ideas from people all over the world who want to use this amazing medium in their lives. [What’s the big problem or opportunity?]

We have over 115,000 user-created networks, and our page views are growing 10% per week. [Traction.] We previously raised $44M from Legg Mason and others, including myself. [More traction and social proof.]

Before Ning, I started Netscape (acquired by AOL for $4.2B) and Opsware (acquired by HP for $1.6B). [Team’s past successes.]

Blue Shirt’s investments in companies like Extensive Enterprises tell me that they could be a great partner for Ning. [Why are you interested in this investor?] We’re starting meetings with investors next week, and I would love to show Blue Shirt what we’re building at Ning. [Call to action and subtle scarcity.]

Marc Andreessen  [email protected] 415.555.1212 [Contact information — how thoughtful.]

Notice the email uses good grammar, punctuation, and capitalization, as well as short paragraphs and sentences.

Your e-mail should be no longer than this example, which is already too long. Challenge yourself to keep the pitch under 100 words. And keep the product description brief — this pitch describes the product in one paragraph with 29 words.

When in doubt, follow this template exactly. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have Marc’s past successes, just explain the success you have. The rest of the pitch should be devoted to your traction, team, and social proof.

Babak Nivi likes helping entrepreneurs succeed. He’s helped start companies like Songbird, Grockit, and Kovio that have been backed by firms including Sequoia, Benchmark, and Kleiner Perkins.

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6 elevator pitch examples: How to write your business pitch

In entrepreneurship, every person you meet could be a potential customer or know someone who could be—if only they knew what you can offer them. A short and sweet elevator pitch tells the world who you are and what you do—something you could say in an elevator ride.

Delivered with confidence, it can make an excellent first impression and potentially generate interest in you and your small business, as well as potential business funding opportunities.

What is an elevator pitch?

How to write an elevator pitch

Delivering your elevator pitch.

Elevator pitch examples

Elevator pitch don’ts

Elevator pitch template.

Quick review: What is an elevator pitch?

An elevator pitch is a brief introduction or summary of your professional experience that you share with others to highlight your accomplishments. This is really just a way to strike up a conversation so that interested parties can learn more if they so desire. You want to give enough information to be intriguing, without sounding canned or coming off as pushy. Elevator pitches are also great to include in your small business LinkedIn page to help attract more interest and demonstrate what you stand for.

The goal is to generate interest, begin building rapport, and possibly prompt a referral or an invitation to speak further. Here are some essentials to keep in mind as you craft and refine your elevator pitch :

6 business elevator pitch examples

In the world of small businesses, a clever and engaging elevator pitch can convince someone such as an angel investor that it’s worth it to help finance your business. If you’re looking for ways to fund your business , an elevator pitch to attract the right investors is a step in the right direction. Below are some elevator pitch examples that are great to use as an entrepreneur and for pitching to potential investors:

Elevator pitch example for startups

When you’re first establishing your startup, you’re not only going to pitch to investors. Co-founders, salespeople, prospective customers, advisors, mentors, and many others are among those you’ll have to impress. Here are some great example elevator pitches for startups:

1. “My company is responsible for designing and developing personalized sales funnels. This means that our customers can enjoy a flawless user experience tailored to their needs and interests. They can also receive automated solutions that help boost sales. The last client we helped saw their online revenue increase by 120%. Does your company have any experience with e-commerce automation?”

2. "My company has done business with [another company name] and we have found great success with them. Our products have helped nonprofits cut costs by 20% since they are built to [benefit]. Unlike other products, ours do not have to be replaced, which lowers extra costs. By incorporating our products into your current system, your company will run at a smoother rate. We’re actually giving a talk on this tomorrow afternoon—here’s the schedule and a list of the products we’ll be presenting if you’re interested."

Pitch example for investors

If you’re meeting investors at a conference, career fair, or another networking event, be sure to present your elevator pitch in a conversational tone. Below are some elevator pitches you can use to impress potential investors with your idea or business.

3. “After seeing the number of small businesses that struggled during the pandemic, I began a professional network of individuals who can team up to rent a shop together, rather than taking on the costs solo. I know it works because I moved my candle business in with a local florist, and we each saw a 15% increase in revenue year-over-year. With additional funding, we’re sure that we can grow this to a 30% revenue increase. Is this something you’d be interested in being part of?"

4. “We’ve created a tech company that matches empty trucks to companies looking to move cargo, so trucking companies can generate business from previously empty trips. This also helps reduce the costs of wasted fuel. We’re hoping to raise more capital so we can grow our operations and expand into additional countries. My team and I have more than 20 years of experience in the industry and are well-positioned to improve this business. With your help and funding, we’re confident our revenue will increase by 40%. Is this something you’d be interested in being part of?”

Examples for new clients

Having a prepared elevator pitch is ideal if you need to attract new clients to your small business. The examples below work well for new clients because you’re showing that you understand their niche and how you can help them.

5. “We’re a social media company specializing in B2B finance, so we know how intricate your field can be. We’ve helped a number of your peers improve their social media engagement by over 20% across platforms this past year alone. Are you interested in finding out more about how we can assist you?”

6. “Hi, my name is [name] and I’m here representing [company name]. Are you familiar with our products? By choosing us, you are making a decision to provide your employees with clean, fresh water. Our products are made with an advanced filtering system that removes dangerous pollutants and minerals from water. Since you’re based in the downtown area, I’m sure you’re aware of how important it is to have a clean water system. If you have further questions or would like to get in touch, here’s my business card.”

Now that you've seen some effective examples for several scenarios, let's learn how to craft the perfect elevator pitch to impress your audience and make that connection.

Although you should be able to deliver your sales pitch in a short amount of time, it can take a long time to write and perfect it. It can be hard to boil down all of your accomplishments into two or three sentences, but shorter is better. Here are the key points to include in a good elevator pitch.

1. Introduce yourself

Start your elevator pitch by stating who you are—just be sure to keep it brief and to the point. Remember, it’s not about you, so resist the urge to launch into your life story. The elevator pitch is about getting the conversation started so you can learn about your potential new customer (and how your business could help them). Examples of this include:

2. State the problem you solve and who you solve it for

Frame your pitch in terms of the problem you solve (not just what you do) and who you solve it for. This helps listeners understand who your ideal customers are, the pain points you can eliminate, and why they’d want to do business with you. Formulating phrases that include your value proposition can help guide your elevator pitch.

3. Answer how, where, and what

Consider adding a final sentence to your elevator pitch to provide additional details that convey something special about your business. Maybe you’d like to share the fact that you have a unique way of working, use some proprietary technology, have a passion for your business, or simply drop in a mention of a high-profile client or two.

Here are some ideas about how to do that:

Now that you’ve learned how to craft an elevator pitch, read more to learn different delivery tips you can implement to make your pitch stand out .

When delivering your elevator pitch, how you say it is just as important as what you say. Here are a few elevator pitch delivery tips to help you sharpen your communication skills and present your most confident self:

Using the right tools and strategies, you can help ensure that your elevator pitch is unforgettable. Here are several elevator pitch mistakes to avoid:

After you’ve gathered your information and reviewed the various elevator pitch examples, it’s time to craft your speech. Use the template below to help guide you through piecing together your own elevator pitch.

Use your elevator pitch to elevate your prospects

Although it might seem scary or uncomfortable to talk about your business in this way, it’s really not that different from what you are probably already doing. The best elevator pitch is just pulling the most important elements together in a succinct way so that it is easy for people to grasp what you do in a short amount of time.

Remember, the goal of the elevator pitch is not to sell or close the deal, so don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself. It’s simply to start a conversation, and if it does that consistently, you’ve done your job.

A well-crafted elevator pitch can help with your endeavors of starting a new business or finding interested investors. Be sure to take advantage of QuickBooks Live and accounting software to help with your books and boost your company’s success.

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The Best Elevator Pitch Examples, Templates, and Tactics

The ultimate guide to writing an unforgettable elevator speech.

Author’s Note: I am astounded that this page receives thousands of readers each month . That number tells me that there are a lot of people looking for solid advice on how to craft a simple, compelling, and persuasive pitch. Most of the pitches I have seen have not been very good. It wasn’t because the product or the team were poor, but rather the pitch structure and story weren’t very well thought out. But with just a little planning and strategy, this can be corrected. If you are looking for the best ways to structure, present, and amplify your elevator speech, this article is for you. I wrote this based on my experiences in coaching hundreds of companies to present, with the highlight being to prep four companies to star in a Dragon’s Den pitch (the American equivalent is Shark Tank ).

The first thing, the absolute first thing, that anyone “buys” from you is your big idea embedded in story form. If people don’t “buy” into the big idea and story, they won’t buy anything else. [Read that again.]

Do you believe my statement above? If so, great! Even an article like the one you are about to read on elevator pitches needs an elevator pitch!! Your big idea and story are the beginning of your elevator pitch.

By definition, an elevator pitch is a quick persuasive speech that is used to create interest in a project, a concept, or people. It distills your ideas into the simplest, clearest points of value, what makes you different, and instills enough curiosity to make the prospect want to hear more. Theoretically, it should be no longer than the time it takes to ride an elevator to the top floor in a building. (e.g. between 30 seconds to 2 minutes.)

… luck happens when opportunity meets with preparedness …

As is often the case, most opportunities to meet with influential people happen spontaneously and unpredictably: the rising screenwriter who collides with a Hollywood producer while waiting in line for a taxi, or the hopeful new employee who finds himself in the elevator with the company CEO. The adage luck happens when opportunity meets with preparedness is very true.

There are many different types of pitches, which serve different purposes. While elevator pitches are meant to instill enough intrigue to get the prospect to ask you to tell them more, they do not have the persuasive horsepower of a full-fledged sales or investor pitch. Because these purposes are different, they require different lengths of time and stages of delivery.

Pitching is a skill, and just like all skills, there are ways to perfect it. Once you understand the principles of a pitch structure, your elevator pitch, sales pitch, boardroom presentation, or investor pitch will improve dramatically.

I recently partnered with the NABI business accelerator’s Managing Director, Dar Schwanbeck, to run one of their clients through a crash course for a pitch on the nationally televised show Dragon’s Den (the American equivalent is Shark Tank.) In fact, this was the 4th client that I have worked with to make an investment pitch in the den, and I have compiled the following takeaways on the structure and psychology of enticing the Dragons to invest. (Not pitching an investor anytime soon? Not to worry! These techniques will also help you get what you want from bosses, spouses, customers, and small children.)

Start Creating Your Laser-Sharp Pitch (career or business)

Elevator Pitch Basics

Let’s start with two elevator speech templates, an all-purpose generic template, and a sales pitch template. For these examples, we will use the fictional company Hydrolyzier, a manufacturer of commercial-grade water purification systems.

Generic Elevator Pitch Example

The following is a standard pitch format that can be applied to almost any situation.

My name is <<NAME>>, the CEO of <<COMPANY>>. Our company manufactures <<PRODUCT>> for <<TARGET CUSTOMER>> that allows them to <<YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION>>. Unlike <<OUR COMPETITION>>, we <<PRIMARY COMPETITIVE POINTS OF DIFFERENCE>>. <<CALL to ACTION>>

Using this format, here is a Hydrolyzier elevator pitch example:

Hi, my name is Bob Smith, and I am the CEO of Hydrolyzier Water Company. We manufacture the Hydrolyzier MaxLite, a commercial-grade water purification system that uses a tri-plane osmotic process that dramatically reduces the content of impurities in drinking water. Unlike competing systems, our patented osmotic process uses one-third of the power of a traditional water purifier while reducing the installation space to half. Our modular construction takes less than 36 hours to install, and best of all its price is less than 60% of similar systems. If you go to our YouTube channel, you can watch a video showing the Hydrolyzier in operation in a remote village in Ghana, West Africa

A Sales Pitch Example

If you are pitching in a sales situation, here is a format you could use:

Have you ever <<THE SITUATION THAT THE PROSPECT FACES>>? <<COMPANY NAME>> manufactures <<PRODUCT LINE>> for <<TARGET MARKET>> so that you can <<PRIMARY VALUE PROPOSITION / BENEFIT>>. Unlike <<TRADITIONAL ALTERNATIVES/COMPETITIVE OFFERINGS>>, <<OUR PRODUCT>> is <<COMPETITIVE POINT OF DIFFERENCE>>. <<CALL TO ACTION>>.

Using this format, here is Hydrolyzier’s elevator pitch:

Have you ever had a situation that required a low power, small footprint, water purification system for a remote settlement? Hydrolyzier Water Company manufactures the Hydrolyzier MaxLite, a commercial-grade water purification system that uses a tri-plane osmotic process that dramatically reduces the content of impurities in drinking water. Unlike competing systems, our patented osmotic process uses one-third of the power of a traditional water purifier while reducing the installation space to half. Our modular construction takes less than 36 hours to install, and best of all its price is less than 60% of similar systems. We have successfully installed the system in many remote communities. They have found it to be easy to install, reliable, and inexpensive to operate. Our most recent installation is in a remote village in Ghana, West Africa which we have documented in a 5 minute YouTube video. May I send you the link?

Six More Elevator Pitch Types

Beyond these standard elevator pitches, Daniel Pink, in his book To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others gives us six other types of pitches.

The One-Word Pitch

Can you distill your entire presentation into a single word?

For Hydrolyzier it is “purified water.”

Okay, you caught me. That’s two words, … but that’s okay.

(… continued below)

Here’s a portion from the book’s intro: Charismatic leaders seem to possess an effortless ability to influence, captivate, charm, and inspire people to action. Whether it is through grace, passion, or unshakable confidence, charismatic people can rouse the sentiments and energies of the people they touch. While not everyone can master charisma, there is one charismatic tool that any leader can learn — the power of storytelling; specifically, how to communicate a strategic narrative. A strategic narrative is a compelling story that weaves together existential concepts like who you are, your origin, your big idea, what you fight for and why, and offers a bold vision of a future that your people can rally behind. When charismatic leaders wield captivating strategic narratives, their power is unstoppable.

Your elevator pitch is just the beginning. To really put your big idea into play, you must master strategic narratives. This book will show you how. Click here to get your copy.

The Question Pitch

Ask yourself, ‘Are you better off now than you were four years ago?

If your presentation’s central idea is already understood by your audience, a question pitch may be ideal. In the 1980 US presidential election campaign between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, Reagan asked a simple question, “Ask yourself, ‘Are you better off now than you were four years ago?’” Most people immediately understood the question and its context. Reagan became the 40 th President of the United States.

For Hydrolyzier it might be, “How can you supply a rural village in Ghana, West Africa with clean drinking water in under 36 hours, and at less than 60% of the cost of other water purification systems?”

The Rhyming Pitch

It takes a licking and keeps on ticking.

Rhymes are easy to mentally process and remember. Also, some scientific studies have found that rhymes are perceived to be more accurate and believable than non-rhymes when pitching the same concept.

For Hydrolyzier it might be,

(This was hard. How did I do?)

The Subject Line Pitch

Every email subject line that you write is a pitch inviting the recipient to open it. Daniel Pink advises that your subject line pitch should offer utility value, curiosity, and specificity. However, he cautions that while specificity should be in all subject lines, you should choose to use either utility value or curiosity for any single subject line

Here are some examples:

For Hydrolyzier it might be, “How Remote Communities Can Install On-Site Purified Drinking Water Systems in Under 36 hours.”

The Twitter Pitch

Can you get your pitch down to 140 characters? Or less? Here are a couple of funny ones for Twitter itself:

For Hydrolyzier it might be, “Clean Drinking Water for 300 African Villagers in Under 36 hours.”

The Pixar Pitch

Animation studio Pixar has produced a string of hits, including Wal-E, Finding Nemo, Toy Story, Incredibles, and many, many others. The standard plot structure for each of these stories fall into the following format:

Once upon a time <<INTRODUCE CHARACTER AND CONTEXT>> Every day, <<ESTABLISH THE WAY THINGS WERE>>. One day <<INTRODUCE PROBLEM/INCITING INCIDENT>>. Because of that <<CHALLENGE>>. Because of that <<SEARCH FOR SOLUTION>> Until finally <<FINDS SOLUTION>> Now, <<ESTABLISH THE WAY THINGS ARE BETTER NOW>>

For Hydrolyzier it might be:

In Africa, village water wells are vital to the sustainability of the rural population. In one community, we counted over 300 people who relied on a single well as their only source of daily drinking water, often walking from miles around to obtain it. Last year, the well was found to be contaminated by waterborne parasites. Hydrolyzier was one of three companies contacted by the regional government to remedy the situation. We were selected to install our new water purification system, the Hydrolyzier MaxLite, primarily due to the speed which we could deploy it (in less than 36 hours), and its cost (less than 60% of its competitors). Today, the people of this village can safely drink from their well again.

Amplifiers for Your Pitch

If you are in a full-fledged pitch like those on Dragon’s Den or Shark Tank, these pitch amplifiers will come in very handy. Beyond profiling a great product or service, your pitch should also contain the following:

Shock, Fascination, or Intrigue – The Dragons’ minds are wandering during your entrance. Their brains are actively searching for WHY they should care. Give them a simple statement that startles them into rapt attention. Here’s an example if you are pitching a water purifying device. In the introduction, you can either say:

The 2nd statement allows a fluid transition into a description of your product WITH the Dragons’ full attention.

… a “space western”.

Metaphor – Because people absorb new information by relating it to an existing reference point they understand, you should create a metaphor that allows them to associate, compare, and draw relations easily. When Gene Roddenberry was pitching the original Star Trek series to NBC in 1964, the concept of a racially mixed crew with women and aliens on the bridge travelling to distant planets was so foreign that it was initially dismissed because NBC brass didn’t think anyone would watch. To sell the idea, Roddenberry used the metaphor of a “space western.” Because western movies and TV shows were something everyone was familiar with, this bought him the time and funding to develop not just one, but two pilots for the popular series.

Hydrolyzier’s primary differentiating value propositions are its low cost, small size, and rapid deployment capability. We could use the following metaphor to convey these central ideas:

“Hydrolyzier: We are the IKEA of Commercial Water Plants.”

Clarity – As a minimum, the elevator pitch has to have clarity on the attributes of:

Emotional Appeal – To get people moving fast and with purpose, you must infuse your pitch with emotion. Confidence, fear, anger, amazement, joy, indignation, love, disgust, envy, or dozens of other emotions can energize your pitch. Choose the ones most relevant to the story you are telling.

Tangible Demonstration – Nothing shows people what your product can do better than a physical demonstration. Imagination and understanding are stoked further when something is taken in hand. Get the audience involved in a demo.

Risk Reduction – Every new investment involves risk. Show the Dragons you understand what the risks are, and how you will quell them. By the way, nothing makes investment risk in a startup go away faster than showing you have sales. Show the Dragons your sales pipeline to get a deal done fast.

Authority – Authority commands attention, respect, and intrigue. Show the Dragons you are an authority on the market, its pain, your solution, and the competitive alternatives. Authority can come in many forms but always includes the primary elements of knowledge, experience, credentials, and public recognition. Demonstrate all four in the pitch.

Scarcity – If it’s valuable, it’s probably scarce. Show the Dragons that the opportunity to invest is (truthfully) fleeting. Some common reasons why include:

Repetition – Repetition drives the message deeper. What is the central unifying message of your elevator speech? Repeat it three times in the presentation. For the UNICEF Clean Water Campaign, it might be “Water is life.”

Contrast – Something is “hot” only in relation to something that is “cold.” The Dragons’ brains are actively looking for a contrast to help them analyze and categorize the data for a decision. In the Hydrolyzier example, the easiest way to employ contrast is to show a before and after comparison of the water. Dirty, polluted water before filtration, clean, clear water after.

Story – Now, wrap it all up in a story. Humans have been gathering in groups to tell stories for millennia. Stories have the ability to draw and keep attention, fascinate, intrigue, and engage all our mental and emotional energies. Great brands are about great stories. Create a powerful narrative to tell.

Time – Finally, keep the pitch short, just long enough to get all of the above out, but no longer.

By using these structures, and embedding these psychological persuasion tactics in your pitch, you will have a dramatically improved chance of making a memorable impact!

About Kurian Tharakan

Kurian Mathew Tharakan is the founder of sales and marketing strategy firm StrategyPeak Sales & Marketing Advisors, a 27 year veteran of the sales and marketing industry, and the author of the Amazon bestseller, The Seven Essential Stories Charismatic Leaders Tell. He has consulted for companies in numerous sectors, including Professional Services, Manufacturing, Distribution, High Technology, Software, Non-Profit, and the Life Sciences. In addition to his consulting practice, he is also an Executive in Residence at the business accelerator TEC Edmonton where he assists clients with their go-to-market strategy. Prior to StrategyPeak, Mr. Tharakan was a vice-president sales & marketing for an Alberta based software firm where his team achieved notable wins with several members of the US Fortune 500.

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TiEcon2008: Sample Elevator Pitch Video
How To Create A Successful Elevator Pitch
Entrepreneurship Project elevator pitch
Elevator Pitch for business proposal
Elevator Pitch
Eric's Rambly Elevator Pitch...

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13 (Really) Good Elevator Pitch Examples + Templates
Did someone call for a small business genie? Now I don't have as many years in the field as Genie from Aladdin, nor am I as powerful…or blue BUT
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For example, "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
10 Elevator Pitch Examples from Successful Startups
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.
How to Write an Elevator Pitch for Your Business [Template
6 Components of a Great Pitch · Who you are – Introduce yourself and your company. · What you do – Describe what products and/or services you offer. · How you're
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When given the opportunity to pitch his business, Willard hands out an introduction card that reads: "Hi, my name is Roger Willard and I am a
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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
How to Create an Elevator Speech (With Examples)
Do you know that [target market] have [problem]? I've created [solution] that [value]. So far, we've [traction]. Now, we're hoping to [goal]. My team and I have
The 7 Key Components of a Perfect Elevator Pitch [With Video]
How to build a winning elevator pitch in 7 steps: · 1. Define the problem · 2. Describe your solution · 3. Know your target market · 4. Describe the competition · 5.
How to Write an Elevator Pitch
Thanks for offering to introduce us to Blue Shirt Capital. [Reiterating the social proof of the introducer.] I've attached a short presentation
6 elevator pitch examples: How to write your business pitch
We're hoping to raise more capital so we can grow our operations and expand into additional countries. My team and I have more than 20 years of
The Best Elevator Pitch Examples, Templates, and Tactics
My name is <<NAME>>, the CEO of <<COMPANY>>. Our company manufactures <<PRODUCT>> for <<TARGET CUSTOMER>> that allows them to <<YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION>>.

This elevator pitch is effective because:

2. The Credibility Boost

3. The Surprise Ending

4. An Outlandish Stat

7. The Reality Check

8. The Joke

9. The Emotional Appeal

10. The One-Liner

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

Elevator Speech Best Practices

1. Keep it brief.

2. Practice multiple times beforehand.

3. Come prepared with additional materials.

4. Be positive and enthusiastic.

5. Vary the tone of your voice.

Reel in Clients with an Effective Elevator Pitch

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What is an elevator pitch?

How to write an Elevator Pitch

-Do you ever need to make slide presentations?

-How long does it usually take you? ‍

Starting with a question

Amount of Details

A hint of traction

Best Elevator Pitch Templates and Examples

Airbnb Elevator Pitch

WeWork Elevator Pitch

Slack Elevator Pitch