***Is There a Difference Between the Personal Introduction and the Elevator Speech?

While my last two articles dealt with the elevator speech, I wanted to take this opportunity to explain the differences between the elevator speech and the personal introduction. You may think that the two are one and the same, but they are not. One of the factors that differentiate the two is length of time. Whereas the elevator speech should take 30 seconds or more, your personal introduction should last no more than 10 seconds. The latter is comprised primarily of your name, your business, and your location, consists of 3-4 sentences or statements, and is usually heard at the business lunch, chamber of commerce meetings, seminars, conferences or other organizations to which you belong. In these types of situations, you may already know some of the people or you may not. If you are a member of a chamber, for instance, many of the members probably know you. The purpose of the introduction in that particular case is primarily for new members. If you are attending a seminar, on the other hand, you may not know anyone in attendance. While the intent of the introduction is for people to get to know each other in the group, its primary goal is not to sell. Simply put, it is a means of introduction. Of course, it is possible that sales may result from your intro. Throughout my career, I have sometimes sold after explaining who I am and what I do; but, I never expect it. Indeed, I look at all of those sales as a special bonus. The purpose of the elevator speech, on the other hand, is to sell. Similar to cold-calling, the elevator speech has one main goal: to interest the other person in you and/or your product and potentially make a sale. Whereas with the personal introduction, you are identifying yourself in your opening statement, such may not be the case with the elevator speech. The idea with the latter is to grab your listener’s attention immediately, to ‘hook them in.’ Beginning your elevator speech with Hello, my name is…and I sell… is not a hook. Asking a question about the other person that relates to your business or your product, however, immediately involves your listener and could be the right angle for you. Possibly you can open your presentation with a statement about your product or your service that in some way relates to something that is happening at the moment. There is no doubt that the elevator speech takes some creativity; but, you will be surprised at how easy it is to accomplish with a little practice and just a couple of attempts. That is why I suggested in my other articles that you create several different versions of your presentation ahead of time and practice them out loud on your way to work. Without solid preparation, presentations of any kind, whether they are 30 seconds in length or 30 minutes, are not effective. In the future, don’t confuse your personal introduction with the elevator speech. The former is a means of identifying yourself; the latter, a micro sales presentation.