Do you have an elevator pitch? Imagine running into an old high school classmate at the airport. Someone you haven’t talked to in years. After exchanging some pleasantries, you realise they would be a perfect design client for you. They ask you what you do for a living, and as you start thinking of the best way to pitch your services to them, their flight is called, and you’ve lost your chance. That’s where having an elevator pitch could have helped you. What is an elevator pitch? An elevator pitch sometimes referred to as an elevator speech, or elevator statement is a short persuasive speech you give to people that explains who you are in such a way that it sparks an interest in the listener. It typically explains what it is you do, who your services are for, why the people may need those services and how you go about completing those services. Your elevator pitch needs to be interesting, succinct, memorable and it needs to describe how you are unique amongst all the other designers out there. It also needs to be short. An elevator pitch of around 20-30 seconds works best. When to use an Elevator Pitch. You should use your elevator pitch any time you are talking about yourself and your business. Use it whenever you meet a new potential client. Use it whenever you are introduced to someone, and they ask what you do for a living. Use it as an introductory paragraph on your website. You should use your elevator pitch every chance you get. How to construct an Elevator Pitch. Your Elevator Pitch will evolve and may change depending on who you are talking with. You may even have more than one Elevator Pitch depending on the situation. Regardless, it should follow these basic rules. 1) Explain who you are. Start off by introducing yourself and your business. If you’re already acquainted with the person you are talking to you may skip this part for obvious reasons. 2) Explain what it is you do. For an elevator pitch to succeed, it needs to explain what it is you and your business does. Remember, an elevator pitch should be interesting and memorable. Don’t say that you design websites or logos or flyers. Those things are boring to everyone but you. Instead, explain what sort of problems you solve for your clients. Give the listener something to remember about you. For example. Instead of saying “I design responsive websites”. You could say something like “I design websites that let my clients communicate to their target market in the most efficient way possible regardless of what device they are using.” Isn’t that more interesting than just saying "I design responsive websites"? If what you are saying doesn’t excite you, then it certainly won't excite the person listening to you. Your pitch should make you smile. The person listening may not remember everything you say, but they will remember the enthusiasm in your voice when you said it. 3) Explain your Unique Selling Proposition. A Unique Selling Proposition often referred to as a USP, is what makes you different from all the other designers competing for the same clients. It needs to be something that will make the listener take notice and want to work with you. For example, you could say something like this. “When it comes to websites, I take the time to research and get to know my client and their target market before ever sitting down to design their site. This allows me to create something that not only looks great, but something that appeals to the site visitors and truly represents the core of who my client is.” 4) Finish by asking the listener a question. The whole point of an elevator pitch is to start a meaningful conversation. To do that you need to make sure you finish your pitch with a question that gets the person thinking and forces them into a discussion with you. Make sure you ask a question that cannot be answered by a simple "Yes" or "No" answer. You might ask something like “What kind of return are you getting from your website?” 5) Combine everything together Wh