Even when you have a professional well crafted pitch that explains your business you may still lack confidence sharing it out loud. When you are asked "What do you do?" use these top tips on how to reply with confidence.
1. Practise your pitch out loud, a lot
Many of us fall into the trap of trying to remember the exact words we wrote down but we don’t say them out loud until we need them. Practise helps you internalise what you want to say so it will come naturally. I’m not sure how common this is but I find that if I’m trying to learn things by rote it’s like reading an autocue in my head, which automatically makes me feel self concious. So practise until you know it really, really well.
2. Don’t put the script in front of the message
What I mean by this is don’t make the exact words that you initially wrote down more important than what you’re trying to say. When you are practising if you find that the words aren’t what you’d naturally use then change them. For example you might have written the word “imperative” because you believe it sounds professional but in conversation you’d say “it’s freaking vital” when you’re speaking passionatly then change your script.
3. Build up your passion.
This is often work to do before you speak as much as when you speak. Focus on the moments that have demonstrated to you how important your business is to others. It may be your own experiences or the responses from clients. Work on your inner conviction before you go into the networking event
4. Flex the script.
It’s important to be consistent in your message but don’t pressure yourself to use the exact same words all the time. Usually nobody will know what you intended to say but if they do it’s because they’ve heard it from you many times before. Either way a flex is fine.
5. Adjust to your audience.
Similar to the previous flex but this is audience led. Are you lacking confidence because you created your default elevator pitch with a specific audience in mind? Think about what you could change to make it more inclusive and use when appropriate. Sometimes we lack confidence because we know our words don’t fit the moment.
6. Put your comparisonitis in check.
The audience may have more business experience than you, be better educated, or streetwise or even more qualified in your own field. But your business will have value and be a better fit for your ideal customers. Nobody has your particular set of experiences and perspectives which makes you unique. Remind yourself of this repeatedly and often.
7. Remember that your pitch is a conversation starter.
If you’ve forgotten something you meant to say but have said enough for someone to ask more then your pitch was enough.
8. Stop caring about where you put your hands
Your hands, how fast you speak, whether you say um and er and if you’ve made enough eye contact should not be your attention right now. These are all great things to work on but many are resolved as your confidence builds and being present is much more important than being perfect.
If you’d like help with your elevator pitch contact me or schedule an Elevate my elevator session now
