How To Create Your Personal Brand Elevator Pitch (With Examples)
Posted on December 06, 2018 by Veronica Mesuraca, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.
Create a powerful elevator pitch to make a first great impression and open a conversation that could lead to a potential career / business opportunity
At one point or another, it happened to all of us. It’s that moment when you are at a party or company event, and the inevitable question comes up: "what do you do?”. It can easily catch you off guard, so if it happened to you too, you are not weird and you are not alone!
Aside from avoiding the obvious awkwardness of that moment, here is why answering “what do you do?” with a great elevator pitch is really important:
- It’s your chance to make a first great impression and open a conversation that could lead to a potential opportunity for your career or business.
- Your elevator pitch is one of your key personal branding tools to sell yourself authentically and effectively, and be remembered when people look for someone with your particular expertise and personality.
The thing is: it’s not always easy to get your elevator pitch right. Your elevator pitch needs to create curiosity in the person who’s listening and make them want to know more about you. It needs to be short (30 seconds or less), clear, on point and have a compelling value proposition.
Below, you can find 3 examples, including the format that I’ve used for each of them, so you can simply fill in the gaps and adjust the format in the way that works best for you.
Example 1. Role: HR Consultant
“You know how companies go through reorganisations and find themselves in front of challenges they didn’t have before? I’m an HR Consultant and I help them go through that phase of transformation so they can thoughtfully communicate and implement the new structure while maintaining employees’ engagement. Going forward, I would also love to learn more about employer branding and help companies manage their external reputation in times of change.”
Format: You know how [who you work for] go through [challenge]?. I am [title] and I help them [what you do] so they [result (how you add value to them)]. Going forward, I would love to [what you are interested in learning or doing next].
Example 2. Role: Software Developer
“I’m a software developer for (company). Nowadays, businesses are under a lot of pressure to stay up to date and incorporate new technologies, and my role is to provide smart engineering solutions so we can offer better services and products to our customers. I’m also learning more about virtual reality and its applications as I would love to be more involved in this field in the future.”
Format: I am [title] for [company you work for]. [challenge] and my role is to provide [what you do] so we [results (how you add value to them)]. I’m also learning [what you are interested in learning or doing next].
Example 3. Role: Director of Analytics
“I lead the analytical teams across the Nordic markets of (company). My role is to ensure that we provide the most valuable insights to the commercial teams so they can make better business decisions, and I believe that the best way to create results is to build a team environment of trust and collaboration. I’m currently in a great leadership program that is really helping me grow as a leader and shape my leadership style.”
Format: I lead [team] of [company you work for]. My role is [what you do] and I believe the best way to create results is [values]. I’m currently [how you want to grow in your role].
It’s also important that you practise your elevator pitch, make sure that it feels authentic to you and doesn’t sound like you are reading from a script.
