The most popular question asked at a network meeting, sales meeting and of most business professionals is “What do you do?” At some network meetings like Business Networking International©, FemFessionals©, or other major networking events, attendees are asked to stand up and give a 30 Second Pitch. Although this is an expected activity every week, the thought of those 30 Seconds strikes fear in the heart of many.
Imagine that you are in a networking meeting and you hear a person get up and babble for 30 Seconds (usually they go on for much longer). What do you think about them? What do you think about their business? How much confidence do you have in their product? We asked networking attendees these questions and the answers were clear.
Attendees said that they remembered how poor the pitch was but they forgot what the offering was. They also avoided the speaker after the event because they did not want to get caught in a conversation full of babbling and sputtering. What’s even worse is that they did not want to do business with the speaker because they felt the company was unorganized.
To be fair, we also checked out some GREAT pitches. With the ones that were memorable there were two outcomes; either people remembered the commercial and the product; or people remembered the commercial but had no idea what product they were pitching. The goal is to be the former.
In one case there was this guy that stood on his head… literally with his head on the floor and feet in the air. As he stood in this awkward position he said, “What do I have to do to get your business? Stand on my head! Well I am doing that!”
Wow! Did we remember that? ABSOLUTELY! A guy stood on his head and he was wearing a suit! Does he do yoga in his spare time?
But the second question is more important. What was his product or business? What was his offering? We had no idea, and neither did the audience. In fact, a month later someone said “Remember when you stood on your head! That was amazing. What’s your product again?… I forgot!”
Whoops! Missed the mark.
The goal is to create a pitch that is memorable and relevant to your business. One without the other is worthless.
Basically, in 30 Seconds you are either getting business or losing it. There is NO IN BETWEEN! Over the next few articles I will cover the 5 types of pitches, when you should use them, and how to deliver.
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About the Author
Dawnna St Louis, Professional Speaker, Speaking Coach, Messaging Consultant and Author, She is the creator of Sticky Mechanics, Speak Naked, and from PowerPoint to Powerful, puts her energies into writing books, coaching presenters and sales teams, and speaking on women’s empowerment and communications successes she’s observed and participated in at great companies. Her focus is on inspiring audiences find personal and professional success by leveraging the most powerful tool available to man, communications!
Dawnna’s newest book, Pitch to Profits, is a step by step how to guide that teaches readers how to turn a 30 second pitch into profits. At most network meetings attendees are asked to stand up and give a 30 Second Pitch. In 30 Seconds you are either getting business or losing it. There is NO IN BETWEEN!
Pitch to Profits turns you into a pitching pro and transforms your audience of window shoppers, business card collectors, and browsers into buyers.
Her next book, YOLO, will be launched in front of 500 women at the Women’s Success Summit on November 10th, 2011.
Image courtesy: akrobat777
[Post Tags: how to pitch your message, effective public speaking, how to deliver a speech, successful speech techniques]
From: http://ping.fm/WIKWJ
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