Elevator Pitch: What is it? 10 Standout Examples

An elevator pitch, also known as an elevator speech, is a concise summary of you and your product or service. It’s a prime opportunity to capture attention and convey the unique value of your big idea in a short space of time using this type of pitch.

Crafting an excellent elevator pitch is an art. You need to be able to convey your message in an easy-to-understand way, and you need to be able to do it quickly to keep your audience engaged. It isn’t as easy as listing off benefits or reeling off a scripted sales pitch like Steve Jobs, who mastered product launches. 

You’ll have to build a connection and get people genuinely interested in what you have to say. If this all sounds pretty challenging, don’t worry. We’ve put together this complete guide to help you learn the ropes. I’ll also share 10 examples that you can use for inspiration. 

Plus, I’ll share some actionable tips and best practices to help you get started writing your own pitches.

How long should an elevator pitch be?

Let’s start by addressing the most asked question. How long should an elevator pitch be?

A general best practice is to aim for a 30-second elevator pitch, which is a rough estimate of how long an elevator ride may take, but this isn’t a rule. It all depends on who you’re pitching to and in what context, and it’s easier to begin practising through networking events, virtual networking, or even job searching (if you’re looking for a new job). 

For instance, if you’re pitching to a customer in a B2C setting, you’ll need to be snappy to keep them paying attention. However, in a B2B negotiation where a business is actively seeking services like yours, you likely have some leeway to expand on your messaging. 

That said, you should make your pitch no longer than it needs to be and maintain eye contact. The longer you spend explaining your idea, the higher the chance your audience will clock out and lose interest.

What are the benefits of writing an elevator pitch?

Here are four compelling components of an elevator speech that should help you create an engaging elevator pitch.

• Make a strong first impression: Elevator pitches catch the audience’s attention quickly. They’re ideal for making a good first impression and showcasing personal branding.
• Increases your confidence: Learning how to concisely communicate your value proposition will improve your communication skills, and develop your confidence to speak about your ideas. 
• Shows your professionalism: An expert elevator pitch shows that you understand the value of your company and also respect your audience’s time. This demonstrates your professionalism. 
• Opens doors to new opportunities: Ultimately, an elevator pitch is an impactful way to get people on board with your idea. Do it right, and it can offer you greater opportunities.

How to write an elevator pitch?

Let’s get into the reason you’re here. Here’s everything you need to consider when crafting an elevator pitch. 

Note that we’ve provided one possible structure in this section, but there are many opportunities for variety. In the next section, we’ll also provide plenty of pitch examples to inspire you.
Experiencing writer’s block? Generative AI can help you draft and write a pitch for your audience in less time. You can then refine the AI content to ensure it’s a good fit for your product or service.

Step 1: Introduce yourself

State your name, what you do, and, if applicable, your company’s name and industry. This is the bare-bones context your audience will need to piece together your pitch. It will also make you more approachable and relatable.

You’ll need to tailor your introduction to the context. For investment pitches and business negotiations, keep it formal. For networking, pitching and social gatherings, you can afford to be more casual and open. 

You can even start with a joke to set the tone and keep things light. Just be sure to keep everything brief at this stage. You need to get to your primary point as quickly as possible.

Step 2: Convey your primary point

What’s your key message? Get your main point across quickly to prevent your audience from losing interest. 

We recommend using a problem-solution structure at this stage. Simply put, present a problem your audience is having. Then, explain how your business is the solution to that problem. For example:

“Small businesses in {{insert country name}} often struggle to build an online presence due to a lack of SEO knowledge. Our platform offers an all-in-one set of business tools for owners to build, optimise, and deploy SEO campaigns with no technical expertise.”

This is short, sweet, and to the point. The more clearly and concisely you can convey how you are the solution, the easier it is to keep a potential client engaged.

Step 3: Demonstrate your value

This is the kicker that sets you apart from other businesses or individuals. Why should your audience choose you over the competition? Offer a sentence or two that lays your value out in an easy-to-grasp way. Refining our example in step two, here’s what we came up with:

“Small businesses in {{insert country name}} often struggle to build an online presence due to a lack of SEO expertise. Our platform offers an all-in-one toolkit for small business owners to build, optimise, and deploy SEO campaigns with no technical expertise. Our fixed price includes free masterclasses from instructors, who will walk you through SEO best practices tailored to your business.”

In that extra sentence, you’ve explained to your audience why you’re different from every other SEO platform. Now you’re making your pitch interesting.

Step 4: End with an interesting finish

Now, it’s time to explain why your value proposition matters. This is your chance to turn curiosity into serious interest.

There are a few approaches to achieving this. You can tailor your pitch to the target audience, provide a personal story, or end with a real-world example. That said, a simple and focused approach is to end with a statistic that proves you get results. Let’s head back to our pitch and round it off with a stat. 

“Small businesses in Australia often struggle to build an online presence due to a lack of SEO expertise. Our platform offers an all-in-one toolkit for small business owners to build, optimise, develop keyword strategies, and deploy SEO campaigns with no technical expertise. Our fixed price includes free masterclasses from instructors who will walk you through SEO best practices tailored to your business. Our customers experience an average of 50% growth in organic traffic within their first 12 months on our platform.”

Step 5: Provide an action item

Depending on the context, you may need to finish up with an action item — something that convinces your audience to make a decision, ponder something, or act. 

The simplest approach is to use contact information and a call to action (CTA). Saying ‘contact me,’ ‘schedule a tour,’ or ‘watch a demo,’ for instance, offers the next step for your audience to take. You should also reiterate the benefit of your service to hammer the point home. 

Alternatively, you could choose to end with a question that provokes thought. For instance, you might ask how the audience intends to solve the problem they’re facing. 

Ultimately, the goal here is to make the audience want to find out more. That’s the ticket to landing that second conversation.

Elevator pitch template and examples for businesses

When starting to create your own elevator pitch, the best place to start is with some examples for inspiration. 

Elevator pitches are versatile, and I’ve aimed to reflect that in these examples. Let’s start with professional settings and then move to more personal scenarios afterwards.

Example 1: A startup founder presenting their innovative idea to investors

Investors and leadership teams have heard it all before, so you need to get to the point and list the problem you’re solving and the solution you’re presenting. You should also include a stat to show why your business idea makes sense. 

“We’re {{insert company name}}, and we want to address the fear that consumers have when growing their own fresh produce at home. Our automated indoor garden contains smart sensors that adjust light, water, and nutrient levels automatically for every crop’s needs. As our product is a self-contained ecosystem, all crops can grow indoors regardless of climate. Our initial customers have reported that 97% of their planted crops succeeded. We’re the first of our kind and are ready to push our product to a global market. We’d love to have you on board for the next step of our journey.”

Example 2: A business representative delivering a sales pitch

With a sales pitch to customers, you need to directly address the pain points your consumers are facing. Demonstrate empathy and show you understand the problem. 

Prioritise benefits over features when delivering your product overview to make sure your pitch has a clear CTA, as prospects need to know what to do next. This will help to make sure that you’re selling your product right. For example:

“75% of men say they struggle to keep their hairstyle in the right shape throughout the day. It’s annoying and embarrassing when a gust of wind can ruin the look you’ve spent 20 minutes perfecting. At {{insert company name}}, we’re putting an end to that frustration. Our spray provides a rock-solid hold without weighing your hair down, meaning no stray hairs and no more wind ruining your day. And unlike other hairsprays, it contains only beneficial ingredients, which will leave your hair looking and feeling healthier. We can honestly say it’s the best hairspray on the market, and 82% of our customers agree. Here’s one of my business cards.”

Example 3: A recent graduate highlighting their skills and experience

Recent graduates should focus on presenting their skills, professional experiences, and knowledge. They should also demonstrate their enthusiasm for the industry and, where possible, reference a specific example that proves they’re a good fit for the organisation. 

“Hi, I’m {{inset name}}, a recent graduate with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. I’ve spent the last year shadowing at {{insert country name’s}} premier marketing firm and helped the brand decrease its cost-per-lead by 27%. I’m seeking a position that will allow me to put my experience to work and reach my career goals. You’ll find my cover letter attached for your review.”

Example 4: A specialist providing a personal summary in a job interview

The dreaded ‘tell me about yourself question.’ As a job seeker with experience, you have more leeway to reference niche skills. As with all interview questions, you should lean into specific examples to prove your expertise to the potential employer. ‘Tell me about yourself,’ questions are open-ended questions that are aimed to get a response and test what you’re thinking off the top of your head.

“I’m {{insert name}}, a specialist in sustainability who has helped hundreds of businesses fine-tune their environmental initiatives to better align with customer values. I’m proud to say I helped reduce my last company’s carbon footprint by 35% in only a year. Now, I’d like to continue my career with a company that shares my ambitions for the environment. I’m confident I can add value to your organisation based on my recent successes in several green projects. If you’re ready to make a difference for our planet and your customers, I’m the professional that can get you there.”

Example 5: A seasoned professional pitching their services to a business

A good protocol here is to explain a problem a business is or may be having and then present yourself as the solution. This is especially powerful if you can back up your claim with your own research and data. 

“I noticed your competitors are outperforming your website when it comes to organic growth. I performed a competitor analysis of your top-performing keywords and found your most direct Australia competitor ranks for over 1000 additional words and phrases on Google. This presents a huge opportunity for your growth. I forecast we can increase organic traffic by 35% over the next 12 months, driving an additional 1,500 sales for you this year. Is this something you’d be interested in? If so, reach out, and I can talk you through my recommendations.”

30-second elevator pitch examples using different styles

Elevator pitches don’t have to be formulaic. There are plenty of opportunities to switch things up and inject your personality into your speech. Here are five elevator pitch examples with a twist that’ll help you win a new potential client.

Example 6: A humorous pitch

“Ever had a nightmare about your to-do list? I remember waking up in a cold sweat with a pencil in my hand to the sound of every email notification. Never again. I decided to build an AI-powered platform that would automatically optimise my calendar and prioritise the most important tasks. I’ve finally managed to get some of that mythical free time everyone keeps mentioning. Oh, and my nightmares are gone, too. If you want more sleep this year, too, I can show you a demo of how it works.”

Example 7: Playing on human emotions

“I struggled for years to prevent burnout on my team. I wanted to keep everyone happy at work without compromising on deadlines. And that’s a really hard balance to find sometimes. After finding nothing worthwhile on the market, I spent a few months building an incentive platform that would reward my employees with tangible benefits for good performance. I’m not talking about gift cards, either. I could instantly use positive client feedback to provide cash bonuses for my employees. I’ve seen a huge uptick in customer retention, but just as importantly, I’ve also managed to keep my employees secure and satisfied. I’m really proud of that.

Example 8: Leaning into statistics

“Are you aware that 72% of remote workers in {{country}} report experiencing loneliness since the pandemic? A further 35% say remote working has actively made socialising more difficult. And 22% have left a remote job simply due to the isolation. I created my platform to connect remote workers locally and fix this loneliness epidemic. We schedule local meetups to connect these individuals, and so far, we’ve helped 22,350 people across the country meet new friends for life through our initiative.”

Example 9: Drill the point home with repetition

“Did you know that people have an attention span of around 8 seconds? Just like I only have a few more seconds before you lose interest in my pitch, you, as a business, only have 8 seconds to capture attention in your blogs. That’s 8 seconds for a consumer to decide if they’re on board or jumping ship. No wonder most businesses get little to no conversions from their digital marketing. Fortunately, I can help with that.”

Example 10: Ask questions

“Ever worried that your team isn’t doing enough to manage customer relationships? I think every manager has experienced this at some point. But here’s something interesting. When we switched to customer relationship management software, we found that retention increased by 50%. It wasn’t the staff at all — it was a lack of organisation that was letting us down. Who knew? Have you ever tried something similar?”

Have these 10 elevator pitch templates helped you? If so, consider adding them to your project management software as a task for improvement or to your Slack Lists for easy access

12 effective elevator pitch tips

Let’s round things up with 12 fast tips to create and deliver an outstanding elevator speech.

• Edit and refine: Once you’ve written your pitch, see if you can trim it down. The more concisely you can convey your point, the better. 
• Make it relatable: Incorporate anecdotes, humour, or a customer story to make your pitch more authentic and memorable. 
• Practise: Speak your written pitch until you feel comfortable and confident. 
• Speak out loud: Remember to speak your written pitch to check for any language that doesn’t flow as you present. 
• Be friendly: The real way to win over your audience is to keep it light. Make eye contact, smile, and maintain open body language. 
• Consider your audience: Adapt your speech to your audience. Based on the context of your situation, make it more formal or casual. 
• Reduce the jargon: Don’t rely on technical jargon. You need your audience to understand your pitch. Make it easy to grasp. 
• Recording yourself: Optionally, you can also record yourself to see how your speech sounds to others. 
• Speak slowly: When it comes time to deliver the speech, slow down your speaking. It’ll make you look less nervous. 
• Don’t overwhelm: Remember, your goal is simply to secure a follow-up. Stick to the key points, and don’t overwhelm your audience.
• Listen: Remember that an elevator pitch needs to be a conversation. Listen to your audience and respond accordingly.
• Be passionate: If you want to convince your audience, you need to show them why they should care. Let your passion shine through.

Are you looking for real visual examples? You could also watch past episodes of Shark Tank Australia, Shark Tank India, or Shark Tank Global to learn from those who have pitched angel investors and VCs on national TV and practice how to create an effective elevator pitch.

Summing up

Elevator speeches can sometimes feel a bit daunting. As a content marketer, salesperson, or business owner, you’ll have so much to say to an audience that may or may not be interested. And you don’t have much time to do it. That’s why it’s so important to create the perfect elevator pitch and practise your speech to get it right. 

And when you do make the perfect elevator pitch, you’ll make a memorable first impression, foster better customer relationships, create buzz around your idea, and set yourself up for success. If you still feel too shy to give a pitch, then consider networking events that’ll allow you to practice selling your product.

Need help with a sales team pitch? Let Einstein AI provide insights to elevate your sales conversations, helping you tailor pitches that resonate better with your target audience. Start making each interaction count with Salesforce Einstein AI.