Tell Me About Yourself: Developing Your Elevator Speech

Tell me about yourself. To differentiate yourself you must be able to respond to this query in such a way that communicates your value and helps you make a connection. Yet when we talk about our brand, the first thing we do is talk in terms of our job or the company we work for. Not exactly the way to connect with someone.

In my Power Up Your Personal Brand workshops I lead an exercise where I show pictures of famous people and ask the participants to call-out the words that come to mind when they see this person. When people see these pictures they call out adjectives to describe the person yet I rarely hear them say the person’s occupation. We define these famous people by what they represent and not the job they do. This focuses on your brand value, the same approach I want you to take to communicate your brand.

And the way to do this is through the elevator speech. The premise behind this is you have a limited amount of time, while riding the elevator, to respond to; “tell me about yourself” and to make a connection. Communicating your message concisely and engaging the listener is essential. And to continue with the elevator metaphor, that person is so interested in what you have to say, they want to follow you off the elevator or skip their floor entirely and continue riding the elevator with you so they can hear more.

Here’s an example of an elevator speech from one of my clients:
I’m an innovator who can be counted on to solve complex, challenging problems. I drive results through assessing different perspectives. My open and collaborative style makes it easy to do business with me and my team. And you can always count on me to do the right thing. An example of this is when I led the XYZ project…

Let’s break this down into four easy pieces.

I’m an expert at innovation, and I help people solve complex, challenging problems. I do this by driving results through assessing different perspectives and being open and collaborative. As a result I’ve been able to… when I successfully lead the XYZ project…

Your expertise is where you add value; it’s your point of differentiation. It’s at this point where most everyone cringes. I hear things like “I can’t say I’m an expert, that’s bragging.” However, you really need to believe you’re the expert! It’s not bragging if you can deliver on what you say you can do. And while you may not actually say out loud “I’m an expert”, you are attempting to communicate your expertise in your elevator speech. In my client’s example above, his expertise is being an innovator.

Next, state how you can help people given your expertise. My client helps others by solving complex and challenging problems. And how does he add value? He does this through his open and collaborative style and through assessing different perspectives.
This is a good start but where you drive it home is through stories and examples of where you’ve delivered on what you said you can do. This is where you highlight your accomplishments and your results. It’s only here that you truly connect with your “audience”. People relate to stories and examples of how you’ve been successful doing something similar. Write down these examples and create an inventory of your own personal stories. These stories and examples help drive home what this means to the person you are talking to, something that will be relevant to them and will help you make a connection with them.

Now create your own elevator speech using this simple formula. Fill in the blanks below.

I’m an expert at ________, and I help people ________. I do this by ________. As a result I’ve been able to ________.

Whether you’re talking to your boss, a colleague or someone at a networking function, you need to communicate your brand and the value you provide. Armed with your elevator speech you’re ready to promote yourself in every interaction. Try using this every day, in everything you do, and notice the positive reactions you’ll receive as a result!

Sage Alliance, a Leadership Performance Company, provides coaching, teambuilding and assessments, workshops and speaking on topics including; leadership development, empowering teams, communications, lasting impressions, personal branding and building a coaching culture for executives and high-potentials – for both team and individual leaders.

Contact us today to discover how your organization can get the most through improved productivity, efficiency and direct impact to your bottom line, while leaders gain powerful insight, crystallize opportunities for growth and fine tune their strengths, enabling them to make the greatest impact. You can contact Shelley Hammell directly at shammell@thesagealliance.com.