Why the Elevator Speech Is Dead—And What to Do Instead

Ten years ago, clients asked me to help their sales teams to perfect their elevator speech. Not anymore. It’s dead. Nobody has time to listen to your elevator “speech.” How often do you hear a TV anchor say to a guest, “I’ve just 10 seconds left; give me your reaction to X.” Impatience has quashed the elevator speech.

That’s not a bad thing. I see it as a forward step for all concerned.

 

Elevator Speeches: Too Similar, Too Vague, Too Memorized

A month ago I had occasion to sit at a round...