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Section: Dan Voelpel

Captivating words can help raise your elevator to the top

DAN VOELPEL; THE NEWS TRIBUNE
I am a glorified storyteller. I talk to interesting people, like you, then weave your words and experiences, along with my own perspective and insights, into a captivating – I hope – story for the readers of The News Tribune.”

How do you like the rough draft of my elevator speech?

Lorraine Howell told me I needed my own 30-second commercial – an elevator speech – for those ubiquitous social and business encounters when someone asks, “What do you do, Dan?”

And “I’m a business columnist for The News Tribune” sounds so ho-hum.

Howell, a former television news and talk show producer in the San Francisco area, now primarily trains business folks to communicate better with journalists like me. But she also wrote the 2006 book, “Give Your Elevator Speech a Lift!”

“You’re looking for the ‘Ooooo!’ factor,” Howell said Thursday during a coaching session with nearly 30 South Sound public relations professionals.

When you tell people what you do for a living, “do people say, ‘Ooooo! Tell me more about that?’ Or do they just move on?” Howell said.

She defines a successful elevator speech as “a short, pithy sentence or two that tells people, in a nutshell, what you do for a living. … And if you do it well, what you say will engage your audience and prompt them to ask more questions.”

Kind of like a movie trailer or teaser.

She describes it, however, less as a canned spiel and more as an evolving business tool that you adjust depending on your audience and situation.

“An elevator speech is an important tool. If networking and building relationships is part of your business, being able to answer in a clear, concise and memorable way” can make or break your first impression, she said.

Maybe my elevator speech needs some creative work. How does this sound?

“I’m the storytelling equivalent of a competitor on TV’s ‘Iron Chef America,’ who doesn’t know what he will cook until he sees all the ingredients displayed before him then must call on his ingenuity and creativity to scramble, blend, cook and present it as a satisfying, multi-course meal to impress the judges – all on deadline. In my case, the ingredients are peoples’ experiences, issues, my research and words. And the meal, my column, gets served up in the business section of The News Tribune. The readers, bless them all, judge me three times a week.”

Dan Voelpel: 253-597-8785

dan.voelpel@thenewstribune.com

10 steps to lift your elevator speech

1. Who is the audience or target customer you’re trying to influence?

2. What do they care about? What’s important to them?

3. Why should they do business or work with you? In other words, what’s in it for them?

4. What do you do? What results do you provide?

5. What are you selling – tangible and intangible? How do you want people to feel when they work with you?

6. What spins your jets – makes you passionate – about what you do?

7. What do you do better than anyone else? What’s your specialty?

8. What would your best clients/customers say about you?

9. Give an example of a successful project.

10. What do you want people to remember?

Use the answers to craft a two- to three-sentence speech about what you do. Send us your elevator speech

We want to know how you sell yourself. Let your elevator speech get you a featured role in a Dan Voelpel business column.

Simply e-mail your elevator speech to business columnist Dan Voelpel at dan.voelpel@thenewstribune.com by Sunday, April 22. Voelpel will consult with expert and author Lorraine Howell to choose the winning entry. The winner and his or her business story will be part of a future Voelpel column.