by Penny Sansevieri
It’s a fact of life. As you read this sentence, I have already begun to lose you and your attention. Maybe you’re thinking about dinner. Or your dog. Or what your kids are doing way too quietly in the other room. Now, let me try to get you back.
On average, we have an eight-second attention span.
And since goldfish have an average attention span of nine seconds, they’ve surpassed us.
Do I have your attention now?
Attention is the hottest commodity in any marketing. If you can’t get and keep someone’s attention, you’ve lost the opportunity to close the sale.
So what does that have to do with you? Well, if you look at most people’s pitches these days, you’ll see they follow a stale format. By leading with a long, overly detailed backstory, they meander along for a paragraph or two before coming to a point.
I get these all the time.
I’ll tell you this: if you haven’t told me what you want by the end of the first paragraph, you’ve lost me. The shorter the better, too. Chances are, if your paragraph is too long, I may only scan it.
The Elevator Pitch
Over the years, I’ve talked a lot about elevator pitches. They’re increasingly important, too. And, even more critically, you must lead with your bottom line in order to get attention.
So, what is an elevator pitch?
An elevator pitch is a short one- to two-sentence description of your book, product, or service. It’s the briefest of the briefest descriptions you can develop.
How do you begin pulling yours together?
First, take a look at the core of what you’re selling. If it’s a book, then I want to know what your book is about—and I mean its true core.
If you’re selling a service or product, what’s the scary thing that will happen to someone who doesn’t buy your stuff or hire you? And what are the benefits of doing so? And, the benefit may not be what you think the consumer/reader wants. Instead, it’s what they actually need. What’s in it for them?
When I work with people on elevator pitches, I find that they often keep the best sentence for last. And if your headline gets buried at the end, you’ve lost your audience. As authors, this can be difficult, since we save the climax of the story until the final chapter. Instead, in an elevator pitch, you should lead with the tease that will pull the consumer/reader in.
When would you use an elevator pitch?
You might use it to promote yourself to the media, to book a speaking event, or to pitch a blogger. You could also use it in an ad. When you look at some well-known ads/elevator pitches, you start to get a sense of why it matters.
FedEx, for example, says: “When it absolutely, positively needs to be there overnight.” Boom. You and your benefits right up front. As well, it instills a bit of fear, because the implication is that if you use the other guys, your package may be sitting in a warehouse in Houston for a few days and you’ve lost the deal.
What Makes a Great Elevator Pitch?
Every elevator pitch is different, but it should matter to your reader! So it should have emotional appeal (don’t rule out scary). It should be helpful and insightful. And most of all, it should be timely.
Everyone Loves a Good Story
Stories are a good way to build rapport with your audience. Let’s take a minute to explore how this is true. If you are into any reality TV show, from America’s Got Talent to American Ninja Warrior and beyond, you’ve seen this in action. Reality shows tell an emotional backstory about a competitor that makes you root for and remember him or her because you have emotional skin in the game. And this person is memorable.
If you’re an author, you’ve already told a story in your book. Now it’s time to make the story compelling.
Essential Elements of a Powerful Elevator Pitch
We just talked about what makes an elevator pitch great. Here are the elements you need to make it powerful:
- Be Concise: Make it short, sweet, and to the point.
- Be Clear: Use simple, compelling language everyone can understand without thinking too long or hard.
- Have Passion: If you’re not passionate about your topic, how can you expect anyone else to be?
- Be Visual: Use words that paint a picture in your reader’s mind.
- Tell Stories: Don’t forget to tell the story.
- Ask: What’s the worst that could happen? What will people miss out on by not buying your product, reading your book, or using your service?
How to Craft Your Killer Elevator Pitch
- Write it down: Start by writing the story of your service, book, or product in two paragraphs or less. This will get the juices flowing. If you’re an author, this will be excruciating, because I’m asking you to take your 100,000-word book and whittle it down to two paragraphs. I promise you it’s worth it to get to the key elements of your book.
- Make a list: Write down 10 to 20 things that your product, service, or book does for the reader. These can be action statements, benefits, or book objectives.
- Record yourself: Read it out loud and record yourself to see how it sounds. It’s pretty certain that you won’t like your first few attempts. That’s okay. Only rarely will the first thing you write be effective.
- Rest: In other words, don’t rush this. Let it rest at least overnight. Your elevator pitch is the most important thing you will create in your marketing package, so ensure that it’s just right.
Finally, strive to be different from everyone else. Surprise or even shock your consumer. Unusual facts are quite effective. That’s what I did when I said that goldfish are eclipsing us in terms of attention span. This works well for authors who write fiction.
Don’t worry about what other people think. To be memorable you have to take chances. We admire the risk-takers because we wish we could do the same. A good pitch allows you to take the chance and be different. Because if you—and your message—don’t stand out, you won’t get noticed in our eight-second world.
Penny Sansevieri, CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. (AME) and an adjunct professor at NYU, is a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns.