Top 7 Killer Elevator Pitch Examples

blog.toggl.com/elevator-pitch-examples/

Joe Neely

Make short, sharp, and on-the-spot presentations by modeling your presentations

after these elevator pitch examples.

I’ve scoured the business management internet space to bring you the best, most-
impressive elevator pitch examples. In the following paragraphs, I’ll show you how to model
your communications on these winning archetypes. (Spoiler Alert: some of these examples
show what NOT to do, so read them closely.)

What Is an Elevator Pitch?

Think of your elevator pitch (or elevator speech) as a Twitter version of your business
plan/proposal. You may use more than 140 characters to communicate your ideas during
a 30-second elevator ride; however, don’t share more than three tweets worth of
information in “first contact” situations.

Because the average English word has 4.5 characters (5.5 with spaces), a 140 character
tweet equals roughly 25 words.

Most people speak 120-200 words per minute ; use a comprehensible 75 words (slightly
slower than the average speaking speed) in your 30-second elevator pitch.

Speaking slowly (while still showing your passion for the subject) demonstrates confidence
and competence.

Don’t just wing it and stumble your way through a rambling, improvised elevator speech the
next time you get a chance to speak with an industry influencer.

Create and practice your elevator pitches right away – you never know when you’ll run into
that next big opportunity.

Business networking means always having a business card in your hand and a smile on
your face.

Give the same care and attention to the way you describe yourself (and your company)
as you do to your professional attire, branding, and product design.

You can use an elevator pitch for everything from getting a job/promotion to landing a new
client or investor. You’ll find these short, refined introduction speeches in all areas of
business communication.
1/7
Staying ahead of the competition and managing industry rivalry mean always presenting
yourself in the best possible light. Later in this article, I’ll provide elevator speech examples
for each of the popular variants. However, let’s use a basic elevator pitch definition to get
started…

Use a Simple Elevator Speech Template

You can find many outline variants and elevator pitch examples online; I’ll describe my
favorites in this article. However, to keep things simple, I’ll start with a simple method used
by the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology:

State the Problem

Present Your Solution
Explain Why People Should Trust You
Describe Your Value Proposition
Offer a CTA (Call to Action)

In the following fill-in-the-blank template, I use one sentence per point to clarify the
structure of this system. Feel free to break this rule and create a natural-sounding elevator
pitch. As you practice your speech out loud, keep tweaking your phrasing to sound
personable and precise. Just remember to maintain a maximum of 75 words!

A Simple Harvard-MIT Elevator Pitch

Problem: “[Customer Type] are often frustrated by the effort it takes to [Action].”
Solution: “[Your New Solution] eliminates the need to [Customer’s Old Solution].”
Why You: “For [Duration], [Customer Type] have trusted [Your Company] to provide the best
solutions in [Customer’s Industry].”
Value: “With [Your New Solution], you can [spend less/make more] [time/money] [Action].”
CTA: “I’ll give you a call to learn more about your situation (Get Contact Info). Thanks for
your time.”

Elevator Pitch Example #1: Nice and Simple

“Ranchers are often frustrated by the effort it takes to hand-shear their angora alpacas.
DroneClip eliminates the need to chase, restrain, and trim these beautiful beasts. For over 5
years, alpaca farmers have trusted DroneClip to provide the best solutions in alpaca ranching.
With our safe and reliable drone aircraft, you can spend less time shearing and manage a larger
herd. I’ll give you a call to learn more about your situation. Thanks for your time.”

Use a Comprehensive Speech Outline

2/7
When making an elevator pitch (or any other presentation, for that matter) you may want to
follow a programmatic speech format like this one from UC Davis:

1. Introduction
1. Smile and make a “hooking” statement to capture your audience’s attention.
2. Introduce yourself (and your company).
3. Explain what you do and why you love it.
2. You and your company
1. Describe the contributions you’ve made, including the problems you’ve solved.
2. Give a short, striking example of your value.
3. Explain your interest in your listener(s).
3. Benefits
1. Describe your product/service/solution.
2. List the ways people benefit from working with you (instead of your
competitors).
3. Provide a brief story about a satisfied customer.
4. Call to Action
1. Ask for an appropriate response to this interaction (contact info, a referral, an
appointment, etc.)

When working with this model, remember to keep it brief. A 75-word elevator pitch only
includes 5-6 sentences. In fact, this detailed outline contains over 100 words.

Take a look at this example and learn how to sharpen your sentences into quick, powerful
points. Some people like to use a lot of words to get your ideas out of their heads and onto
paper.

If you’re one of these types, write a verbose first draft of your elevator speech just to
get your thoughts in order.

Then, review the document a few times and find ways to make each sentence do its
job with slightly fewer words than before.

To make this outline work, you’ll need to include many points per sentence, as I have below:

Elevator Pitch Example #2: Follow a Comprehensive Outline

“Do you hate shearing stubborn alpacas by hand? I’m Joe Neely from DroneClip. I enjoy
connecting animal lovers to technologies like our DroneScoop waste solution. I’m here at the
Alpaca Festival to learn from you, the experts. Our hands-free DroneClip shearing system
outperforms hand-shears so you can limit your employee hours. We saved one rancher, Bob
Mikabob, over 40 weekly work-hours. When can I visit your farm, demonstrate our product, and
meet your neighbors?”
3/7
Construct an Elevator Pitch for Any Purpose: Example
of Custom Writing
A simple format like Monroe’s Motivate Sequence may help you create the best elevator
pitch for your purposes. This flexible structure can suit everything from job interviews to
investor meetings – and beyond:

Get Attention
Establish a Need
Satisfy This Need
Visualize Consequences
Present a CTA

Say you want a promotion from Assistant Alpaca Wrangler to Chief Wool-Gatherer. Tailor
Monroe’s Motivate Sequence to your needs and make a quick, 30-second presentation (to
anyone who will listen). Let your colleagues, supervisors, and managers know why you
deserve this lofty position.

Elevator Pitch Examples #3: Suit This Format to Your Needs

“Yuck – I can’t believe how much loose alpaca hair floats around in our barn. I just got some in
my mouth! Wouldn’t it be great if someone kept this place hair-free? I’d be glad to go around and
scoop it all up. If we added a Chief Wool-Gatherer position, it would surely pay for itself by
reducing waste and increasing profits. Tell the boss you want me to start, right away!”

No matter your desired outcome, it always pays to present your plans in a coherent, logical
fashion. Make your speeches short and to-the-point, only mentioning the most relevant
facts and opportunities.

The Elevator Pitch Writing Process

Sometimes, it helps to see the process in motion. Model your speech-writing efforts after
the following brief, step-by-step elevator pitch example. To keep this section readable, I’ll
create a short 30-word blurb, not an entire 75-word elevator pitch.

Elevator Pitch Example #4: Working with Words

1) Write down all your ideas, regardless of word count.

“I’m Joe Neely and I want alpaca lovers to buy my T-shirts. I want people to feel proud of their
animals and spread the word about our brand. Our brand is called DroneClip. We offer hands-
free alpaca shearing solutions like FAA-approved UAV/UAS quad-copters for ranchers who want to
save time and money and have more resources to invest in other aspects of their operations.”
4/7
2) Get rid of unnecessary details The 64-word paragraph I created in Step 1 is a good
start, but I can do better. First of all, I can cut the redundancies in my extremely-long final
sentence:

“I’m Joe Neely and I want alpaca lovers to buy my T-shirts. I want people to feel proud of their
animals and spread the word about our brand. Our brand is called DroneClip. We offer hands-
free alpaca shearing solutions like FAA-approved UAV/UAS quad-copters for ranchers who want to
save time and money.”

3) Remove any confusing or unfamiliar industry jargon Now, I’m down to 53 words. I
must remove the drone-specific language in the last sentence to avoid confusing listeners. (I
can always provide educational materials defining these terms in later interactions with my
customers.)

“I’m Joe Neely and I want alpaca lovers to buy my T-shirts. I want people to feel proud of their
animals and spread the word about our brand. Our brand is called DroneClip. We offer hands-
free alpaca shearing solutions for ranchers who want to save time and money.”

4) Shorten and connect your sentences You can communicate your entire USP quickly if
you limit your use of “stop words.” These little connectors help sentences flow, but you don’t
need as many if you combine 2-3 statements.

“I’m Joe Neely – Alpaca lovers buy my T-shirts to share their love of Alpacas and DroneClip. We
offer hands-free alpaca shearing solutions for ranchers who want to save time and money.”

5) Review and ask, “What’s in it for the listener?” I’ve pared down my key points to a
reasonable length (31 words). Before I polish up my final product, I need to make sure I’ve
addressed the benefits customers can expect from my product. Sure, I’ve told people what
the product does, but I’m selling T-shirts, not drones, in this example.

“I’m Joe Neely from DroneClip. Get our T-shirts to share your love of Alpacas and impress people
by promoting the latest technology. We offer hands-free alpaca shearing solutions for ranchers
who want to save time and money.”

6) Polish your speech and hit your target word count This little blurb says everything I
need it to say. I present both my T-shirt enticement product (which would also work well as
a freebie) and my big sell (DroneClip drone systems).

Now, I just need to combine my introduction with my final sentence and add a few tweaks
(for example, “time and money” became resources” and then simply “frugal”).

“I’m DroneClip’s Joe Neely. We offer hands-free shears for frugal ranchers. Buy a T-shirt, show you
love Alpacas, and impress people with this fun new technology.”

5/7
I’ve narrowed down my word count, added an idea, and refined my language. With similar
efforts on your longer, 75-word elevator speech, you can maximize your potency. Make the
most of limited time and say the most you can in fewer words!

Sample Elevator Pitches You Do NOT Want to Emulate

Elevator Pitch Examples #5: Avoid Truisms, Buzzwords, and

Hyperbole
“Hi, I’m Joe Neely – I’m here to tell you all about the best drones ever constructed. The U.S.
military has nothing on our sUAS and UAV options. With DroneClip, the world’s greatest
corporation, you’ll be flying over the sky in your own battle robot – which also clips alpaca hair! If
you’re flying, you’re flying with DroneClip – and winning the battle against hand-shears!”

In this elevator pitch example, I didn’t hold back and spoke as I would to a drone enthusiast.
Not only are many of the claims in this blurb highly-exaggerated (hyperbole), I’ve also used
unfamiliar buzzwords/industry terms.

Instead of providing clear and concise content, I’ve fluffed-up this elevator pitch so much
with useless and obvious statements (truisms) that I didn’t have room for a CTA.

Elevator Pitch Examples #6: Weed Out Fillers and Annoyances

“Do you hate alpaca hair? Do wish you’d bought yaks instead? No? Do you love alpacas and say,
‘leave the yaks to the hacks?’ Well, I’m Joe Neely – come one, come all to the DroneClip side of the
street. You can’t go wrong with this system – it’s the best in the business. Do you want the finest
alpaca hair machine money can buy? Well, step right up and buy one today!”

If you include too many fillers like leading questions and side tangents, you’ll only annoy
your customers. Don’t come off like a carnival barker; you want people to view you as a
professional who knows when not to come on too strong.

Don’t insult your audience’s attention by filling their ears with unfounded claims. Be sure
to describe a valid consumer need – and how your product/service meets it.

Elevator Pitch Examples #7: Don’t Change the Subject and Ask
Too Much of People
“Hi – I’m Joe Neely and I want you to—I mean, if you want to, you can… Buy the DroneClip right
now, my friend. You don’t need to see how it works – trust me when I say it solves all your
problems, champ. I hope you like this product, sweetie, because I don’t know if… I meant to say

6/7
DroneClip is the best alpaca hair solution and you’ll save a lot with it. Just ask your neighbors – in
fact, my man, buy one for each of them!”

Let’s face it no one will buy a major piece of farm equipment unseen and untested. They
certainly won’t buy one for their neighbors/competitors. Ask your customers for too much
too soon, and you’ll look silly. Also, changing the tone from indecisive to enthusiastic makes
people uncomfortable. Calling people by inappropriate and unprofessional nicknames and
trailing off mid-sentence makes you sound completely insincere – as if it were your first day
on the job (or the planet).

The Bottom Line

Stick with the elevator pitch examples and outlines I’ve offered earlier in this article, and
you’ll present yourself with class and style. Take the necessary time to sculpt, polish, and
practice your speech.

An award-winning elevator pitch can’t sell by itself; you must devote time and effort to
making it sound natural in your best speaking voice.

However, don’t spend too much time on this effort; track your time to ensure you spend an
appropriate amount on this project without obsessing.

Once you have a good speech prepared, you need to try it out in real-life situations.
Whether you sell big or flop the first time, you’ll gain the experience you need to keep
improving.

You’ll keep improving your sales skills throughout your career; just get out there and start
talking to people – today!

By Joe Neely On November 14, 2017

7/7