Build An Elevator Speech You Can Be Proud Of

“So what exactly does an arts consultant do?” If I had a nickel for every time I heard that I probably wouldn’t have to be a consultant. That’s not a compliant mind you, but it is a reality for just about everyone in this field, administrator and artist alike. Consequently, it pays to have an elevator speech handy and the fine folks at The Harvard Business School have you covered…

Wikipedia defines an Elevator Speech (A.K.A. Elevator Pitch) as “a short summary used to quickly and simply define a product, service, or organization and its value proposition.” Sounds simple, right? Well, sometimes they are very easy to craft but in cases where you have to communicate activities, goals, and values to someone that may have no frame of reference and see many of these items as subjective, it can become far less straightforward.

This is where the HBS Elevator Pitch Builder comes into play. It’s just about the most user friendly elevator speech tool I’ve come across and it is equally useful for elevator speech newbies and veterans alike.

The tool walks you through four steps related to each critical item of an effective elevator speech (who, what, why, and goal) and then analyzes your efforts and offers suggestions. A series of suggested words are offered up at each step in the process to help you past any mental blocks and you can skip between sections as desired.

Once you’re satisfied with the end result, you can email or print your pitch. How cool is that?