When someone asks, "what do you do?", does it roll off smoothly off your tongue?  If I heard it, would I understand what you do?  We’ve all heard about the importance of your first impression, but an important part of this is your introduction.

There are three important elements that should be included in your elevator speech:  who you are, what you do, and what value you offer.  For example, "Hello, I am Donna Bordeaux.  I am a CPA who helps make small businesses more valuable."  Take a few minutes and write down some samples using this format.  Try them out on your friends and family and "see what sticks."  Remember that it is important this not be a sales pitch, but you should project your passion.  You are simply relaying a message about what you do.  We have all felt the "yuck" feeling of meeting someone who seems like they are giving you the hard sell right off the bat.  Make sure you don’t fall into this area — you would have been better off keeping your mouth shut.

You may even want to utilize a piece of your elevator speech on your business cards.  It will make it easy to remember if you do get to the point of exchanging information with someone.

By the way, never leave home without your business cards.   Whether you are headed to a networking event or the grocery, always have business cards.  You never know when you will meet an excellent business prospect or contact, so always be prepared.

Would you like to refine your speech?  Check out Give your Elevator Speech a Lift!

For more information, contact Donna Bordeaux at www.yourcpapartners.com.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 17th, 2008 at 4:03 pm and is filed under Entreprenuers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.