One of the more common mistakes people make with their elevator pitch is not thinking they need to practice it. Many people assume they’ll be able to do a perfect elevator pitch when they need to. After all, how hard could it be to talk about yourself for 30 seconds? It sounds so easy!
Unfortunately, that sense of ease might work against you. Some people feel overly confident that they’ll be able to say their pitch flawlessly when the pressure is on without practicing it beforehand. Stage actors would say that they’re “doing it on the night of”, meaning they won’t practice a certain part of their performance until they do it in front of a live audience. Within the context of a job search, the problem with “doing it on the night of” is that most people overestimate their ability to speak concisely and coherently under pressure. Without practice, you risk stuttering incoherently or rambling on forever.
Here are some things to keep in mind when you practice your pitch:
- As painful as it might be, record yourself. In today’s tech-crazy world, this can be relatively simple with a smart phone or camera-equipped computer.
- Keep it natural. An elevator pitch should be more “organic” and less “robotic”. It’s meant to open up a dialogue, and no one wants to talk to a robot (unless it’s Wall*E or something). When you say your elevator pitch, the listener shouldn’t be aware that you’re reciting anything at all. This is where those high school acting classes that you took might come in handy!
- Be mindful of ums and uhhs. No one will think less of you if you say “um” or “uh” here and there (and truthfully, most people won’t even notice), but if you let out an “um” or an “uh” four times per sentence, you’ll want to dampen that a bit.
- Our writing style and speaking style are different. If you wrote the perfect elevator pitch, but you keep stumbling when you say it out loud, or if it feels cumbersome to say, it’s probably due to a difference in writing/speaking styles. Case in point: I just used the word “cumbersome”. That’s a word that I type with relative frequency, but I almost never say it in day-to-day conversation. A clunky word like that doesn’t belong in my elevator pitch.
There’s no shortage of elevator pitch practice tips (a quick Google search will confirm that), so this list could go on forever. Start small, and practice a little bit at a time. If you can nail these four tips, you’ll have a terrific head start!
With Thanksgiving in our rear view mirrors, it’s easy to shift our thoughts to holiday shopping and put our special attention to thankfulness behind us, as well.
But I urge you to reconsider. If you’re a professional, who’s active on the web (and shouldn’t we all be?), being thankful and giving back can yield real positive results for your careers and professional brand.
You’ve Got to Give Love to Get Love
Showing others appreciation on social networks should is not only a great way to stay in contact with your network, but it also builds your brand. When you take the initiative by liking, commenting and writing recommendations for your contacts, you also encourage them to do the same for you.
I don't know how many times I've gotten positive feedback from others after doing something as simple as congratulating a friend on their work anniversary. Simple acts like this are easy for us to do and mean a great deal to those on the receiving end.
Social networking sites like TheProfessional.me, LinkedIn, Facebook and others make it incredibly easy to show your online connections a little love. In fact, on TheProfessional.me, we've come up with several simple ways to get engaged on social media that will not only remind your friends and coworkers that you've been thinking about them, but also build your professional reputation as well.
Easy Does It
All it takes to start showing the love is a few minutes each morning.
Before you get too deep into your morning routine, take five or ten minutes to read through your social network newsfeeds. Pay particular attention to coworkers and other people within your industry and like, favorite or +1 any posts, tweets, or statuses that catch your eye.
Major life events like a new job, work anniversary, publication, or promotion are the perfect opportunity to congratulate your friends.
But don’t stop there. Show you’re really engaged by commenting on a couple of those updates. One of the ultimate ways to show the love is to share someone’s original content. This shows that you think enough of their update that you don’t mind attaching your own name and reputation to that post. Just be sure that whatever you share is appropriate, as it will be broadcast to all your connections on that network.
The more likes and shares you give other people, the more likes and shares you’ll start getting in return. But that’s not it; when you focus your efforts on the influencers in your field, people will see your name pop again and again. This improves your reputation and visibility within your field and people will start taking you more seriously.
And all just because you took a few minutes each day to give back to your professional network.
Click here for more tips and tricks on how to get engaged during and after this holiday season.