I’ve been enjoying listening to podcasts of National Public Radio’s (NPR) This American Life via mp3 downloads. On my walk this morning I heard a recent program called Million Dollar Ideas. During one segment there was a discussion about the good old elevator pitch. They talked about venture capitalists meeting with students at MIT who are learning this important communications skill.
I’ve learned and taught several variations of the elevator pitch, aka 30-second commercial. One of my favorite renditions is by Mark LeBlanc who refers to this as a defining statement for your business. One of the elements for success, according to Mark, is that it should be in language that an 8th grader would understand.
While listening to the NPR podcast, this was slightly altered. What the university advised the students pitching the investors was that it be in language that your grandparents would understand.
Anybody else taken aback by that?
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August 2, 2010 at 5:48 pm
Pat
My husband has had trouble with this for a while — which has led to some funny interactions with strangers. When people ask “What do you do?” my husband’s reply is always “I am the VP of Technology for a technology based entertainment company.”
This response usually gets a glazed look from most folks. The younger ones ask if he works for an internet porn site and the older set just say “Oh.” and walk away.
On occasion, I’ve explained that he works for a photo agency that specializes in celebrity images from the silent film era to present day, including current red carpet events. THAT makes their eyes light up — from 8th graders to grandparents!! People always then ask questions and I follow up with information about his accomplishments in taking the company from “paper images” to online/digital.
To this day though, he still uses the first description!!
Maybe the MIT people want the speech neutral enough for anyone — in any field. At 79 my mom has never once touched a computer and wouldn’t know a mouse from a tweet, and still doesn’t totally understand what my husband does for work.
August 3, 2010 at 7:34 am
elaine koufman
well..long gone are the days when doing business with a handshake and your word to follow through were enough to seal the sale. our grandparents( and parents i might add) branded themselves by establishing a name synonomous with good business. excellent credit with local banks in those days was word of mouth…and treating your customer as u would like to be treated made great sense, so..what has changed ?really–the scope of dealings-21st. century internationalism..lawyers..lawyers..lawyers..govt.govt.govt..greed greed greed…could go on and on…so nothing has changed, yet everything has..u can have a flashy visual brand and great pr person, but if u fail to follow through and are not trustworthy-your brand has failed..
August 3, 2010 at 7:37 am
elaine koufman
i most definately thank jake and bob for showing me the way.
August 3, 2010 at 7:53 am
janepollak
@Pat
Thank you for this rich example. Sounds like your husband has been plenty successful without explanation, and you’ve had a lot of wonderful conversations. All good!
@Elaine
Ah, the good ole days… Thanks for the reminder of how it used to be. Frankly, I believe that still works, although isn’t as quick and fancy as what’s coming down the pike.
August 3, 2010 at 12:23 pm
Lisa Braithwaite
I wrote a blog post about “the grandmother cliché” a while back, referring to this same advice: http://coachlisab.blogspot.com/2008/06/grandmother-clich.html. I’m only taken aback by this suggestion as it presents a stereotype that I don’t think is valid (I’m assuming a negative stereotype of someone who’s old and out of touch).
When I wrote that post, I was thinking of my own grandmothers, who were in no way old or out of touch, and certainly could have handled anything I spoke to them about. But the grandmothers of today’s college students could be like my mom, who’s been in the workforce since she was a teenager, is on Facebook, and is pretty hip to the world, in part because of her savvy grandkids.
I don’t know if this recommendation really just means to leave out jargon and industry lingo, as @Pat was referring to, or something else. I find the example perplexing, and I think it’s more helpful to give clear examples to students, like “Don’t use jargon, acronyms or lingo.” Generalizing about grandparents or parents doesn’t seem helpful.
August 3, 2010 at 3:00 pm
janepollak
@Lisa
I hope my readers will go to your link for your excellent posting about stereotypes–especially grandmothers. How fortunate you were, and what great role models you had. Thank you for expressing this viewpoint.
August 19, 2010 at 1:17 pm
Lisa Montanaro
Jane -
Great post! I heard Mark LeBlanc speak on this very topic a few years ago. He is excellent. Thanks for the reminder that our elevator pitch should be easy to understand!
- Lisa
August 19, 2010 at 8:56 pm
janepollak
@Lisa
And repeatable! Mark drove that home–that others should be able to easily carry your message. When they do that, you know you have a home run.