Writing Wednesday
On Wednesdays I like to share information I picked up along my journey to being published, marketing my first book, editing and preparing to be published again. Information that I wish someone would have shared with me, back then…
If you like the information I hope you will share it!
It is also the first Wednesday of the month and that means it is time to meet with my favorite support group. Every writer needs a support group and one of my favorites (yeah I need several) is the Insecure Writers Support Group [ #IWSG. ] If you need a place to share your insecurities, ask questions or perhaps you have something positive to share with your fellow writers then this is the place for you…
http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com
Elevator Speeches/Pitches
At a recent workshop, one of the presenters challenged us to stand up and give a 30-second elevator speech or pitch on our writing, business etc…
I volunteered and my speech was awful. It was time to come up with a new one.
Imagine stepping on the elevator at a large writers or blogging conference and standing next to you is one of the best literary agents in the business. It would be normal to feel tongue tied and nervous but these opportunities are few and far between so you should be prepared.
An elevator speech is a 30-60 second summary of your book or your blog. The point of the speech or pitch is NOT to sell anything; the point is to get the recipient to want to know more, to start a conversation with you and to ask you for your contact information.
Have you ever stumbled for words when someone asks you what you do, what do you blog about, what is your book about? I have and it always leaves me feeling so unprofessional.
Coming up with 30-60 seconds that answers who, what, when, why and where is not easy. As uncomfortable as it can be you must practice it out loud until your pitch feels and sounds natural not rehearsed. You also want to have two or three versions so you can adjust for the audience and practice, practice and practice.
Keep in mind that 9 out of ten times while you are trying to sell someone they are not listening to you. They are trying to come up with a way to sell something to you, so you have about 5 seconds to make enough of an impact so they actually listen to you.
A few tips:
Don’t give spoilers
Don’t go into plots or characters
Give the title and genre
Be enthusiastic
What do you offer?
Present a call to action towards the end
End with a question that requires more than a yes or no to answer
Avoid buzzwords ex: out of the box, streamline, awesome etc…
Try to come up with a word or a phrase that will help the recipient remember your name and the title of your book or blog.
Practice, practice and practice
And finally, smile and be prepared to answer follow-up questions after you give your speech.
Do you have an elevator speech and if so do you have any tips?
If you give me your best pitch in 140 characters and your twitter user name I will tweet them out throughout the month.
Happy Writing,
Doreen
40 thoughts on “Writing Wednesday/ Elevator Speeches &Pitches”
Five seconds sure as heck isn’t much time. Your pointers will help me narrow it all down, though. Thank you!
It is so tough but possible.
Okay..the insecure writer’s support group sounds perfect…
I highly recommend #IWSG Michelle!
It sounds like lots of planning/practice is needed to get the elevator pitch right…and ideally have 2 to 3 versions…only 30-60 seconds delivery time? Phew!
Pitches,queries,speeches they are all so much harder than writing the book.
“I write about transitional moments…and because I am in midlife, sometimes they are about midlife. But my writing is really about showing up and trying to view life in a new and different way.”
Thats a good speech!
Hmm … I definitely have to work on this. Thanks for the reminder!
Me too!
I think of elevator pitches in terms of 25 words or less. A trick I learned is to read the mini-blurbs on the cable guide (or newspaper). See how much of the plot is revealed. Also think of movies: Knight & Day meets It Happened One Night; Legally Blonde meets Mata Hari. I used both of those for my books. Doesn’t work for non-fiction, though. LOL
Thank you Diane that is great advice!
Practice is key, then you don’t have to stop and think! Good pointers, thanks!
Practice is so important and I need to take my own advice.
I like your list of tips this time. As usual you have some really great ideas. I’m not trying to impress anyone yet and really have never cared what others think about me. My elevator pitch is for my blog which is called WendysHat and is: “I’m just a girl in a hat, sharing her creative views with the world.”
I love your elevator speech!
Boy, do I need to work on my elevator pitch and on my writing insecurities. I spoke today to someone about writing a book, and I sure have a lot do to to dive in. Yowza! Doreen, I will be referring to you and your blog over and over again!
You are a very talented writer and need to cast those insecurities away, which is the next Wednesday’s topic:)
Great suggestions, as always. I know I will have to work on my elevator speech at some point.
They are tough little speeches!
Hoo-boy! I have one but it stinks. I need to revisit this task and soon. Thanks for reminding us all and providing tested tips.
Good luck getting your speech together!
Great information. I find elevator pitches so hard. My advice is to try it out on lots of different people before you get it down and then practice it over and over until it feels like second nature. If you are anything like me, I freeze under pressure so I need to have my elevator pitch come out automatically.
I definately freeze every time. Practice is so important.
Just how I taught this to my business students!
Thank you Carol.
You always give the best advice! My elevator pitch is where I need to work most.
Thank you and good luck getting your lil speech together.
As always, I love your tips! I’m Italian and I talk a lot, and with my hands. I don’t know if I can get anything out in 30 to 60 seconds, it is something I will need to work on!
Lol! Whenever I do a TV appearance I sit on my hands.
Ugh, elevator pitches. Great advice. I work on one before each conference I go to, and I’ve once had the opportunity to use one. However, I was not at all prepared for the questions that followed!
Thank you Shannon. I have had the opportunity to use mine and messed it up. Still practicing.
I need to really work on this before Nashville! I wrote one for a ProBlogger exercise, years ago, but I can’t even remember it now. Plus, it probably needs to be updated at least yearly, as we grow our business.
Great tips!
b
I need to update mine too. I’m looking forward to Nashville!
The elevator pitch is so important. You can use it anywhere. I’ve used it at the beauty shop and the doctor’s office! My friend and publicist said it is one of the best things you can do to self-promote, and to know who you really are and what you’re “selling.”
Play off the Page
Exactly Mary!
I’m horrible at elevator speeches. I so need to work on one. Thanks for the pointers! A few weeks ago I participated in a radio show and when the interviewer asked me about one of my books I just stumbled and said nothing of value. I’ll most definitively try all the ideas you suggested here. Good luck with you elevator speech!
I stumbled recently too. Ugghh…Practice, practice, practice!
Nice tips for an elevator pitch. I haven’t developed one yet for my women’s fic novel, but I haven’t been to a conference to use it. Someday . .
But you don’t just need the pitch for a conference. You need it for the grocery store, your friends, family etc…
Good luck with your novel!