Perfecting Your
Elevator Speech
Leslie Barbour
Partner
Barbour & Associates
July 14, 2015
SPEAKERS TODAY
Mimi Limbach
Necole Merritt
Program
• The elements of success
• A video presentation
• Breakout groups activity
• Volunteer speeches
Perfecting Your
Elevator Speech
Mimi Holland Limbach
President & Managing Partner
Potomac Communications Group
July 14, 2015
You have
7 to 30 seconds to
make an impression
Say great things
in simple terms
What Is Your Goal?
• Impress?
What do you want
• Educate?
your audience to
• New job?
• Promotion?
• What else?
think, say or do?
Audiences Differ
Level of Knowledge
Vocabulary
Experience
Preconceptions and Points of View
Trust and Roles
The Right Messages
Communicate Advantages and Benefits
• Tell your story
• Make your case
• Connect with your audience
Help you be heard, believed and trusted
• Powerful … each can
stand alone
Create a
structure for
your story
• Complement other
messages – no
dissonance
• Look to the future
Give Yourself a Test
• Clear
• Short and Simple
• Significant
• Credible
• Compelling
• Relevant
Three Elements to Tell Your Story
• The grabber
• The building block
• The ask or the close
Perfecting Your
Elevator Speech
Necole Merritt
Group Vice President
Corporate Communications
Entergy Services, Inc.
July 14, 2015