With the career fair right around the corner, Oct. 22, it's time to start preparing. Networking is all about first impressions and making those strong connections with business professionals. Talking to professionals in your field may seem daunting at first, but an elevator speech can really help get the ball rolling.
An elevator speech is a 25-30 second speech about yourself. Having one of these prepared is a good way to sell yourself to potential employers or professionals you are networking with. An elevator speech should tell the person a little about yourself and your most noteworthy skills. A good way to accomplish this is to answer three questions: Who are you? What do you do? What do you want? This may include your name, title, what experience you have in your field and your purpose for introducing yourself.
As a student, you may not have a ton of professional experience in your field. However, don’t let this stop you from bragging about yourself a bit. Mentioning the skills you have learned through classes or interesting mock projects you have done can be very beneficial. By mentioning your skills and interests you are telling the professional why they should continue to contact you.
Depending on where you are and who you are talking to the “What you want,” portion of your speech may change. Asking a question to end the speech is often a good idea if you are wanting their contact information or a position at their company. When in doubt thanking them for their time is always a good option.
The last and possibly most important part of your elevator speech is how you deliver it. Confidence is key. Practicing the basics of your speech beforehand can help you deliver it with confidence. You may have to adjust parts of the speech on the spot, but make sure you know the basics of what you want to say.
Networking is all about impressions and an elevator speech is a great way to make that first impression a great one.
Here is an example of an elevator pitch from indeed.com:
“Hello! My name is Anwar, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I have a background in business analytics with just over 10 years of experience creating data-driven solutions for various business problems. Specifically, I love and have had great success in the strategic evaluation of data analysis with our executive staff. It sounds like you do similar work—I would love to keep in touch to learn more about what you and your company do.”