Have you been in a lift (elevator) with some one important and you don’t know what to say?
The awkward silence makes the short elevator ride feels like never ending.
I have been in that situation. I dah pernah kena.
One day I found myself alone in an elevator with the CEO of my company. I was completely speechless, lidah kelu, and what a wasted opportunity to introduce myself to him.
Therefore make sure that you have your elevator pitch always ready for that kind of situation.
It is not just about being in an elevator with someone important, it is also useful when you need to introduce yourself when you are networking.
It should only be brief because an elevator ride is not that long. Only about 30s to 1 minute.
What can you say in that short time? Surprisingly a lot!
I suggest that you include:
- What you do now
- Summary of key past working experience
- 1 key achievement
For example, if I were to introduce myself to colleagues from Boehringer Ingelheim who have never met me before, I would use this.
My name is Azhar. I am the Head of Medicine for Malaysia, Singapore & Indonesia. I started working for BI in Ingelheim. I was there for 4 years before moving to Ridgefield (US) for 2 years and now Im back in Malaysia. I was a Team Leader in the global team that launched dabigatran.
Clear and simple.
If you want to learn more about Elevator Pitch, I am writing a longer piece about it in the next edition of my newsletter Career Autobahn which will come out tomorrow. You can subscribe to my newsletter here.
