I was recently in one of the most frenzied and yet best organized networking experiences of my life. In lockdown. A virtual conference networking on Zoom. Then I understood why this lockdown was good for everyone’s elevator pitch. Here’s the story..

Lightning Speed Networking

All participants were placed into Zoom break-out rooms 5 at a time with 10 minutes each. Then each person did their Elevator Pitch. Some took a painstakingly long time with it. They definitely didn’t care about everyone getting their turn. Then the 10 minutes were up without everyone having a turn and boom you were shot into another breakout room with 5 new people. Then another and then another. It was dizzying.

Lockdown Perfection

Clearly, for an elevator pitch coach like me, this onslaught of elevator pitch-orgy was a lot to take. People mostly started with where they were from. Then some fell into the laundry listing of all they did trap. Others talked incessantly about themselves, some even talking about their family life. All in the tiny teeny time we were given. Sadly, not everybody got to go but that was the lesson for all of us. We had to be fast and concise. That’s the lesson that lockdown taught those people on Zoom. That you have to get it out and it has to be relevant and interesting and memorable.

Elevator Pitches That Sell

Unfortunately nobody stood out enough (that I could see) to be asked for a card or an email in that frenzy (including me!). The lockdown is teaching us to be more nimble. More precise and clearer. Remember, the longer it takes to describe what you do, the less you get paid. As a pitch expert, I love that this is the consequence of the pandemic and I can’t be sorry for it!

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