Logic can
convince, but only emotion can motivate. —Jonathan Alter, writer/columnist
Nobody counts the
number of ads you run; they just remember the impression you make. —Bill
Bernbach, co-founder, Doyle Dane Bernbach
Getting your
product known isn’t the answer. Getting it WANTED is the answer. —Bill
Bernbach, co-founder, Doyle Dane Bernbach
Advertising is
fundamentally persuasion, and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an
art. —Bill Bernbach, co-founder, Doyle Dane Bernbach
For the “N”, I want to discuss a different aspect. Over the last three weeks, I have been discussing “advertising” your personal brand and those ideas can be incorporated while attending networking events. However, there is one additional thing you need to create and practice.
Think about when you go to an event. You will not immediately meet someone and start trying to sell your product/personal brand. You will listen to the individual to determine if you can assist them or their business and then present your well-prepared “pitch” (elevator speech) on how you can assist. According to mindtools.com, an elevator speech “is a short, pre-prepared speech that explains what your organization does, clearly and succinctly”. After presenting your pitch, you will probably not have a contract signed at a networking event, but hopefully you will have peaked the interest of the person you talked to and get the agreement for a follow up call or something similar.
When creating your pitch/elevator speech, things to remember:
1.
The pitch
needs to be short, concise and to the point.
Lee Clow said, “Often, the more you say the less you’re heard”.
2. It is
important to create a skeleton pitch about your personal brand to discuss with
a potential client. You then have the opportunity
to incorporate some of the “needs” they stated which you learned while
listening to them as your strengths of how you can assist them. Theodore Roosevelt said, “Nobody cares how much you know, until they
know how much you care”. Incorporating
their needs shows you listened and you are interested in assisting their
business.
3.
Leo Burnett
make a great point when he said, “Don’t tell me how
good you make it; tell me how good it makes me when I use it”.
CHALLENGE: Create your pitch/elevator speech to present when at networking events. Additionally, practice it at a speaking club such a Toastmasters or with friends to find the strengths and the areas for improvements.
Resources
Please note that I am
including all resources that I use for the personal branding series each week
to assist the reader in the creation of the personal brand.
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