Few people appreciate how brief one minute of time is until they try delivering an elevator pitch. Depending on how fast you talk and how long your sentences are, one minute translates into approximately 10 sentences. The list below identifies nine important points that you may wish to address.

If you don’t have a pitch, you may want to begin by writing 1 or 2 sentences to address each point. You will then want to review your sentences and select the 10-14 most important ones. You will then take those sentences and like blocks arrange them into a structure that together tell the most compelling story. You are building the listener’s understanding block by block. Make sure that there is an uninterrupted flow from one block/sentence to the next and that there are no gaps. You will then want to begin practicing your pitch, polishing your language, and editing it down to a minute.

If you have an exiting pitch, you may want to begin by seeing how it lines up with the nine points. You may then want to write one or two sentences to address those points you had not addressed. Between your existing pitch and the additional sentences, you will want to select the 10-14 most important sentences and repeat the process above.

When you have completed your pitch, you are welcome to E-mail it to Clara. Include your phone number. Clara will distribute your pitch to the panelists from the April Maximum Impact marketing workshop, as follows:

• What the company does/what business you are in
• Who you do it to- customers and markets
• What the company aspires to become
• What unmet need/customer problem do you solve?
• Brief product/service description, 2 sentences max, non-technical terms
• Why this is important/why customers will care/customer benefits
• Why should investors care/what is compelling?
• One or two exceptional milestones that demonstrate momentum is building.
• What you are presently looking for (i.e. financing, guidance, team members)

For a two minute pitch you can address each point with between 1 and 4 sentences. You will then cut back and combine them to a total of between 20 and 25 sentences.