Elevator pitch: what it is, how to write one and examples to present your business in a minute
What to say, in what order and how to finish so your listener wants to know more
An elevator pitch is a short presentation, from 30 seconds to a minute, in which you explain who you are, what you do and why it matters to the person listening.
The name comes from an imaginary situation: you share an elevator with someone important to your business and you only have the ride to spark their interest. It is also called an “elevator speech”.
It is not meant to close a sale, but to get the next step: a meeting, a business card, a reply to your email.
What is an elevator pitch and what is it for?
It is a way to sum up your offer in a few sentences, without jargon and with the other person’s interests in mind. Entrepreneurs, salespeople, freelancers and anyone who often has to introduce themselves use it.
It comes in handy in more situations than you might think:
- Events and networking. When someone asks you “So, what do you do?”.
- Meetings with investors or partners, as an opener before going into detail.
- Sales. The first call or the first message to a potential customer.
- Job interviews, to answer the classic “Tell me about yourself”.
- Your LinkedIn profile, in the summary or the headline.
- Cold and introduction emails, where the first few lines play the role of the elevator.
Preparing your elevator pitch also forces you to get clear on it yourself. If you can’t explain your business in a minute, you probably aren’t clear on your value proposition either.
Elevator pitch structure
Almost all good elevator pitch examples follow this order:
| Part | What it covers | Example (web design agency) |
|---|---|---|
| Hook | A sentence that sparks curiosity | “Did you know most website visitors leave without doing anything?” |
| Problem | Your customer’s pain point | “Lots of small businesses have a website, but it doesn’t bring them customers” |
| Solution | What you do | “We design websites built to get visitors to request a quote” |
| Difference | Why you and not someone else | “We only work with local businesses and we track every lead that comes in” |
| Proof | A figure or a real case | “We doubled a dental clinic’s online bookings in six months” |
| Call to action | The next step | “How about I show you how we did it in ten minutes?” |
The difference is the hardest part and the one that matters most. If you’re not clear on it, start by defining your USP.
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How to write an elevator pitch step by step
- Think about who will be listening. An investor is not the same as a customer or a potential partner. Your buyer persona helps you choose the tone.
- Write down everything you could say about your business. No filter, on one page.
- Keep only what matters. One sentence for each part of the structure.
- Rewrite it in spoken language. Short sentences, no acronyms or jargon.
- Time it. If it runs over a minute, cut it down. About a hundred words can be said calmly in under a minute.
- Rehearse it out loud, with someone who doesn’t know your business. If at the end they can’t repeat what you do, you need to simplify.
- Prepare different versions. One of 30 seconds, another of a minute and a written one for email.
Elevator pitch examples
Three examples for different profiles. Use them as a template and swap in your own details:
Online natural cosmetics store: “We make natural cosmetics for sensitive skin, free of fragrances and common allergens. Many people with dermatitis can’t find products that don’t irritate their skin. We formulate every cream with dermatologists and test it on sensitive skin before selling it. Would you like me to send you a sample?”
Freelance HR consultant: “I help companies with 10 to 50 people hire without making mistakes. A bad hire in a small company costs months. I design the entire hiring process and support the new person through their first 90 days. Do you have any open positions right now?”
Gym software: “We’ve built an app that lets small gyms manage bookings, payments and reminders from their phone. Most still do it with spreadsheets and WhatsApp. With us, members book on their own and the gym gets hours back every week. Can I show you a ten-minute demo?”
Notice that none of them starts with “We are a leading company”. They all start with what they do for the customer.
Common elevator pitch mistakes
- Talking about yourself, not the customer. The company’s history is for later, not for the elevator.
- Cramming too much in. If you try to say everything, nothing sticks.
- Jargon and acronyms. If the other person has to ask what something means, you’ve lost the thread.
- Sounding memorized. Rehearse until you know it, but deliver it like a conversation.
- Ending without asking for anything. Without a call to action, the pitch is just an anecdote.
Elevator pitch and email marketing
A cold email is a written elevator pitch. Within seconds, by looking at the sender, the subject line and the first few lines, the recipient decides whether to keep reading or delete it.
Here is how each part carries over to email:
| In the elevator | In the email |
|---|---|
| The hook | The subject line and the preview text |
| Problem and solution | The first two or three sentences |
| The proof | A figure, a case or a link to an example |
| The call to action | A single, clear request that is easy to answer |
| Your face and your tone | Your name as the sender and a polished signature |
There are more ideas on writing a good introduction email and a follow-up email in case you don’t get a reply.
An elevator pitch also works for your newsletter. The sentence on your form or landing page that explains what subscribers will get is, at heart, an elevator pitch.
How Mailrelay helps you
Mailrelay doesn’t write your pitch, but it does help you get it to your contact list:
- Landing pages and forms, to present your offer in a few lines and capture subscribers.
- Automations, so the follow-up goes out on its own a few days later.
- Editor with templates and artificial intelligence, to prepare your emails faster.
And you can start with the free account, with up to 80,000 emails per month and 20,000 contacts.
Let the follow-up send itself
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Frequently asked questions
Two common questions we haven’t answered above.
How long should an elevator pitch be?
Between 30 seconds and a minute. That’s how long a short elevator ride lasts and, above all, how long someone is willing to listen to you without having asked.
What is the difference between an elevator pitch and a value proposition?
The value proposition is the idea: what problem you solve and why you are the best option. The elevator pitch is the way you say it out loud, in a minute and tailored to whoever is in front of you.