The King's Elevator Speech

If you've ever watched The King's Speech, you know how important vocal mannerisms are to speeches.  You're not going to have to make any big public speeches during your job search, but there's one speech that's worth mastering: The elevator speech.  We've already talked about how to adapt these pitches to different situations.  Now it's time to learn how make your pitch perfect.

First, a short recap on the topic: An elevator speech is a short pitch, no longer than 30 seconds, that you make to recruiters.  They are usually made at networking events, and are designed to give listeners a good idea of how your skills can help their organization.

In The King's Speech, King George VI had a stuttering problem which had its roots in a lack of confidence.  But just because you don't stammer doesn't mean you don't have to practice your pitch.  Practice makes perfect but it also breeds confidence.  Before you head out to your networking event or job interview, practice your speech a number of times with someone who can provide feedback.  Try out different vocalizations each time until you find a style that instills the most confidence in the listener.

It's also a good idea to record your practice attempts.  How we sound in our head is much different than how we actually sound.  Hearing how your words come out can make a big difference, though it can be a bit strange at first.  Once you get over that, you will have a better idea of how you want to say certain words.

All of these techniques have the ultimate goal of giving you more confidence when it comes time to make your elevator pitch.  Making the perfect elevator pitch may not make you a king, but you have to start somewhere, right?