Powerful Pitches for Podcasters

Here are some example formats to get your creativity going. Prepare 20 second, 30 second and 1 minute versions. Keep refining it until it expresses your intention and purpose beautifully.

Learn how to effectively express your message to the world

Have you ever attended a conference, networking event, mixer, or meetup, and you’ve been stuck with what to say or how to say it with impact? You see others who deliver a very professional and polished elevator speech.

Would you like to have a way of expressing yourself with clarity, so that you’re not only memorable and impactful, but customers are lining up to connect with you further? You need a 30 second Inspired Introduction.

Keep reading, and I’m going to help you create an inspired intro (elevator pitch or speech) that you can use for online and offline networking.

What is an Inspired Introduction?

Some people call it an elevator pitch or speech, but here we call it an Inspired Intro!

Say that you meet someone in the hallway at a business conference and they ask you what you do. What will you say? They don’t want to hear a 15 minute speech on your business. They don’t even want to hear a couple minutes about YOU. They want to know how you can help THEM.

Everyone needs to have a short, impactful speech prepared that explains exactly what their business is all about and why people should even listen to them. This is commonly referred to as an “elevator speech” or “elevator pitch” since you should be able to say it in the space of a short elevator ride. Here, in our group, we call it the Inspired Intro. Have a compelling Inspired Intro will lead you to new opportunities and deeper discussion about what you do and what you have to offer.

Make a better impression with a well crafted 20 – 30 second speech, explaining who you are, what’s your passion, what you do, how you can help them, and the results you provide.

Why 20, 30 or 60 seconds?

The reason networking groups ask you to deliver your introduction in such a short amount of time is so that there’s more time for relationship building and networking. Our group is very community oriented with a focus on making meaningful connections and collaborations. We provide an opportunity to introduce yourself to the whole group, but ultimately, we want everyone to connect with one another. If everyone takes 5 minutes each, then it wouldn’t work. There wouldn’t be enough time to connect and build relationships.

Why do we do an Inspired Intro?…

To cause your audience to ask: “Tell me more!”

So your job is NOT to tell EVERYTHING about your business or podcast. Far from it. It’s to give a compelling reason to get people to talk with you further.

Try to avoid just saying, “so if you want more information, come and see me.” That’s over-done. Come up with a creative reason for people to want to talk with you further. Create a captivating offer, free gift, download, discovery call, sample, or whatever is applicable to your business, and that will attract your ideal audience.

This old adage describes how many people tend to deliver their Inspired Intros:

“If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like nails”

We need to be more creative than that to draw attention to our company or our cause. It’s time to learn how to express yourself in a way that is meaningful to your ideal audience.

What the Inspired Intro is not:

Again, it’s not the time to tell everything about your business or podcast, or about all the different things you do – there are other opportunities for that – it’s a time to say a compelling introduction to entice people to talk with you further.

Why do people put time and effort into crafting a professional and authentic Inspired Intro?

As business owners, we are responsible for various ways of communicating our message, and this is just one type of message. We have a whole course on how to craft your Inspired Intro, where we offer examples of opening questions and other formats to explore. But, overall, it’s about helping you find clarity, no matter what format you use. When you’re clear, concise and memorable, you will generate interest.

If you have a different format you want to follow, that’s fine, but keep it under 30 seconds. No matter which format you use, the 30 second introduction has proven to be very effective for many of our members over the years to create opportunities for further discussion, and it’s based on best marketing practices.

It’s always a work in progress. This is a safe place to try new things, see what works, and gauge the response within your 30 seconds.

Tips for Crafting Your Inspired Intro (Elevator Pitch)

Be Clear & Concise

Clarity is the key. The process of making your message concise will help you to gain clarity. I’ve seen some people deliver more compelling information in 30 seconds, than others who go on and on for 3 minutes, and monopolize everyone’s time. We’ve all seen that one. So, save yourself time, attract more people to your business, and get more results with a well-crafted intro. You’ll actually get more results saying less and being precise. Less is more.

One Thing

Stick to one thing in your presentation; do not mention two businesses or your message won’t stand out and your delivery will not be memorable. It’s not about telling everything about your business, it’s about compelling people to connect with you further and developing long-term business relationships. Deliver one distinctive and unique thing, with power and confidence. It’s the only way to differentiate yourself.

Gathering the needed info

Below are some exercises to help you to gather your thoughts and info, and ultimately, clarify your message and ideas. Then, we also provide a structure and template that you can use to create your inspired intro to use at networking or whenever the opportunity arises. We want to help you express yourself in the most effective and compelling way possible.

Call to action

Tell people what to do next with a strong call to action. For example, how to contact you, where to connect with you online, when to meet for a follow-up coffee, or how to download a complimentary copy of your book. Be creative. Put up a landing page just for this purpose. Survey your audience to see what they need, what’s their pain, and what kind of gift they may want from you to make their life and business better.

Outline your UVP

Let’s start by diving into the core of what your business is all about. What are the key points of your unique value proposition? What’s different about you compared to your competitors? Write these down in a simple bullet point format. Then cut out irrelevant words and explanations. Pare your UVP down to the bare minimum, the most basic essence of what you are offering people.

Write your problem/solution statement

Now put your USP description into one sentence. It helps to put it in terms of a solution to a problem, since this is the most important part of anything you are selling. It’s why people buy. For example,” I provide ready-made solutions for people that don’t have time to write or just hate it”. This doesn’t tell someone exactly what you do, but it intrigues them to want to learn more.

Write your features/benefits statement

Now write another sentence that explains the key points of how you deliver that solution. Your statement should be a very brief summary of the key features and benefits of what you are selling. For example, “By writing the articles for them, I free up their time to focus on other parts of their business”. This isn’t a sales pitch, which would just turn off someone that you met in an elevator. It’s a summary of why your solution actually works. It shouldn’t give a person all the details of your business. Instead, it should create an opening for more questions from the other person. In other words, it’s a way to get a discussion going.