This post was written for The Rebel Chronicles by expert content contributor Aniri.

Hello fellow motivators, beautiful souls and universe disrupters. Today I write to you about a commonly known, yet rarely used term, “the elevator pitch”. I’m sure some might jump to a sort of stereotype of a salesperson looking to get you to part with your hard earned fresh dollars, or perhaps some pyramid scheme. The twist here is, it is absolutely none of these, but instead it is a term that traditionally lives in the corporate world or gets thrown around by life coaches and HR. 

So what is an elevator pitch and why is it important? An elevator pitch is essentially the “need-to-know” elements about yourself that you rehearse and spew out at your unwitting victim in an elevator before they are able to escape. Just jokes my friends, however sometimes you have to take a chance even in the most uncomfortable of situations. Typically in the business or corporate environment, it could be your only opportunity to speak directly with someone more senior or perhaps in a different department. In your personal life, it could be a neighbour, someone you see when you grab your morning coffee, or maybe just someone you admire from afar, but don’t quite know how to approach or what to say to.

So let’s think about this: who am I, why am I interesting, and why am I interested in speaking to a total stranger? In a business scenario, we add in a few other questions like “what am I looking to solve/build/gain from this interaction?” These are the core questions you have to ask yourself when formulating that tidbit of information to engage another person and keep them interested in what you have to say. The goal here is that they are left with a feeling of curiosity and the understanding of why this chance interaction might benefit them. You want to leave the other person with a feeling about you rather than the memory of the specific words that you said.  

Now let’s get life coachy! If you want to be seen and heard you have to be seen to be heard. Think about your own personal growth; has anything ever made you grow more than a situation that was new and uncomfortable? We grow the most when we experience new and diverse situations, which includes meeting and speaking with a new person.

Let’s do this! This is your setting: you just walked into a coffee shop and you see that “person” you’ve been dying to meet. What do you say? Start with a small introduction “hello my name is Jane/Joe Smith.” Then add in something interesting such as “did you know …..”. This should be a fun fact that the average person doesn’t know or a problem statement of an issue that is inflicting many. Then get into what you do and how you could potentially solve this issue. Make it concise and impactful. Every second counts. Introduce yourself, get one or two key points across, and make a real connection.

So tell me, are you going up?