In this week’s interview, Chris O’Leary offers awesome advice for those of us who want new ways to make the most of any opportunity or even make our own opportunities.  The tips are straight from perspectives he offered in his book Elevator Pitch Essentials.

Chris O'Leary is a writer, speaker, consultant, and general expert in the fields of innovation, entrepreneurship, new product development, sales, and marketing. Chris has contributed to the success of a number of successful start-up companies including SalesLogix, makers of the leading middle-market Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application. Chris is now an entrepreneur himself, running a small publishing and consulting firm.

Todd:  With so much interaction taking place virtually, is the Elevator Pitch really necessary?

Chris:  Absolutely.

The idea of an elevator pitch isn't just relevant to face to face communication, although that's its original and still primary use.  Instead, the elevator pitch tells you how to conduct yourself in any setting where you have a limited amount of time to get your point across. That includes e-mails, documents, and to a degree texts and tweets.

I would argue that, given how the pace of life is increasing and people are becoming increasingly pressed for time, the elevator pitch is an idea that is becoming more relevant, not less.

Todd:  In Elevator Pitch Essentials, you discuss The Nine C's. Tell us a little about them and why they are important.

Chris:  The Nine C's explain the characteristics of an effective elevator pitch in a way that's easy for people to remember. They reflect the mistakes that people tend to make in their elevator pitches and/or the
information they tend to omit.

In brief, an effective elevator pitch is...

1. Concise: An effective elevator pitch contains as few words as possible, but no fewer.

2. Clear: Rather than being filled with acronyms, MBA-speak, and ten-dollar words, an effective elevator pitch can be understood by your grandparents, your spouse, and your children.

3. Compelling: An effective elevator pitch explains the problem your solution solves.

4. Credible: An effective elevator pitch explains why you are qualified to see the problem and to build your solution.

5. Conceptual: An effective elevator pitch stays at a fairly high level and does not go into too much unnecessary detail.

6. Concrete: As much as is possible, an effective elevator pitch is also specific and tangible.

7. Consistent: Every version of an effective elevator pitch conveys the same basic message.

8. Customized: An effective elevator pitch addresses the specific interests and concerns of the audience.

9. Conversational: Rather than being to close the deal, the goal of an elevator pitch is to just get the ball rolling; to start a conversation, or dialogue, with the audience.

Todd:  What's the most important consideration in "pitching" your elevator pitch?

Chris:  Next to not explaining what problem their solution solves, the biggest mistake I see people make in their elevator pitches is not establishing their credibility. They never explain what qualifies them to see the problem and to solve it.

This is a major problem because experienced investors, managers, and other backers know that most ideas for new products and services have some fatal flaw. That's why 75 to 90 percent of new businesses fail. You have to convince the audience that you have some special knowledge, insight, and/or that will allow you to succeed where most
will fail.

Todd:  With the pitch being so short in duration, why do so few people have a well-developed and practiced pitch?

Chris:  It's precisely the short duration of an elevator pitch that makes it so hard to come up with a good one.

First, most entrepreneurs and project champions are fountains of information and could literally talk about their solution for hours. What's hard for them is cutting down all of that information into something that can fit into just a few minutes of time.

Second, most people tend to make a mistake that I call getting lost in the HOW. Because they spend so much time dealing with issues of HOW they are going to bring their solution to life, most people get right into the HOW of their solution without first just establishing WHAT it is and WHY people need it.

Third, there's also the issue that too few people actually take the time to practice and develop their pitch. They tend to just wing it.

Todd:  You're working on another book, The Paradox Of Pain. Can you give us a sneak peak?

Chris:  The Paradox Of Pain explains the relationship between pain, change, and innovation.

The premise of The Paradox Of Pain is that if you want to improve your ability to generate, evaluate, and communicate ideas for innovations, you must put pain at the center of the process. The logic is that only the existence of significant amounts of physical or psychological pain will ensure that people will overcome the pull of the status quo and actually change and adopt your solution.

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Thanks for the interview, Chris.

If you would like to learn more about Chris and his projects, check out his website.  Get more information on his book here.  You can purchase your own copy of Elevator Pitch Essentials on Amazon.