The elevator speech is out of order: Michelle Golden at TEDxCitadelPark

"What do you do?" It's often the first question you hear when you meet someone. Yet even the savviest business person struggles to give a great answer that makes people want to do business with you. Consultants tell us that we should have a prepared 30-second "elevator pitch," but these awkward spiels typically fall flat. In her TEDx talk, Michelle Golden tackles the problems with canned pitches and teaches an alternative approach that's not only more effective, it actually feels right.
Michelle Golden, CPF, is a growth strategist. She's president of Golden Practices Inc and a senior fellow of VeraSage Institute. She works around the world teaching innovative management and marketing strategies, and facilitating change. Recognized as a thought leader in the professional-services sector, she has been honored as one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting and one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting. She authored "Social Media Strategies for Professionals and their Firms" (Wiley, 2011) and writes the popular blog Golden Practices (.com). Her full bio is at michellegolden.com.
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

Пікірлер: 52

  • @janicenagao7409
    @janicenagao74094 жыл бұрын

    This is so SIMPLE & BRILLIANT it will elude most. If you practice this, the results are stunning.

  • @carrollindsay432
    @carrollindsay4327 жыл бұрын

    Until I listened to Michelle's talk i now can connect the dots for me. i've got excellent clinical skills but did not know how to market myself. Thanks for the questions and stories.

  • @vittoriacolona
    @vittoriacolona7 жыл бұрын

    Good points...for maybe a business get together or interview. But I am not sure if you would ask all of this in one brief elevator exchange. That being said I completely agree with her about the storytelling. There are instances that I have remembered people's stories than there names. Stories are much better ways of conveying information than 'info dump'.

  • @MrDarryl90210
    @MrDarryl902107 жыл бұрын

    Great job, Michelle! So true...

  • @Siddharth007fication
    @Siddharth007fication7 жыл бұрын

    Just the lessons that I needed! Thank you so much.

  • @philamagidigidi2139
    @philamagidigidi21399 жыл бұрын

    After spending 2 days drafting an elevator pitch, I watched this and then I had to scrap my pitch

  • @MichelleGolden

    @MichelleGolden

    9 жыл бұрын

    Thank you Siphilele! I hope you ended up with an approach you felt was more effective in the end.

  • @yantimohhan5200
    @yantimohhan5200 Жыл бұрын

    This is great. When I am already in USA or Singapore I will start bumping with people anywhere anytime😂

  • @billwong6077
    @billwong60776 жыл бұрын

    Hi! I am an occupational therapist by trade. I am also a 2 timer on this very stage. I stumbled upon this talk through suggestion on KZread. In my field, my instructors have emphasised the importance of elevator speech on day 1- because the general public lack awareness of what we do in certain areas that we claim we do well. As a person who speaks 3 languages, that means I must be ready for 3 different versions. Aside from my day to day job as an occupational therapist, there are now 3 different settings where I may need to use it- at the golf course (since I play every week), at church (since I go almost every week), and at TEDx events (since I have become addicted to attend live events) When I am at the golf course, I would go with a more casual approach because I would have no idea how long me and my playing partners have to wait to hit our shots during the round. I would go a more personal approach at church because I generally would have time to get to know the person I am talking to... and the friendly atmosphere allows a deeper dialogue. At TEDx events, it depends if I approach one of the speakers or an attendee. For the speaker, I would try to build connections through what they talked about already at the event. For an attendee, it may start from talking about how the event has gone so far and then go from there. My memorable experience of using my elevator speech was the process of how I got on my second TEDx talk. When me and another fellow speaker from that series (along with his mom) were on our way back from a TEDx event on an LA Metro train, we debriefed about how the event went. Then, the mom of the curator for that TEDx Talk introduced the curator to us... as she was looking for more speakers to fill the slots. So, I quickly had to come up with an elevator speech after I learned about the theme. In addition, of course, I got to sell that I am the best person to do it in a span of 15 minutes. Fortunately, I am able to come up with an elevator speech pretty quickly with 2 potential ideas. After I did that TEDx Talk, I told my peers about how I got that opportunity. They were shocked about how clutch I was able to do that without much time to think. After all, I have since created an occupational therapy conference workshop with the hands on activity replicating the exact scenario. The feedback I got from my peers was, "This will be very challenging. But since it is actually a real life scenario with real demands, the attendees will understand that you can't modify the difficulty of the activity. Plus, since many of you ask for your secrets, you actually are giving it to them. Now it's their turns to master."

  • @salescodeleadershippodcast339
    @salescodeleadershippodcast3396 жыл бұрын

    Many thanks Michelle - this a great approach.

  • @agnetamoden9267
    @agnetamoden92672 жыл бұрын

    OMG. Thank you for a really great and wonderful idea. Love it - all of it.

  • @kimanrasa2992
    @kimanrasa29925 жыл бұрын

    Solid advices and cool insights! Starting it all with a smile is another important part of it. A natural one is easy when you realize the potential in any new connection you make

  • @grenierdave
    @grenierdave8 жыл бұрын

    Thank you! Great stuff! :)

  • @MuntazirHaider
    @MuntazirHaider8 жыл бұрын

    Great talk ... Story telling is an art and connecting it to elevator speech is an excellent thought process. Listen first and the other person would be obliged to listen - really thought provoking. The audience seemed dull and non-reactive but you kept the speech going pretty well!!

  • @memphisgraham7986

    @memphisgraham7986

    2 жыл бұрын

    I know Im asking randomly but does any of you know a way to log back into an Instagram account? I somehow forgot my password. I would appreciate any assistance you can give me.

  • @aldenaldo5472

    @aldenaldo5472

    2 жыл бұрын

    @Memphis Graham Instablaster =)

  • @memphisgraham7986

    @memphisgraham7986

    2 жыл бұрын

    @Alden Aldo I really appreciate your reply. I got to the site through google and im in the hacking process atm. Looks like it's gonna take a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

  • @memphisgraham7986

    @memphisgraham7986

    2 жыл бұрын

    @Alden Aldo it worked and I actually got access to my account again. I'm so happy:D Thank you so much, you saved my account !

  • @aldenaldo5472

    @aldenaldo5472

    2 жыл бұрын

    @Memphis Graham Glad I could help =)

  • @jefflouie1312
    @jefflouie13123 жыл бұрын

    lots learned, thank you!!

  • @estherbusai
    @estherbusai5 жыл бұрын

    Very helpful!

  • @srinathsmurthy2286
    @srinathsmurthy22868 жыл бұрын

    Good one. I learnt a lot.

  • @NAILgasmTV
    @NAILgasmTV10 жыл бұрын

    I really like this talk.

  • @MichelleGolden

    @MichelleGolden

    7 жыл бұрын

    thank you!

  • @TheElegantZoe
    @TheElegantZoe7 жыл бұрын

    In person spam is right. Thank you for this!

  • @puhdussyrampage2010
    @puhdussyrampage20109 жыл бұрын

    How do you write a pitch when you've had odd jobs and are currently unemployed.

  • @atruerioter5305

    @atruerioter5305

    8 жыл бұрын

    +puhdussyrampage2010 before you write a pitch, you better find a topic that you know of great deal...and then after you find ppl who are willing to buy or take that idea for their own needs...so you better find a topic with which you are actually going to help others in some manner...

  • @MichelleGolden

    @MichelleGolden

    7 жыл бұрын

    In general, you meet the person you're talking to where THEY are. You won't have one static/set pitch. If they are a contractor, you'll discuss construction projects. If they are a manufacturer, you'll discuss prototypes or assembly or machining. If they are a white-collar business person, you'll discuss managerial or clerical challenges you've been associated with solving. The point is to first find out who they are and what they care about. And interweave your introduction with what you learn.

  • @JustinMercedseotoronto
    @JustinMercedseotoronto11 жыл бұрын

    Interesting.

  • @nastied
    @nastied6 жыл бұрын

    Last 5 mins are worth watching

  • @EJChaseConsultingInc
    @EJChaseConsultingInc10 жыл бұрын

    I couldn't disagree more. Her notion of what a pitch is - not correct. It's not about what you ARE; it's about what your brand is in total. There's a big difference. No self-respecting pitch would ever include "I'm looking for a job in..." or would any pitch be the so-called "elevator pitch," which is much too short to be of any substance.

  • @chaplainong

    @chaplainong

    10 жыл бұрын

    Ellis, it seems like you probably disagree with the notion of the elevator pitch as well. I see some value in what Michelle says in this video, as I find that I get much more interest and loyalty with a prospect if I genuinely take interest in their lives before I ever try to introduce a solution. They have to trust that I care about them before they're interested in listening to what I have to offer. I prefer that in people who are marketing to me as well.

  • @EJChaseConsultingInc

    @EJChaseConsultingInc

    10 жыл бұрын

    Andre Ong Andre, I love the idea of a self-branding pitch. Just didn't agree with this particular take on it. And the notion of "elevator pitch" is ridiculous to me, like you're cornering people with a quick blast. I don't mean to be self-promoting here, but, if you're interested, take a look at the video on my website, ellischase.com called "The Virtual Advisor: The Two-Minute Pitch."

  • @chaplainong

    @chaplainong

    10 жыл бұрын

    Ellis Chase WOW! I just realized that I read your book and absolutely loved it! I knew your name was familiar...I'm using the lessons from your book right now to help my wife with restarting her career. I'll have to show her your videos, too. Back on the original point of this discussion, I feel like I have to repeatedly reminded to get out of my own desires and goals and make sure I care about the "Target" I'm talking to more than myself. This video did that for me. Your video is a really good part of this whole discussion. Thanks!

  • @EJChaseConsultingInc

    @EJChaseConsultingInc

    10 жыл бұрын

    Andre Ong Thanks for the very kind words!! Good luck to your wife.

  • @MichelleGolden

    @MichelleGolden

    9 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for your insights, Ellis. I agree with your position that an elevator pitch SHOULDN'T be about what you are (obviously, from the talk) but most people build theirs that way. Also, very few brands are built around the customer. Customer-centric brand positioning is fantastic. And, there are usually multiple buyers of that brand-personas to understand and adapt to-so knowing who exactly is standing before you is optimal before you choose which words flow from your mouth. In a perfect world, brands would be built around customers instead of the seller's "features and benefits" but that is too seldom the case. And people are too often taught to have a canned schpiel the default of which is me me me thinking. I'll check out your video and I'm already quite sure you have a much more constructive approach than the generic one I'm trying to rid the business world of with my message.

  • @TheUnknown3399
    @TheUnknown33994 жыл бұрын

    Hate that I have to watch this for GEB

  • @coopervandyke5649

    @coopervandyke5649

    4 жыл бұрын

    done the quiz yet lol

  • @argoniansloth2767

    @argoniansloth2767

    4 жыл бұрын

    Dude I just lost it again the other day. I'm about to drop out I'm losing it. Points, WSJ, Timeshare geb points opportunities, books written by the professor that you lose access to after the semester, All session/reserved time seating classes for everything, redbull going on a advertising promo for 15 min cutting my group work time short on an already shorted 5 classes a semester, that blind folded hazing for the not associated fraternity, group work half the content, all lectures are videos cut up everywhere, exams have repeat questions, some exams questions are even on statistics of social media?! I do so much volunteer work for a passing grade because it's either that or things I don't need to sit through like being brainwashed to become a timeshare salesman or paying thousands to study abroad. I'm done sorry for the tangent. It helps me. Therapeutic.

  • @torrinbrowne9760

    @torrinbrowne9760

    4 жыл бұрын

    @Larry Thousands of views from this "university"/business

  • @gabbie3174

    @gabbie3174

    2 жыл бұрын

    Same. GEB 4223 for me🤮

  • @RaminMelikov
    @RaminMelikov9 жыл бұрын

    - Is it true that Jewish people respond with a question to a question? - Who told you that?

  • @MrEric88g
    @MrEric88g5 жыл бұрын

    Didn’t work for me - kinda dull.

  • @abibie12

    @abibie12

    3 жыл бұрын

    LOL!!!

  • @argoniansloth2767
    @argoniansloth27674 жыл бұрын

    TED talks are only this popular because of the liberal education system (plenty of first hand accounts) and the M.S.M. kinda wish the content of courses weren't pawned off so much. Even being forced to subscribe to the WSJ to pass quizzes in class. Now I have to deal with all the follow up mail trying to win me back and canceling is like going to the dentist. Might as well force us to subscribe to the Washington Post, Bloomberg, Fox Business, whatever you can think of while you're at it. TED talk over.

  • @marralizakrs2247
    @marralizakrs22477 жыл бұрын

    she couldnt keep my attention... what a shame

  • @natecarroll1779

    @natecarroll1779

    4 жыл бұрын

    It's called lacking discipline and focus. What a shame

  • @argoniansloth2767

    @argoniansloth2767

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@natecarroll1779 or a difference in opinion. Whow. We can't have those anymore

Келесі