Elevator pitch examples for speakers
An elevator pitch fails when it describes the business instead of giving the listener a reason to ask a second question. These end somewhere the other person can pick up.
Ten of them follow, written for speakers rather than filled in from a template. Your customer is an event organiser who has to introduce you on stage and fill a slot, and what they are weighing up before they get in touch is a speaker who delivers a generic talk to a room that needed a specific one.
The one-liner
I am a speaker in [your town] — I speak on keynotes and workshops for an event organiser who has to introduce you on stage and fill a slot.
Use this when you have one sentence and no idea who you are talking to.
Problem first
The thing people worry about with speakers is a speaker who delivers a generic talk to a room that needed a specific one. That is the part I deal with. I am a speaker, and the intro is written to be read aloud, and it is thirty seconds long.
Use this where the problem is instantly recognisable and the service is not.
Names who it is for
I work for an event organiser who has to introduce you on stage and fill a slot. Mostly keynotes and workshops. If that is not you, you probably know someone.
Use this at an event where most people are not your customer, to find the ones who are.
Credential first
I am a professional speaker. Talks that have been given on real stages, with the events named and video available. I mostly do keynotes and workshops.
Use this in a room where qualification is the thing that buys attention.
The contrast
Most speakers [what the default does]. I am the one that sends the host an intro they can read without rehearsing. That is more or less the whole difference.
Use this when your market has a clear default and you are not it.
With a number in it
I am a speaker — [number] years, [number] talks, and I give the bio in a version written to be read aloud.
Use this when you have a real number. Do not invent one.
The origin
I started because a speaker who delivers a generic talk to a room that needed a specific one was normal in this trade and it did not need to be. So that is the business: a speaker where the intro is written to be read aloud, and it is thirty seconds long.
Use this when the reason you started is short and true.
Ten seconds
Speaker. Keynotes, mostly. [your town].
Use this when someone asks what you do and is already half-turned away.
Ends with the ask
I am a speaker doing keynotes and workshops. If you ever hear someone say [the thing your customers say], that is me.
Use this when the point of the conversation is a referral, not a sale.
The warm version
[their question] — I am a speaker. The part people usually ask about is writing the introduction the host will actually read, out loud, in thirty seconds.
Use this where the pitch would land badly and a conversation would not.
Writing for speakers: what actually matters
What should a speaker’s website say that a generic one does not?
Three things, in this order. That you are professional. That you understand the thing people are actually worried about, which for speakers is a speaker who delivers a generic talk to a room that needed a specific one. And what happens next: a short enquiry form: your date, your audience, and what you want them to leave thinking. Everything else on the page is decoration by comparison.
What does an event organiser who has to introduce you on stage and fill a slot check first?
The credential, then the proof. For speakers it sounds like this. I give the bio in a version written to be read aloud. I name the events and link the video. I list the talks as bookable topics, not themes. Put at least one of those above the fold rather than on a separate page nobody opens.
What is the most common mistake on a speaker’s website?
Writing about the business instead of the customer. "We have been established since 1998" answers a question nobody asked. "I start with a short enquiry form: your date, your audience, and what you want them to leave thinking" answers the one they are actually holding. If you only fix one thing, fix that.
How long should the copy be?
Shorter than you think, except where trust is being built. An About page of 120 well-chosen words beats 500 vague ones. The exception is anything explaining a speaker who delivers a generic talk to a room that needed a specific one — there, specifics earn their length.
Everything else for speakers
Elevator pitch for other trades
- Plumber
- Electrician
- HVAC Technician
- Roofer
- Carpenter
- Painter
- Landscaper
- Handyman
- Therapist
- Chiropractor
- Massage Therapist
- Personal Trainer