It’s your chance to shine with your first impression
➔ Much has been said over the years about an individual’s (or a company’s) “elevator speech.” The term derives from the notion that this is a speech you could give someone while riding in an elevator. It’s also sometimes called your 30-second commercial – which should give you a hint as to approximately how long it should be.
Long or short, it’s you in the limelight
If you’re puzzled about length, think of the 30-second commercial. The rule of thumb in radio used to be 25 words for every 15 seconds. Doing the math, your elevator speech should be about 50 words. Of course, that’s not a hard and fast number, but it should be a pretty good guide as to what you can expect.
That’s 50 words to tell someone – who is very likely a complete stranger – who you are, what you’ve done, and what you bring to the table. That’s a pretty tall order, but it’s not impossible.
Of course there is a 21st Century approach which may ease your anxiety.
If you haven’t played with it yet, you may want to have ChatGPT prepare an initial draft of your speech. Prompt the AI-driven software to – using your resume – draft a 50-word summary of your resume. You will get a document, however…
We would strongly advise to NOT use it as is. You’re going to want to edit to make certain that all the important points are there, everything is accurate, and you’re comfortable with the output. Now comes the difficult part. Since ChatGPT doesn’t actually know you, you will need to inject yourself, your personality, and your personal brand into that document.
While it may sound like you’re doing all the work, we won’t argue the point. We will say, however, that if you’re staring at a blank piece of paper, this may be an excellent way to move you off dead center and have a document that you can work with.
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