Discussion 4 - Employability Skills Activities

Developing a Pitch

The elevator pitch or personal pitch is a strategy to accomplish this. Why elevator speech? It allows the speaker to imagine getting on an elevator on the ground floor, meeting an important networking contact, and having 60 seconds to tell them who you are, what you do, and why your skills are something they need. An elevator speech should be practiced so it flows comfortably. Job seeks should be cautioned to not sound mechanical.Write/record a short pitch or "elevator speech" for yourself. Your pitch can be one that you would use in your current job to network and market your services, or you can assume you are looking for a new job and develop a pitch you would use in your networking efforts. Your pitch should include who you are, your area of specialty/work interest, one or two strengths, and what you hope to do (a call to action for your listener; e.g., "Call me to participate in our upcoming resume workshop" or "Could you recommend someone I could talk to at XYZ company about the ABC industry?") Make your pitch no longer than 60 seconds. Examples of elevator speeches can be found on the Internet; feel free to search for samples. Please remember to respond to two classmates to receive full credit. There is no minimum/maximum length requirement. A. Start with who you are and what you do. B. Feature your strengths. C. State your goal and what motivates you. D. Include a call to action. E. Make sure it's memorable.