Elevator pitch template

Five answers, then a draft you can say

The elevator pitch template asks five things: who it is for, the problem, what you do, what is different, and the ask. Pick Startup or product, or Personal or career. The elevator pitch template changes the sentence frame. A product draft talks to the listener about a problem they already have. A personal draft says who you help and what you bring that a generalist does not. Empty fields stay as brackets so you can see the hole.

This is a starting script, not a slogan and not a brand line. The elevator pitch template will not invent a market, a traction number, or a job title. If you type "we leverage synergy," the draft will say that, and you should delete it. Use words you can say in one breath.

Copy pitch puts the draft on the clipboard when the browser allows it. The elevator pitch template does not store it. Paste the keeper into the speech timer or the speech length calculator and check the clock. A pitch you have not timed is a guess.

Product frame versus personal frame

Product: if you are [who it is for], you already know [the problem]. Then what you do, what is different, and the ask. Use it when you are describing an offer. The elevator pitch template expects the problem in the listener's words. "Updates run long" is a problem. "Inefficient communication paradigms" is a fog.

Personal: I help [who it is for]. The hard part is [the problem]. Then what you do, what you bring, and the ask. Use it in a career conversation, a conference hallway, or a note you will say at the start of a call. The elevator pitch template is not a résumé and it will not list employers. One kind of person, one hard part, one proof you can say aloud.

Do not mix the frames in one pass. If you are job hunting and also selling a product, those are two pitches. The elevator pitch template gives you a toggle so you do not weld them into a paragraph nobody can retell.

Length: 70 to 90 words is the neighborhood

At 130 words per minute, 75 words is about 35 seconds and 90 words is about 42 seconds. The elevator pitch template does not count for you. Aim to land near 30 seconds, and treat 45 seconds as the point where you cut either the differentiator or the ask, not both stories. If the timer runs long, you added a second problem.

A 30-second pitch has room for one example, not a case study. Put the example inside "what is different" or drop it. The elevator pitch template's difference field should be one contrast: what they cannot get from the usual option. A list of three differentiators is a menu. Pick the one this listener feels.

The ask is a next step, not a marriage. "Try one update this week" is an ask. "Become our partner and transform your enterprise" is a poster. The elevator pitch template will accept either. Say the first kind unless the room already asked for a contract.

Fill the fields with speakable lines

Who it is for is a person, not a demographic essay. "New managers" is enough. "Clinic managers" is enough. If you cannot picture one face, the elevator pitch template cannot aim the rest.

The problem is something they would nod at. If you have to teach the problem for a minute, it is not an elevator yet. Narrow the listener until the problem is obvious, then return to the elevator pitch template and rewrite the first field.

What you do is one sentence with a verb. What is different is the reason they should not shrug. The ask tells them the next physical step: a reply, a trial, a 15-minute look, an introduction. If the ask is "let me know," you do not have an ask.

Read the assembled draft and delete any sentence you would not say out loud to a skeptical peer. The elevator pitch template's job ends when the brackets are gone and the clock is near half a minute.

Practice it until the frame disappears

Say the product version three times to the audio recorder without looking, then listen for the problem. If the problem arrives after the autobiography, you inverted the elevator pitch template. Start again from the listener.

Then say it to a person who does not work on it. Ask them to repeat who it is for and what you want. If they cannot, the draft is still about you. Fix the fields and copy again. The elevator pitch template is a success when someone else can retell the ask.

Do not memorize a brittle paragraph. Memorize the five beats. If you lose a word, the elevator pitch template's order still saves you: listener, problem, what you do, difference, ask. Stop at the ask. Do not add a second wind.

Use the interview answer timer only if the pitch is actually a behavioral story. A product pitch is not STAR. Forcing it into Situation will make it longer and vaguer.

What this template will not do

It will not research the listener's company, check your claims, or write a deck. A false number in the difference field is still false. The elevator pitch template does not fact-check.

It will not A/B test subject lines or generate fifty variants. One draft you can say is the output. If you want a different listener, change the first field and accept that the problem may need to change too.

It will not translate or localize. English only. It will not save versions. Copy the one you will use.

The product-pitch outline is the sibling if you want bullets instead of a paragraph: listener, problem, offer, difference, ask. Use the elevator pitch template when you want the sentences assembled, and the outline when the assembled voice is not yours.

Say the frame until you no longer notice it

The elevator pitch template has two shapes. Product starts "If you are [who it is for], you already know [the problem]." Personal starts "I help [who it is for]. The hard part is [the problem]." Then what you do, what is different, and the ask. Empty fields stay bracketed. The elevator pitch template will not invent traction, revenue, or a customer logo. If you type a number, it has to be a number you can defend. If you cannot, leave the bracket and cut that beat.

Aim for 70 to 90 words, about thirty to forty-two seconds at a conversational pace. Copy the draft into the speech timer with a forty-five-second slot. If it runs long, cut the difference or the ask, not both stories. The elevator pitch template does not save the draft. Copy it before you leave. A job search uses the personal frame. A product uses the product frame. Do not mix them in one pass.

Read it aloud until the frame words feel like yours. If it still sounds stiff, the noun is abstract. Replace "solutions" with the thing you actually do this week. The elevator pitch template cannot hear that stiffness. You can, in one private audio pass. Then stop editing.

Time the draft at the rate you measured, not at a hoped-for 170. Seventy words at 130 words per minute is about thirty-two seconds. Ninety words is about forty-two. A leftover bracket means that prompt is still unanswered. Say the draft once to a person, or into the audio recorder, before you add a slide. Keep one story. The ask is one sentence: a verb and a time. Then stop.