How to create your best freelance elevator pitch

You’re not going to create the perfect elevator pitch at your first attempt. But the time and effort you invest in crafting one or more options will not only help you attract new clients. It can also help you view your business with a fresh perspective, especially if you’ve already been self-employed for years.

Define your goal and audience

You need to have someone in mind when you’re crafting your elevator pitch. Generally, that will start with your target clients, but you may want to have other options for networking with fellow freelancers or speaking at local business events.

It’s vital to remember that you’re creating the pitch for your audience, not for yourself. If what you find most amazing about your business isn’t going to resonate with your listener, then it shouldn’t be included. The focus should be on the person you’re talking to, and what’s going to be most important for them to know by the time you stop speaking.

Don’t try to be concise at the start

Every great speech or idea begins with someone writing down all of the information and key points they believe might be useful. And then slowly pruning and editing it down to the desired length.

The same process will work for you. Note down everything you feel is important or notable about your business and career. It can help you discover something interesting that you might have overlooked, and provides options to adapt your elevator pitch for different audiences and circumstances.

If you’re struggling to come up with enough information, you can ask anyone that knows you and your business well about what they find most interesting. And the questions in the next section are designed to prompt you.

What do you do? And why?

There’s no point telling a great story if you forget to tell a potential client your name, and what you do. But don’t just stop at the end of your job title. The essence of what you do should include precisely how you help people with the service you offer.

Journalists are trained to always ask who, what, why, when, where and how. So, apply the same questions to yourself. The Where question will typically refer to your previous clients or employers, unless there’s a relevant reason to mention your business location.

• Who are you?
• What do you do?
• Why do you do it?
• When did you start?
• Where have you done it? 
• How does it deliver results? 

There’s a big difference between stopping after telling someone you’re an SEO consultant, or following up by explaining you help membership sites grow sign-ups by focusing on an SEO strategy targeting keywords relevant to new members. 

This can lead onto a relevant example of the impact you can deliver, and if there’s a compelling reason why you chose to specialise. 

Be ruthless about cutting your elevator pitch down

Strict editing is required to create the best elevator pitch. The aim is to leave space to start a conversation, rather than potentially boring your audience. And the best way to do that is by encouraging questions, rather than trying to pre-empt them.

A common rule of thumb for writers is that 25% or more of their initial words will be lost during the editing process. So don’t be afraid to be ruthless about cutting your elevator pitch down, even if it means dropping parts that might be meaningful to you. The essential test is whether it will important to your audience, or whether it will work better as an answer to a follow-up question.

Remember that the aim is to create a conversation, rather than rattling off your prepared lines and then abruptly turning the tables on the other person. Allow space for them to ask questions or comment if they’re genuinely interested.

If you’re not accustomed to public speaking or speechwriting, it’s hard to know how many words are appropriate when you’re writing your elevator pitch. Reading your drafts aloud will not only help you discover the right length, but also helps to build confidence in how you’ll deliver them.

It’s important to speak slowly and clearly, especially when you might be repeating your elevator pitch in a noisy conference room or networking event. It’s important not to cause any confusion or misunderstandings, especially if a potential client has to ask you to constantly repeat things. 

And practice also allows you to work on your body language, facial expressions and delivery. If you’ve never listened to a recording of your voice or seen your posture while speaking, it can be a shock to realise how different it may be from your own perception.

It’s quick and easy to record some of your practice attempts on a phone or webcam, or try rehearsing in front of a mirror. Speaking in a monotone voice can cause your listener to tune out, so you may want to add a little more emphasis than normal to avoid your pitch coming across as a rehearsed sales speech.

When you’re ready, try your elevator pitch with family, friends or fellow freelancers to get some honest, but hopefully supportive, feedback. And remember that the best public speakers have honed their craft over many years, so don’t expect perfection to come naturally on your first attempts. Confidence builds over time, but a little bit of humanity and vulnerability isn’t a bad thing in creating a conversation.