The Three-Minute Drill

Often called the elevator pitch, this three-minute drill is designed to give you practice making a quick introduction or update of your project or initiative to a key leader in your organization.

Remember attention spans for most adults need to be renewed about every minute or so or they will wander to some other focus. Your job is to hook them in and get from them something that you need to move forward. Here are some suggestions for making it work.

  • Focused and concise – What is the problem, in their terms? What is the answer in direct terms? NO: “Could help solve the problem” statements.

  • Energetic – If you aren’t excited, are you sure they will be?

  • Targeted – Think about the individual or the audience. What is important to them? What are their core needs, anxieties, desires, and fears?

  • Clear – Language that is clear and direct. No hemming and hawing. Be creative and imaginative, but clear. And no super specialized language or acronyms.

  • Story – An incident that they can relate to or imagine happening will help hook them.

  • Visual – If they can see it, they will support it. You don’t have a slide deck so use words to create the images. Drawing in the air helps.

  • Goal driven – You want something from them. Be sure you know what it is: support in a committee, awareness of the work, changing something in their shop that you need to go forward, cash, support at the top, permission to try.

  • Be sure you ask for it to close the deal.

Exercise: Think about your project and an individual that knows little if anything about the work. You have just entered a room for a meeting a few minutes before it is scheduled, and the person you need to pitch is sitting right there. Better yet, they say, “Hey what luck, I’ve wanted an update on that project you are doing to share with the leadership tean. What is happening with it?”

And you say, “…..

You have three minutes to give the pitch update. Practice. Ideally ask for feedback from a trusted friend, colleague, or partner. Then do it just the way you practiced.