Lately I have been doing workshops and one-on-one coaching on a very popular topic I call “Sprucing up your elevator speech.” People want to know how to create concise memorable statements about who they are and what they do. Here are few tips:

Identify your audience

Who do you want to reach or influence? Who are the customers or clients you want for your business? You may have more than one audience depending on your business and the purpose of your communication. For example if you are a large publicly held software developing company, your audiences include your customers, your employees, the stockholders, the Board of Directors, suppliers and vendors, distributors, industry analysts, corporate watchdogs, the local and regional business communities, political leaders, and the general public.

Learn their concerns or interests

What do they care about? What would be of interest or of value to them? Continuing the example of the software company, each one of those constituencies has specific concerns. Often they overlap, but many times they are different. For example your customers want useful bug free products with responsive tech support. Your stockholders want return on investment and increased value for shares. The employees want a stable creative place to work, with great compensation and benefits with room for advancement. Look at the specific concerns of each group and that will help you put your main points in the context of the concerns of your audience.

Get clear about what you do

What are the results you provide? Talk about the results, not the process. Again, using the software example, it is very common for software engineers to talk about how their product works, using all kinds of jargon to explain the process. Most audiences just want to know how they can use the program or what problem it solves for them. Using my favorite metaphor here, “if I ask you want time it is, don’t tell me how the watch works!”

The answers to these questions will provide you some clues and direction for a new and improved elevator speech. A seasoned communications professional can also help you cut through all the clutter and get to your point!