“First Impression is Important”- Yes I Know, But How To Create That?

by | May 21, 2019 | Uncategorized |

You have probably heard this a thousand times- “First Impression is Lasting Impression”.

Most people know the importance of winning the first impression, few people actually plan their introduction and opening lines and only a handful craft and execute it well.

From positive body orientation and powerful gestures to pleasant tonality and genuine smile, the real question is what and how do you really say when you are sitting in front of the hiring manager?

 

“Please introduce yourself”

This was the exact question posted to my fellow participants during the recent Persuasive Presentation workshop. To my surprise, one by one stood up and attempted their introduction. Many were so unprepared and only a few could do it well.

 

Introducing Elevator Pitch

Elevator Pitch is a powerful tool for self-introduction, especially for winning interviews and introducing yourself before your important sales presentations and speeches. People buy you first before your product, service and/or company.

I like using the Elevator Pitch for a few reasons:

– Short and concise
– Well structured
 – Effective and clears the internal dialogue of the opposite party

Here is a possible structure for your Elevator Pitch:

– #1 Name
– #2 What do you do?
– #3 What do you do specifically?
– #4 Experience and credibility
– #5 Purpose

 

Elevator Pitch for Interview

Let’s dive in to help those of you who are about to attend interviews:

  • #1 Name
  • #2 What do you do?
    – What course did you study? Which university did you graduate from?
  • #3 What do you do specifically?
    – 1-sentence summary on your course and specialization
  • #4 Experience and credibility
    – Past employments, internship experience, academic and non-academic involvements
  • #5 Purpose
    – Main purpose of you attending this interview

 

Elevator Pitch for Sales

Here’s another version for salespeople to ace your sales presentations:

  • #1 Name
  • #2 What do you do?
    – What’s your position? Which company do you represent?
  • #3 What do you do specifically?
    – 1-sentence summary on what you offer
  • #4 Experience and credibility
    – Past clients, how many clients have you been serving? Who are your clients?
  • #5 Purpose
    – Why are you here today? What can you possibly offer? What makes you unique?

Elevator Pitch- Example

Here’s an example for you:

  • #1 Name
    – Hi, my name is Wesley Chan.
  • #2 What do you do?
    – I’m a Sales Breakthrough Coach and a 3x TEDx Speaker.
  • #3 What do you do specifically?
    – I help my clients design the right training and coaching programs to boost their sales performance and productivity
  • #4 Experience and credibility
    – Over the course of 8 years, I have spoken to more than 100,000 people across 15 cities in more than 100 companies including Fortune 500 companies, public listed corporations and global market leaders.
  • #5 Purpose
    – The main reason I am here today is to hear from you on your needs and expectations so that I can design the right structure for the sales program that you are looking for.

 

This requires a lot of practices. Do it over and over again. Listen to your own introduction. Record it. Amend accordingly. Repetition helps in making this sink in your head so that the very next time when it comes to self-introduction, this becomes easy and less stressful for you. Have fun!