photo by: Express Monorail
Have you ever been stunned like a deer-caught-in-the headlights when someone asks you, “What you do for a living?” Well I have and I can’t plea ignorance on this one!
All over the web, articles on creating an elevator speech have been popping up. I’ve seen them, read them, but failed to do anything about it.
Let’s see there was:
- 5 Tips for Creating an Elevator Speech on Freelance Writing Gigs.
- How to Write an Elevator Pitch for Your Freelance Writing Business on All Freelance Writing.
- Anne Wayman at About Freelance Writing also posted an article entitled,”The Writer’s Elevator Pitch.”
- And Freelance Folder’s article, “Creating an Elevator Speech: How Looking in the Mirror Can Help Your Business” even sounded like me. (The baffled, stumbling part.)
So really, what excuse did I really have not to have the perfect pitch right off the bat?
None really. I can only plead insanity.
Maybe I thought to myself,”I already know what I do for a living. Why waste time practicing it? Who’s going to really ask me anyway? How hard can it be to tell others what I do for a living?”
Learn from my lesson. Prepare. Practice. Then, preach to others. Don’t make the same mistake as I did.
When I went to a recent networking gig, everyone asked me what I did for a living. Doh! There’s supposed to. I wish I had brilliantly said that I was a “full-time freelance writer specializing in both web and print articles.” And that this includes, “blogging on a range of topics from wallet-friendly ideas to inspirational articles on following your dreams to posts for beginning freelance writers.”
But I think I said, “Um. I’m a full-time freelance writer.”
And then asked, “What do you write?”
“Uh, like um newspapers and magazines and blogs.”
“On what?”
“Inspiring stuff. Home decor. Writing stuff.”
Can you tell I was nervous with a capital N? As in, I was sweating like I it was 100 degrees or under hot lights in an interrogation.
The worse was how I kept sounding like I wasn’t quite sure I was a writer or maybe I was, but I didn’t exactly know what I wrote about. Ack!
Here’s what I learned: Make the effort because as a full-time freelance writer every person you interact with could be a possible friend, mentor, employer, and/or client. I might have costed myself a few potential job leads all because I wasn’t prepared. So…
Be prepared. Practice saying out loud what you do for a living until you sound confident and sure of yourself. Write it down if you have to. Say it in front of your friends and ask them how you sound.
Practice alone and with others. Sometimes I forget that even in social situations with friends and at my husband’s work events, I have the opportunity to show-off my elevator speech. I can also put myself in front of a mirror and talk myself silly.
Practice until you don’t blush anymore. I think for some of us, telling other people what we do for a living (especially when we’re proud of it) feels a bit like bragging. It doesn’t help that a lot of writers (moi included) are shy and introverted. But the more we do it, the easier it’ll get it.
The takeaway? Creating an excellent elevator speech and being able to deliver it effortlessly are important. It’s important to our business and our future as freelance writers.
So get over it already! We need to get over this hurdle so we can move on, meet new people and get new jobs.
