The Elevator Pitch Essentials
Summary Sentence

As I explain at length in Elevator Pitch Essentials, every elevator pitch should start off with a Summary Sentence. A Summary Sentence is a one-sentence introduction to, and description of, your solution. The development of a Summary Sentence is an evolutionary process, as the development of the Elevator Pitch Essentials summary sentence makes clear.

The first version of the Elevator Pitch Essentials summary sentence was admittedly pretty terrible and looks like it was just thrown together (which it was).

Elevator Pitch Essentials is a business book by Chris O'Leary that explains how to create an effective elevator pitch.

The problem with Version 1 of the Elevator Pitch Essentials elevator pitch was that I committed the cardinal sin of defining my Solution with itself, which simply doesn't work. It doesn't answer the key question, "What's an elevator pitch?"

I decided to address this problem head-on with the second version of the Elevator Pitch Essentials elevator pitch by trying to define an elevator pitch in the Summary Sentence.

Elevator Pitch Essentials explains how to create an effective elevator pitch, which is an overview of a new product, service, project, or other Solution.

Version 2 of the Elevator Pitch Essentials elevator pitch was significantly better than Version 1. However, the problem was that I found that I had violated one of my own principles by not explaining that Elevator Pitch Essentials is a book.

Elevator Pitch Essentials is a business book by Chris O'Leary that explains how to quickly and clearly get your point across when selling a new product, service, project, or other Solution.

Version 3 of the Elevator Pitch Essentials elevator pitch was much better than Version 1 or Version 2, but the was starting to get a bit long and complicated. Version 3 also didn't mention the target audience for the book, which I learned from delivering the pitch in person was a significant problem. As a result, I decided to make a couple of major changes.

Elevator Pitch Essentials is a business book by Chris O'Leary that teaches entrepreneurs, salespeople, project champions, and others how to get their point across in two minutes or less.

Version 4 was the first version of the Elevator Pitch Essentials elevator pitch that I was finally comfortable with and actually a bit proud of. First, it stated what the book was (a business book) and who the target audience was (entrepreneurs, salespeople, project champions and others). I also liked the phrase "how to get their point across in two minutes or less" because it was both descriptive and because it also hinted at the benefits of reading the book.

Elevator Pitch Essentials is a business book (by Chris O'Leary) that teaches entrepreneurs, salespeople, project champions, job seekers, and others how to get their point across in two minutes or less.

Version 5 of the of the Elevator Pitch Essentials elevator pitch contained two fairly small revisions. First, I added the phrase “job seekers” to the list of target customers to make it clear that the book is relevant to this particularly relevant market segment. Second, in order to keep the length down, I decided to make the phrase "by Chris O'Leary" optional and only use it in certain situations. I use it on my web site and in stand-alone situations, but obviously not when I deliver my summary sentence in person.