Summary: Small Message Big Impact

Review and Analysis of Sjodin's Book

BusinessNews Publishing

• Publisher: Must Read Summaries
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN: 9782511022368
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Meetings & Presentations
• Index: Business

The must-read summary of Terri Sjodin's book: `Small Message Big Impact: How to Put the Power of the Elevator Speech Effect to Work for You`.

This complete summary of the ideas from Terri Sjodin's book `Small Message Big Impact` explains that an elevator speech is a brief speech that introduces your product in less than three minutes. This summary explains how to maximise the impact of that small message and benefit from the “elevator effect”.

Added-value of this summary:
• Save time
• Understand key concepts
• Expand your knowledge

To learn more, read `Small Message Big Impact` and discover how the key to selling more is saying less.

Summary of Small Message Big Impact (Terri Sjodin)

1. Preparation

To give great elevator speeches, you have to prepare in two ways:

Clarify and specify your intentions

The objective of an elevator speech is never to actually close the deal or make the sale. Rather, to use football terminology, you want to advance the ball. You want to fire up the listener’s interest level so you can then follow up with them in more detail.

As a general rule, there are basically three different ways to classify a speech:

1. Informative presentations – where unbiased facts are presented so as to promote further learning and exploration on the individual’s part.
2. Ceremonial presentations – where the values cherished by a group of people gathered together dictate what is said and done.
3. Persuasive presentations – where you’re presenting information to get the listener to do something or take some specified action.

Elevator speeches are a blend of the persuasive and the informative presentation styles. When you give an elevator speech, you’re trying to persuade the listener to do something which will lead towards selling what you have to offer. The elevator speech is not designed to close the sale, just to earn you the right to be heard.

With this in mind, it will be clear:

• A good elevator speech is not a data dump. Remember, you’ve only got three minutes or less.
• Nor is an elevator speech a full-blown sales pitch. That will require much more than three minutes of your listener’s time.
• Elevator speeches are informal rather then formal meetings. A conversational approach will generally work best in these circumstances.

Again, your goal with an elevator speech is not to score a touchdown. Rather, you’re trying to advance the ball and earn the right to say more at some time in the future. And you’re trying to do this in an elegant and memorable way so you cut through all the background noise that’s out there.

A realistic goal for a two- to three-minute elevator speech is to secure a follow-up appointment at a later date and time. You want to capture their attention and get them to ask for more. You want to inform, persuade and create an opening more than anything else.

Part of preparation is to figure out which speaking format you will choose. The four options available to you are:

1. An impromptu talk – which gets delivered off the top of your head using a mental outline. This format allows for great interaction but it’s easy to miss important points.
2. An extemporaneous talk – where key points are planned in advance but then the material gets delivered in a more conversational tone.
3. A manuscript – where material is written down word-for-word and then read verbatim to an audience. This is a rather stilted delivery mode because it will lack personal warmth and vitality.
4. A memorized presentation – where your written manuscript has been committed to memory. If this is well rehearsed, it can work well because this allows you to concentrate on the audience.

All of these formats can work when delivering an elevator speech. You just need to figure out in advance which speaking format will be best for the situation at hand so you can make certain the key building blocks are there and ready to go whenever you find yourself in position to go.

PRESENTATION OPPORTUNITY
Planning and General Information Sheet

WHAT IS THE GOAL OF MY PRESENTATION?

To develop an elevator speech I can use at
a breakfast meeting for my local business
networking group to introduce who I am,
what I have to offer and to set up
one-to-one appointment times with
potential clients.

AUDIENCE ANALYSIS

• LISTENERS: Small to mid-size businesses
• AUDIENCE SIZE: Approx. 60 people
• AVERAGE AGE OF GROUP: 30 – 50
• MALE-FEMALE RATION: 50/50
• ATTITUDE: Busy,...

Table of contents

• Title page
• Book Presentation
• Summary of Small Message Big Impact (Terri Sjodin)
• About the Summary Publisher
• Copyright