According to everything I’ve read on the subject, an Elevator Speech is really just a simple phrase that summarizes the essence of your value, and the value of your firm, to a particular client base. It is the answer to the question: "So, what do you do?"

The idea is that if you enter an elevator with other passengers, and they ask what you do, you’ll be able to answer within the time it takes to reach the floor selected by the person who asked the question.

Experts say a great elevator speech should:

• be appropriate, credible, intriguing, specific, and brief (less than 10 seconds if possible).
• establish your credibility and professionalism, clarify what you do, and who you work for.
• include what type of clients you work for and how they benefit from your unique expertise.
• get a desired response of: "Oh, really? Tell me more." If instead you hear: "so what" or "and?", experts say you need to throw out your elevator speech and start all over.

Now that we went over the rules, let me tell you what’s wrong with the whole list. It’s missing the single most important rule that everyone forgets when creating an elevator speech—"Hook the fish!"

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