By now the Elevator Speech is a fairly well-known tool not only for job-seekers but also for organizations and individuals with products and services to sell. Authors of numerous Internet articles on the Elevator Speech offer speculations on the origin of the term – ranging from the notion that we often run into important people in elevators to the more common explanation that the Elevator Speech is a clear, concise bit of storytelling that can be delivered in the time it takes folks to ride from a building’s top to the bottom in an elevator.

Whatever its exact origin, the Elevator Story is an exceptionally useful and versatile tool in numerous situations:

• Events designed specifically for networking.


• The casual networking opportunities we encounter nearly every day – the kids’ soccer games, plane flights, waiting in line to buy tickets, and on and on.


• Career or job fairs.


• Cold calls to employers.


• Cold calls to absent employers: Rita Fisher of Career Change Resumes suggests that leaving your Elevator Story in the form of a voicemail message virtually guarantees that the employer will call back. Hint: Assuming your story is sufficiently compelling, call after hours when you know for sure you will get the employer’s voicemail.


• Opportunities within your own company to talk with higher-up honchos, let them know you’re doing a great job, and position you for promotion.


• Job interviews where the Elevator Story can provide the answer to at least two common interview queries: “Tell me about yourself” and “Why should I hire you?” (Upcoming in Chapter 7: Storytelling in the Interview).

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Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, Quintessential Careers Press, ISBN-10: 1-934689-00-9. Find out the ways you can own the entire book.

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Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, Quintessential Careers Press, ISBN-10: 1-934689-00-9. Find out the ways you can own the entire book.