It a social context it’s generally considered rude to talk too much about yourself.
In fact, people who spend more time listening or ‘drawing out the other person’ are considered good conversationalists – so why do we lose the plot when it comes doing this in business?
For example, when you stand up to deliver your elevator speech it is important to give your name, company name, location and what you do for business… but this is where you should stop talking about yourself, and engage your audience in the conversation, so to speak.
The first rule of a good elevator speech is to avoid talking about yourself.
As a copywriter I see this kind of “all about us” error in all kinds of marketing materials – from websites to press releases and direct mail – and it does nothing to engage the audience.
When people engage with you it is because they are looking for something. These may be goods or services, information, solutions, hope…
Therefore, after you have introduced yourself, talk to the needs of your audience. Ask them a question about common problems your target market may have, or simply name one and then tell us how you solve that problem.
For example: “Sore back keeping you up at night?” Then go on to tell us how this problem can be treated.
The reality is that most people don’t really care – particularly at first – about how many years experience you’ve had or how incompetent your competitors are.
We are all, first and foremost, concerned with our own problems, issues and struggles and if you can offer to make our burdens easier, we’ll be all ears.
