Teachers in Transition

Teachers in Transition - Episode 22 - What is Your Elevator Pitch?

August 21, 2019 Kitty Boitnott Season 1 Episode 22
Teachers in Transition
Teachers in Transition - Episode 22 - What is Your Elevator Pitch?
Show Notes Transcript

When you are looking to change your job or career, you need to know what you are looking for. You also need to be able to communicate clearly to others what it is you are seeking to find. That's why having a well thought out, well-crafted "elevator pitch" is key to your success. It communicates to others what you are looking for and helps them to better help you in your search.

Learn in this episode of "Teachers in Transition" how you should approach your "elevator pitch" and when and where you should be prepared to share it.


Kitty Boitnott:

Are you a teacher who's feeling stressed out and overwhelmed? Do you worry that you're feeling symptoms of burnout or are you sure you've already gotten there? Have you started to dream of doing some other kind of job or perhaps pursuing a whole different career, but you don't know what else you're even qualified to do? You don't know how to start a job search. You just feel stuck. If that sounds like you, I promise you're not alone. My name is Kitty Boitnott. I'm a career transition and job search coach and I specialize in helping burnt out teachers just like you deal not only with the stress and overwhelm of your day-to-day job, but to consider what other careers might be out there waiting for you. Join me for"Teachers in Transition." In some episodes I'll be speaking to stress management techniques and how you can manage your stress on a day to day basis. In other episodes I'll be talking about career transition. What tools do you need to be successful in a job search when you're moving from one career into a totally different track? These are questions that you need answers to and I can help you find those answers. My name is Kitty Boitnott. Welcome to"Teachers in Transition." This is Kitty Boitnott of"Teachers in Transition" and Boitnott Coaching. In this week we're going to be talking about career transition and in particular, what is your elevator pitch? I was having a discussion with someone just recently and he shared with me that he was struggling with his elevator pitch, that he had been told that if he was looking for a new position he needed to know how to express what it was that he was looking for and he seemed to be having some trouble articulating what it was that he wanted to do next, which is what your elevator pitch should do. It should articulate what is it that you are looking to do next. I got the sense that maybe he had been overthinking it too much or that may be the people advising him had made it sound like it was something that was more complicated or complex than it really is. So I just asked him, I said, well, just you know what? What are you looking to do next? And without hesitation, he told me exactly in one sentence what it was that he was really interested in doing and what he was good at. And that is an elevator pitch. Now the history behind the whole idea of elevator pitches is that uh, the, the term apparently comes from, or at least the mythology around the term comes from a screenplay writers. People who had a idea for a movie back in the old days would hop on an elevator and in 20 to 30 seconds and whatever the time it was that it took for the elevator to get where it was going, the producer or there, the finance person for the movie industry would listen to the pitch of the screen wider. The person who was pro promoting an idea for a new movie and the reason it was called elevator pitch was that it had to be no more time to it. It had to not take more time than it took for the elevator to get from the ground floor to wherever they were going. Maybe 20 floors. If you are looking for a new position, especially when you're out and about networking. And talking with New People and they ask you what it is that you're looking to do next. You do need to be prepared with a clear and concise statement. If you can get it to one sentence, that's perfect, but at least no more than the 20 or 30 seconds. If you need to offer a lot of explanation that goes along with it, it's not paired down enough because people will not care enough to listen for longer than a few seconds. They're more concerned about what they're interested in doing. Then in what you're interested in doing, so your position is to state clearly what it is that you're looking for and stated in such a way that they can clearly understand what it is that you're talking about and that they may be able to offer you right away some suggestions on whom you should contact at such and such a place, whether or not they can offer an introduction, whether they've had some experience in that field or not, and you can create a connection, but if you ramble on forever because you're not really clear about what it is that you want to do, you will have lost them before you ever even get started. Often when people call me and I ask them, so what is it that you would like to do? They don't know. What they know for sure and what they can clearly articulate as the reasons why they don't want to do what they've been doing anymore. I work with burnt-out teachers and I worked on my elevator pitch for a long time before I got it down to one sentence, which is I help burnt-out teachers explore new and exciting career opportunities that will ignite their passion and lead them to fulfilling and fun jobs in the future. That's the gist of it. If you can get it down to one sentence, that's perfect. If not no more than two or three. And the components of a clear, concise, articulate message--elevator pitch if that's what you want to call it--is that it communicates clearly what it is that you are looking to do next in your life. How are you positioned to provide service or value in a new endeavor? If it involves a passion that you have, that's even better. If it involves specific skills that you have that few other people have, that's even better. But at the end of the day what you need to be able to communicate is your value, your proposition statement. What do you bring to the table and what is it that you are looking to offer in your next role? It should have far less to do with all the stuff you've done in the past, so don't get all tangled up in talking about the things that you've done previously. Keep it future-focused. State it clearly use non ambivalent language. The clear, the clearer you can be, the better you can communicate what it is that you're looking for. The better, the position, the person that you're talking to is in because they know what it is. They understand what it is that you're looking for and they may be in a position to help you. So where do you use these elevator pitches? Anytime you're talking to someone about your desire to make a change in your career. Any networking event that you may be attending. A networking event doesn't have to be specifically a network event leading to a position. It can be at a party, it can be at a barbecue, a neighborhood barbecue. It can be at bridge club, it can be, um, at book club. It can be anywhere that you're out and about and chatting with people. Because when you're out and about and chatting with people, you're networking. I know that we have this idea of networking events and many of us, when we're in the middle of a career transition, we seek those out and we attend them. Job Fairs, for example. Meetups where other people in that industry that you're interested in may be hanging out. Conferences, seminars, wherever it is that people may be congregating that any time you you're engaged in a conversation with someone, you're networking, whether it's an old friend or brand new acquaintance. Be prepared. If you are looking for new position, be prepared with your, I hate calling it the elevator pitch, but for lack of a better term to refer to it, the prepared with your elevator pitch. Your short concise one to three sentence statement that sums up what it is that you are specifically looking to do in your next career--or your next endeavor. And if you've done a good job with it, you will likely be asked to expand on it. Oh, that's interesting. Tell me more. And then you can talk all you want about it. As long as you've got them engaged and you don't see that their eyes are glazing over. But you can't do that first. You've got to offer the pitch, the enticement. Get them interested. And this is not something, it's one of those things that sounds so simple. But it's not as simple or easy as it sounds like it should be. And it frankly takes quite a bit of forethought, self-examination, self-reflection and preparation before you're ready to offer your unique proposition. But it's well worth the time that you will put into this statement because once you have it and once you've got it nailed and once you can deliver it with confidence and the the kind of clarity that you need, things will start to open up for you in ways that you had not anticipated, I guarantee it. So that's it for today. What is your elevator pitch? Have you thought about it? If you haven't, and if you're interested in making a career transition, one of the first things you need to do is decide what it is that you want to do next and then create your elevator pitch. I hope you'll have enjoyed that tip for today. Next week I'll be back with another stress management strategy. In the meantime, if you would like to subscribe to the podcast"Teachers in Transition" or the YouTube channel, also met the name"Teachers in Transition." Please do. If you have questions, please send those to me and I'll be happy to answer them. And if you'd like to offer a review, that would be awesome to let me know how you enjoy this podcast and YouTube channel and whether or not you're finding it of value. Until next, this is kitty Boitnott of"Teachers in Transition." Have a wonderful week. So there you have it, an episode of"Teachers in Transition." I hope you enjoyed the information and I hope you'll plan to come back. Please subscribe to"Teachers in Transition" so that you can be alerted of future episodes. And let me know if you have any questions or topics that you would like me to specifically cover in a future episode. I'm more than happy to help with individual questions as well. So email me at KittyBoitnott@BoitnottCoaching.com. If you are interested in finding a new career or just enjoying your life more, this is the place to start. Hi, I'm Kitty Boitnott and this is"Teachers in