Funniest line to appear in my inbox recently: “Signing off until the next edition, which we promise will come sometime in the next 2 to 17 months.” Who from but the fabulous Heath Brothers with their wisdom-rich nuggets and great sense of humour.
I finally read one of the articles they suggested (hint: it’s about what diamonds and elevators have in common). I loved this part:
There were some good chunks of language in there: It’s nice that I can monitor when I’m away from the house and that kind of thing. But it was all about uControl. What does uControl do? It’s almost like a trick question. Because I don’t care. I care about what it can do for me.
So what’s the connection to diamonds and elevators? Both involve pitches – the baseball field and the elevator. But this article got me thinking about another kind of diamond involved in the pitch. You.
Can you describe what you do in half a minute, using human language, that also describes what you can do for me? Bonus carats if you don’t use your job title. No gobbledygook, vagueness or jargon. Especially no recontextualizing. I’ve been focusing too much on figuring out the first part (what I do/my purpose/the work I want to be doing that matters) and haven’t honed in on the second part: what I can do for others. I need to jam on this more but here’s my start:
- For others: Where are you trying to make things better?
- What I do: Bring people together in conversation to create solutions.
- In a nutshell: Designing conversations for a better world.
Is it clear in your pitch how you can help me? I welcome feedback on improving mine.