My soon-to-be three-year-old daughter catches my eye in the bathroom mirror while standing on her step stool washing her hands, and to show off a newly acquired skill says “Watch me. Close your eyes.”
So I close my eyes.
She turns off the water.
And, feigning surprise I ask
“How did the water turn off?”
“It’s magic.”
We actually play this game a lot.
During dinner (“Where’d your food go?”)
Getting into her car seat (“Who put you in your car seat?”)
Getting dressed…
For some reason
The skill feels more real to her
If I don’t see her do it.
I have to watch her without watching her.
Watch for the result of the skill
Rather than the skill itself.
And it gets me thinking about your Elevator Pitch.
Because so many people talk about their skills
When their results are what’s really interesting.
The accountant saves you $843 on your taxes.
The website designer quadruples the number of clicks to your site.
The life coach prevents a divorce.
The software engineer cuts build times by a third and QA cycles in half.
The writer increases sales by…
You get the idea.
Because to most people,
Your skills are like magic.
They don’t understand them.
They don’t want to understand them.
They want to close their eyes
And see the results.
So stop trying to convince people of your skills.
Instead, convince them that you understand
The results they want.
Then use your skills to deliver.
Like magic.
What are your most compelling results?
I heard about the idea of the 6 Word Resume and tried it. Here is part of my current e-mail signature:
Edward Dolan
Organizational Development:
Facilitating growth, performance and effectiveness.
Employees Flourish. Managers Learn. Leaders Grow.
Hi Edward,
That’s a clever approach.
I’m a big fan of the seven word Elevator Pitch.
I like what you posted here,
And I think you have even strong phrases already on your website:
“I help make sure projects meet their deadlines”
“I work with star performers who alienate colleagues”
“I help people run meetings that produce results”
Those are good and specific.
People instantly know if they are facing that situation.
And it encourages people to ask
“How do you do that?”
Keep up the good work!
Andy
Thanks for this. My business idea came to me from my experiences with my son. Thank goodness we have our kids they keep us real. Your advice is great i like it a lot and i will use it.
Thanks again. Kat and Monkey.x
Hi Kathleen,
Well, don’t leave us in suspense! What was your business idea and how was it inspired by your son?
Thank you for posting and for your kind words.
Andy