Tradeshow season is right around the corner for many, making now a good time to renovate your elevator speech.

In case you need a refresher, an elevator speech is a 15-30 second sound bite (or business pitch in the B2B world) that succinctly, and hopefully memorably, introduces yourself, your product and what you do. Essentially, thirty seconds is about how long an elevator ride is, sometimes longer.  So, depending on how fast you talk, you don’t have a lot of time to capture someone’s interest. Tradeshows are the perfect example.

Someone walks up to your booth – you have their attention – but what do you say to keep them intrigued enough to stay and hear more, or do business with you? Those 30 seconds (or longer) start to get a little nerve-racking.

No need to panic! You’re an expert at your product, so spend time now to perfecting your elevator speech.

image credit: ryanrenfrew.blogspot.com

Before you get on the floor this fall, think through these to rejuvenate your elevator speech:

• What’s in it for your audience? How can you tie in what’s in it for them in your mini-spiel? Will they ultimately save money? Will their life be less stressful? Always be thinking about the WIFFY and how you can tie it into your message!
• Come prepared, but don’t make it appear as though you’re reading from an index card. Be able to act “on the fly” depending on the situation and your audience!
• Find a balance with what you want to say. Your elevator speech has to be informative and compelling, not one or the other.
• Be unique. Again, understand the WIFFY and see how you can say something so relevant to them but exciting at the same time that you stand out quickly. What’s your #1 differentiator that they need to know?
• Practice. As a past Toastmaster, I know how important it is to practice. Before the show starts, make sure you’ve tested it out with a colleague.

Want more? Before we get out this fall, I’m going to be checking out the following book from the library: Small Message, Big Message, by Terri Sjoidin.

What are some of your elevator speech successes and disasters?

It’s no secret that I’m a big advocate for social media. I think social media sites, like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or blogs, can act as outlets to help spread messages, compliment traditional marketing communications and public relations efforts, communicate directly with target audiences, or even serve as a quick way to get information to a large number of people. 

Recently, however, through watching the news and reading up on the current events and happenings in Egypt, I realized that social media can be and definitely is much bigger. Social media can play a role in organizing protests, uniting groups of people toward a common goal, or even organizing a revolution. More than that however, social media is giving the rest of the world a 24/7, real-time report of the exact, to-the-minute happenings in Egypt.

Not long ago social media was barely making its way into discussions involving communications and public relations. Now, it’s making headlines for sparking change.

In fact, when Wael Ghonim, a 30-year-old Google executive, was asked about what’s next for Egypt, he replied by saying, “Ask Facebook.” That’s a pretty strong message, and one that indicates social media sites are delivering content faster than traditional news mediums.

So, what does this mean for the love fest between marketing communications, public relations and social media?

I think that social media will continue to play an increasingly important role in communications—particularly marketing communications—and public relations. It’s important that companies utilize social media outlets and incorporate social media strategies into overall marketing plans, when appropriate. Because, whether you like it or not, social media is here to stay,  it’s growing every day and people are continually turning to social media sites to get their daily news and information.

Last month my fellow Canyonite Rob posted a blog about Fast Company expert blogger, Wendy Marx who defended the PR industry from a blogger decrying the role of PR in B2B marketing.

Well, she did it again. (I must note that I love her integrity to defend the role of public relations, particularly in B2B).

Marx refers to the Economist’s article titled “The Rise of Image Man” that defines PR pros as manipulators and spin doctors. She responds to the post stating that B2B public relations has nothing to do with the spin and manipulation; it is about strategy and content development to get clients visibility and credibility.

I completely agree with this statement. As a PR account coordinator, much of what I do for Canyon’s clients is create content—particularly newsletters and website copy—to accurately communicate to their audience what it is they do and why it’s important.

Along with this, our PR department reaches out to the media to establish a long-term relationship on the client’s behalf. This is what B2B public relations is all about. PR isn’t about trying to manipulate the media; our job is to create messages that present the hard facts about what it is our client does, gain trust with the media and keep those relationships strong (along with the traditional media relations role).

I think public relations has become more and more of an integral part of any B2B marketing communications campaign because it is a tool that can easily position the overall marketing strategy.

Along with Marx, I see great things happening for the PR industry in the near future. Do you see a bright future for B2B public relations? Why or why not?

Every year I look forward to reading Fineman PR’s list of the biggest PR blunders of the year. This year’s list was no disappointment. The list proved to be informative, thought provoking and a good reminder of some PR basics. Below are some of my key takeaways.

• Media training is critical. It’s so important that your company spokespeople know how to confidently speak to media, deliver key messages directly, develop effective sound bites and respond to media questions. And no, falling silent and walking away, like Craigslist founder Craig Newmark did during his interview with CNN, is not an effective strategy.
• Social media can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Customers now have instant access to outlets that allow them to document experiences—good or bad. Social media sites can greatly affect the public’s perception of your company. Additionally, analyzing and monitoring social media sites and quickly and genuinely responding to complaints or concerns can salvage customer relationships. Alaska Airlines learned this the hard way. One of its former customers created a now defunct blog titled “Alaska Airlines Hates Families” after a horrendous travel experience.
• Don’t pass the buck. Finding yourself in a crisis is unfortunate. However, the way you react to that crisis can make or break your company’s reputation. Just ask BP. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was tragic. The way BP reacted to the oil spill was even worse. CEO Tony Hayward continually downplayed the image and even issued sound bites including, “It wasn’t our accident” and “I just want my life back” (sounds like he could benefit from quality media training). Later, replacement CEO Bob Dudley accused media and competing oil companies of rushing to a judgment regarding BP’s “crisis response.” Basically, BP did everything it could to blame other parties for its disaster. In my opinion, because of the way BP reacted to the oil spill, its reputation is permanently tarnished.

Ultimately, these PR blunders show us that:

• Media training is essential
• Nothing is truly transparent
• You can’t spin your way out of a crisis or a disagreement with a customer
• Crisis communications is critical
• Having a solid PR partner by your side is important

Looking for a solid PR partner? Give Canyon a call; we’ll make sure you never make this list.