I was listening to this podcast episode about elevator pitches between 2 lawyers. (You might remember the host Mathew from my recent LinkedIn live with him.)
And it got me thinking: confidence is half the battle. Or like 95% of it.
Introducing Yourself With Confidence
If you are confident when you speak (write, show up in any way), it means you are also inviting a conversation. And it’s naturally attractive. (More on attraction marketing here.)
Your confidence makes people want to know more.
Even if they’re a tiny bit confused at first because your approach is unconventional, or you didn’t “nail” your positioning right away. Yes, you can “make a mistake” or not have the most witty, clear, AND unique one-liner.
If you’re confident, you can still resonate. Because sometimes when you’re confident in how your introduce yourself, the person on the receiving end might wonder if they misunderstood. Or they may simply ask a clarifying question because you’re someone they want to get to know better.
Whereas if you’re sort of mumbling and fumbling through your intro, or you stick to the most vanilla, detached version of your vision, the conversation will likely fizzle out there. Because the person on the receiving end may not have the confidence in you to believe that you’re gonna be able to explain it anyway. Or they may not be confident in themselves and their question-asking abilities to pull something interesting out of you.
So, confidence in both your delivery and your word choice (that you proudly stand behind!) matters a LOT. With first impressions and beyond.
(Check out my podcast episode on Introducing Yourself With Confidence for more specific frameworks. Also, I’m sure there are tons of other resources out there around the elevator pitch, but I found Copywriter Erin’s podcast episode on the topic to be particularly useful and digestible—I still need to integrate her ideas into my own intro.)
Marketing In The Wild
Another thing that Mathew’s guest said in the episode was about not being in “marketing mode” during one conversation, so it didn’t matter as much how she described her work. And to that, I would argue that every opportunity to talk about your work that you care so deeply about is a marketing opportunity.
We’re never NOT marketing…sort of.
Because you never know who’s going to need what, or who knows someone who’s your perfect-fit client or collaborator. (Even if it’s not the person you’re talking to.)
Especially for someone like a lawyer—that’s pretty universal. So even if you only work with business owners and the person you’re talking to is not a business owner, everyone knows a business owner, right? Everyone interacts with businesses.
But for more niche services or audiences—life coaches, copywriters, interior designers, party planners, whatever you do—we all know other humans. And we all know that a direct referral is the best, most aligned, most efficient, easiest way to get clients.
Marketing isn’t all social media trends and jazz hands and flashing billboards. It’s relationships and empathy and vulnerably sharing your work (aka the biggest portion of how we spend our time, money, and energy).
As Seth Godin puts it, “…the secret isn’t to focus on your promo. The secret is to create something that those you serve want to tell others about. When other people do your promo, it’s not promo. It’s passion and sharing and generosity in community. Better is better than louder.”
And another Seth quote for good measure (this time from This Is Marketing): “Marketing is not a battle, and it’s not a war, or even a contest. Marketing is the generous act of helping someone solve a problem. Their problem. It’s a chance to change the culture for the better. Marketing involves very little in the way of shouting, hustling, or coercion. It’s a chance to serve, instead.”
So I wouldn’t put unnecessary pressure on your intro at the grocery store, the school pick-up line, or the gym class. But I would absolutely put intention behind it. Because if you are not explaining what you do because it’s “just a brush-off conversation,” you never know what opportunity you just missed.
And it’s not that you always have to be wearing your business owner hat, or be “on.” (Which I know is especially exhausting for us introverts.) But opportunity and potential are everywhere, whether we’re looking for it or not. And our ability to build or degrade trust is activated with every single interaction. So being mindful of how we bring our “work selves” to everyday conversations matters.
Showing Up Across Contexts
How you introduce yourself is important and hard (for most of us). It’s why I have podcast episodes and (free) guided tools and entire deep dives like this on the topic.
One really creative idea that Mathew shared in the episode was singing a jingle as his elevator pitch. Now, that’s definitely memorable and unexpected, but it’s also very long and not the right fit for every brand or audience. (Even as someone who loved being in choir in middle school, it’s my worst nightmare to sing in front of a stranger. But you do you.)
With both the surprise jingle and in general, both Mathew and his guest talked about changing what they say within various contexts. Which I actually think makes a lot of sense.
Again, it’s about empathically meeting someone where they are and sharing the parts of yourself and your work that seem relevant. Not because you’re hiding any other parts, but simply because you’re multi-faceted and it’s generous to meet them with what they may need or want. (Networking Community Builder Sara gives more examples of this “reading-the-room-style intro” in Episode 84 of the podcast.)
In Mathew’s podcast episode, they also talked about translating the elevator pitch to one pagers and flyers, etc. That connection and distillation of your big-picture ideas—maybe your mission, your values, your elevator pitch—across contexts is one of the things my clients struggle with most.
And that’s why I offer Quick Win Consulting Calls for live co-creation and verbal processing. And Messaging Momentum for more expansive, asynchronous co-creation. And Private About You Audits for direct, nuanced, line-by-line feedback.
Because you’re SO close to it all, that even after you’re riding the high of a sparkling new brand messaging guide that totally captures everything you’re doing and working toward…it’s easy to come crashing down when it’s time to start applying the guide to all your copy, content, and conversations.
⇒ So, yes, confidently knowing yourself and what you stand for and who you’re aiming to reach is far more important than the exact words you use. (Even though, yes, those exact words also matter.)
⇒ And yes, refine your intro, but know that it’ll change across contexts and as you evolve.
⇒ And yes, enjoy your time offline and off the clock, but remember that representing yourself as fully as possible is never a waste of time and energy.
Book a free Alignment Call to chat about how we can unpack your intro together, or confidently weave all the many parts of you into a cohesive brand.
This is an excerpt from Toward Purpose & Progress, my newsletter where I share business tips, good news, shoutouts to Founder Friends, and other juicy snippets. Subscribe here for more rants, reflections, and resources.
