Now that you’ve done your prep work, it’s time to start writing your 60 Second Presentation.
As you work through the rest of the steps, I encourage you to write, rewrite, and continue rewriting. Each time through, sharpen your focus, eliminating any unnecessary words and rephrasing any unnatural or awkward wording.
Use natural, conversational language – your pitch shouldn’t sound canned or stilted.
To get an idea of how many words you will be able to fit into your minute, read out loud from a newspaper for one minute, being sure to speak at your normal pace – not overly fast or slow. Count the number of words you read for an estimate of your speaking pace. You may want to try three different articles, counting the number of words read each time. By averaging your three results, you will have a good idea of your speaking rate per minute.
Most people speak somewhere between 90 – 130 words per minute. Obviously, you don’t want to develop a 300 word introduction if you find that your speaking rate is 100 words per minute.
Stop by tomorrow and see how to start outlining your elevator speech.
Mary Carol Holbert, Director / Trainer
