By John C. Fech
Whether you know it or not, you need a good elevator speech to succeed in the sports field management industry. Whether it’s to benefit from short conversations with stakeholders, to open a door with someone you just met, or to have a good answer when asked what you do for a living, a well-constructed elevator speech has lots of benefits.
Much of what makes a good elevator speech centers around making a good impression. Being able to communicate concisely who you are, who you work for, what you do and why you do it will deliver positive results. Whether it’s creating a fresh one for a newly hired worker or dusting off an existing one for a veteran, putting forth a little effort on an elevator speech is well worth the time.
What is an elevator speech?
An elevator speech (ES) can be thought of as a tool, a skill or both. As a tool, it’s a ready-to-go, front-of-mind set of phrases and factoids about yourself and your job. As a skill, it’s the ability to smoothly and succinctly explain to another person what you do and why you do it.
You never really know who you might meet that could do you a favor or provide you with some guidance, or where a short conversation with a new contact might lead. It could be a dead end, or it could be an introduction to the hiring professional at the facility that you’ve been salivating over since you graduated. It could be a sales representative who has the inside track on the latest and greatest product that will make your life easier. The bottom line is having one in place when you need it, and you never know when that will be.
The consequences of not having an ES is the communication equivalent to trying to catch a football with greased hands – you can see it, but are not ready to catch it; not only that, but you’re also not able to catch it because you haven’t prepared adequately. The negativity of not having an ES can even stay with you. For example, it can be difficult to recover from a response such as “Well, I, uh, you know, I like work here.” The importance of an ES lies in being ready to engage when an opportunity presents itself – either predicably or spontaneously.
ES outline
A good ES should be flexible and customizable, but at the very least contain the following four items:
- Your name
- Your company’s name
- What you do
- Why you do it
Each of these four pieces should be delivered with KISS (Keep It Short Sweetheart) in mind. A sentence or two on the what and why is ideal. Since an ES is sometimes delivered to a person not entirely familiar with sports field management, avoid jargon by using everyday, commonsense language.
A central component of an ES
Following the outline will help achieve the central component of an ES – to make a good first impression on the person hearing it. The features that most help you present yourself favorably are a good smile, being polite, avoiding interruptions, and being well spoken yet a good listener when a response is made; in short, being present and focused. Eye contact is a must while delivering an ES and non-verbal cues such as tone, body language and timbre are very influential. As odd as it may sound, smelling nice can also help make a great first impression.
ES example
One of the best ways to learn how to make an ES work for you is to look at a basic example:
- Unknown person at a trade show: “Hi. I’m Phil with XYZ Products.”
- Sports field manager: Hi Phil. I’m Joe Smith with the Springfield Ducks.
- Phil: Oh yeah, what do you do for them?
- Joe: I get to create a beautiful and durable playing surface for the athletes. It’s great to see the coaches and players enjoy their time on the field. The fans love it too.
- Phil: What do you like best about it?
- Joe: It’s just great working on a natural grass field. There are just so many benefits to the players and the environment from real grass.
ES helps and hindrances
With the basics and this example in mind, it’s important to consider the whole communication process that most of us take for granted. In the simplest of conversation exchanges, a message must be created and sent to a listener; the listener then receives it, assigns meaning to it, formulates a response and sends it back to the original sender. All of this happens in a matter of seconds.
Unfortunately, most conversations and elevator speeches are not that simple. As the process moves along in a back-and-forth or circular fashion, the messages get sent through “noisy channels.” Even if two people are standing right next to each other, “noises” – better known as message disrupters – reduce the effectiveness of the transmission of the message. Although there are many disrupters, some of the more common ones include monotone delivery, regional accents, poor body language, lack of eye contact, poor choice of clothing, frowns, assumptions, jargon, non-answers, hearing problems and background noises. All of these get in the way of the sender delivering their message and the receiver understanding what it means. On the opposite side of disruption, being clear, purposeful and to the point will enhance the process.
[First-level subhead, bold] Preparing for your ES
In preparation for delivering an ES, creating message points is a good first step. Simply writing out phrases on a pad of legal paper is a great way to get started. This way, there’s no pressure and it’s easy to cross off any words that sound rough and circle words that sound better. Phrases such as “I’m a spray technician” and “I scout for diseases and insects every week” are short, sweet and insightful. As they are created, think also about how attractive or unique they sound. To some listeners of an ES, a spray technician or scout is really interesting in they don’t know anyone who sprays or inspects turf for a living. Attractive and/or unique words or descriptors are called “ear candy.” In the radio and music business, they’re called a “hook,” which is something that creates a strong appeal or interest on the part of the listener. Using ear candy and hooks will greatly strengthen the ES. Popular songs such as “YMCA” by the Village People and “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond are played at baseball games because they’re easy to sing along to and invite participation by the spectators.
The bait, the hook and the barb
When you break it down further, there’s more to it than just the hook; there’s the bait, the hook and the barb. Bait is something to capture attention, the hook is that which holds the listener’s attention for a little while, and the barb is what keeps them on the hook for a little longer. To illustrate, let’s go back to the Birmingham Ducks example:
Bait: Hi Phil. I’m Joe Larson with the Springfield Ducks.
Hook: I get to create a beautiful and durable playing surface for the athletes. It’s great to see the coaches and players enjoy their time on the field. The fans love it too.
Barb: It’s just great working on a natural grass field. There are just so many benefits to the players and the environment from real grass.
Be ready for follow-up questions
For the most part, green industry conversation partners tend to be supportive and receptive of an ES message. Their experience and knowledge of turf, plants, soil, pests and cultural practices seems to predispose them as effective listeners from the start. Non-industry listeners are usually unfamiliar with the specifics of turf care. With each group, follow-up questions should be expected.
Follow-up questions from a non-industry person tend to be things such as “What do you do in the offseason?” and “What are your most common problems?” Questions from people within the industry might be along the lines of “Any new projects on the horizon?” and “Anything work particularly well for you this past year?” Some non-industry people can ask “gotcha” questions such as “I’ve heard that sports fields apply lots of water to keep the grass green…isn’t that wasteful?” “Doesn’t fertilizer cause pollution?” and “Don’t you have to spray dangerous pesticides on your job?” Be ready with short, concise replies, such as, “We regularly audit our irrigation system to improve efficiency and are working on converting some areas to non-turf to save water,” “We use slow-release nutrient products to limit movement to the groundwater” and “We scout and monitor the turf and trees before applying any pest control agents and actually, often use non-chemical solutions to control pests.”
Other short messages, often called “work-ins” can be utilized if called for. Examples of some phrases of turfgrass justification include:
- Turfgrass is important for cooling the air
- Fifty-five square feet of turfgrass produces enough oxygen for one person for a day
- Turfgrass filters the air
- Turfgrass recharges and filters groundwater supplies
- Reduces stormwater runoff
- Controls soil erosion
- Retains and sequesters carbon
- Restores soil quality
Practice, practice, practice
Delivering a good ES is just like any other skill – it takes time, dedication and practice. After setting goals, writing out message points and weaving them together into one piece, start practicing by placing a small mirror on a desk along with the ES outline, then run through it from start to finish. Making small mistakes and using excessive pauses is not a problem at this point; in most cases, running through it five or six times will eliminate them. The next part of practice is to deliver the ES to a friend, introducing yourself and waiting for responses. After you’ve run through it a couple of times, ask them for their honest feedback. They will most likely notice little things that will be very helpful. Another piece of guidance is to watch good and bad elevator speeches on platforms such as YouTube. Seeing someone else in this endeavor is also helpful.
ROI and the law of diminishing returns
As with many aspects of life, the law of diminishing returns applies. Spending too much time explaining your background, your everyday job duties, your hopes and dreams, your challenges and so on greatly reduces the effectiveness of an ES.
In addition to the value of extra time spent, there are many dos and don’ts that apply to elevator speeches:
Dos
- Keep sentences and phrases short and clear. People trust the clear and mistrust the long and unclear.
- Listen carefully to each response from a communication partner and pause slightly before responding.
- Maintain steady eye contact.
- Wear a shirt with your company/stadium/ball club’s logo on it.
- Sit up/stand up straight, smile and relax.
- Hit the four central message points and have one more in mind in case it is needed.
- Be positive.
Don’ts
- Don’t interrupt the ES listener when they respond. It’s rude and counterproductive.
- Don’t use jargon (IPM, wetting agents, topdressing) with non-industry listeners.
- Don’t use a lot of gestures – they’re distracting.
- Don’t avoid the opportunity to deliver an ES. The opportunity may never be available again.
- Don’t badmouth your current employer, even if they deserve it.
Other applications for an ES
In addition to reaping the obvious benefits of an ES, there are at least two other realms where they can be utilized. In a job interview, there will many questions and a lot of back-and-forth discussion, but at the heart of it all are the core tenets of an ES – your name, who you work for, what you do and why you do it. Of course, chances are good that there may have been several employers and various roles for each, but the basics are the same.
Another application is the promotion and justification of sports turf and the green industry in general. These opportunities can range from television interviews to short presentations to youth sports teams and neighborhood groups. These efforts are much like planting seeds that might or might not grow and yield fruit. If they do, the positive outcome will be directly related to you.
John C. Fech is a horticulturist with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Certified Arborist with the International Society of Arboriculture. The author of two books and more than 400 popular and trade journal articles, he focuses his time on teaching effective landscape maintenance techniques, water conservation, diagnosing turf and ornamental problems, and encouraging effective bilingual communication in the green industry.
