Marin Professionals IT Career Group

The EP and the Golden Tagline

Sean Nelson 

Ah, elevator pitch, you inevitable tool of those seeking the grail of
imminent employment, you are often repeated, carefully constructed,

quick, concise and hopeful.

EP, you are most certainly memorized, but not necessarily memorable.

Alas.

There is often a distinct lack of sparkle, creativity, 

humor or imagination in an EP. 

Many are sufficiently boring as to induce yawning in the

45 seconds it takes to deliver them. Let's not waste such a good opportunity
to make a memorable impression, and have a bit of a laugh while doing so.

For instance:

I know a fellow that is an experienced and superior financial analyst.

He is a true expert at excel. He often teaches people like me how to use it better,

so that our tables actually pivot when we want them to. Sadly, he has not always been
as fully employed as he would like.

The most powerful nugget from his elevator pitch is this: “I Make Excel Sing”.

He did once literally embed a link to some audio in a spreadsheet cell.

So yes, Excel sang when he wanted it to.

The line is memorable enough to build the rest of an elevator pitch
around it and that's just what he did.

And here's the tale:

Someone who heard his elevator speech at a routine networking event
later had an urgent need for a financial analyst with strong excel skills.

They remembered people saying that the guy who said he could make excel sing
really could. What they could not remember was the man's name.

Sounds like the story has a less than excellent ending for our friend.

What happened is that the forgetful listener called someone who had attended
the same networking event to see if their memory was any better.  And it was.

That golden tag line ensured that the networking connection was properly

made and this subsequently made everyone's day because our friend got hired.

Two problems were solved with one golden tagline.

The foremost value of a golden tagline is to distill a brand position into concise
and compelling consumer-centric terms.  Focusing on the consumer will likely 

resonate  with their needs and desires.  Supplier oriented statements are less than 

effective: “We Are Expert At Excel” does not have the nice ring to it that 

“We Make Excel Sing” does, even if both display Excel expertise.

What you're after is a good 'hook', just like a chorus in a pop song, that expresses

what the consumer is looking for, the voodoo that you do so well, in a few words..

Another fellow I know was an account manager for “a premier manufacturer, 

installer and  service provider of vertical and horizontal transportation technology”.

 He was recognized for his  positive energy, creativity, leadership skills and all sorts 

of really good things besides. 

Still, he found himself less than wonderfully employed and so needed to craft his EP. 

Like many effective ideas, his appears so obvious, 

that it could not possibly work.

My friend became the Elevator Guy. He was uplifting, safe, reliable and you certainly 

want all of that in your business. There was only a plethora of pithy puns that could be 

bought to bear. Everyone that ever heard his EP remembers him and what sort of 

opportunities he seeks.

Here are some devices that can be used to help in creating your very own golden tagline.

Alliteration:  Branding Bulldog (Marketing), The Compleat Communicator

 (Technical Writing), Bug Buster : Bug Finder : Bug Hunter (Software QA)

Metaphor/ Simile  : IT Swiss Army Knife (IT)

Mastery, with humor : “I bring your dreams, hopes and nightmares to life.” 

(3D Artist)

There are many more devices that can be bought to bear in enlivening the EP.

Many of these are rhetorical devices.  

Rhetoric was, once upon a time, considered an essential part of good education.  

Rhetoric has since seen its stock fall of the proverbial  cliff and is most often 

thought of as a slightly dishonest set of tricks employed by trial  lawyers and 

such.

Not so fast:  Shakespeare and the King James Bible are chock full of artful
use of   rhetorical  devices. If you forgot what a rhetorical device is, take a look here :

  Handbook Of Rhetorical Devices.

In closing, remember, the EP is not a good place to be generic or vague.

There may be other 'products' like you in the marketplace, but you do NOT
want to sound just like them.

Lively up yourself !