elevator pitch

plural elevator pitches

1. A brief and simple sales pitch; a short summary of a business plan, process, or product, and its selling point and value proposition.

   Once you've found the right person, the art is in making an elevator pitch—spill the beans fast.

   1998, Electronic Business, volume 24, Highlands Ranch, Colo.: Cahners Business Information, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 8, column 1

   3 more examples

   An elevator pitch raises more questions than it answers but they are likely to be questions about how the business works, not what it is.

   1998, Don Pfarrer, Guerrilla Persuasion: Mastering the Art of Effective and Winning Business Presentations, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, →ISBN, page 110

   This chapter is about the elevator (or lift) pitch: what it is, how you develop one and how to use it effectively. It is a single sentence that describes your work and which you can deliver in 30 seconds or less – the time it takes an elevator to travel from one floor to another. […] If you want to create a compelling elevator pitch, it needs to be short and accurate. […] The elevator pitch is about getting your message across in the shortest possible time.

   2010, Frances Kay, “The Elevator Pitch”, in Successful Networking: How to Build New Networks for Career and Company Progression, London; Philadelphia, Pa.: Kogan Page, →ISBN, page 137

   Elevator pitches are called what they are for a reason. They force you to focus your personal pitch to the mere 30 seconds or so a typical elevator ride takes. The term is old, but the concept remains relevant.

   2017, Sara Kelly, “Brand You”, in Personal Branding for Entrepreneurial Journalists and Creative Professionals, New York, N.Y.; Abingdon, Oxon.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 66

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see elevator, pitch.

   Control the glide descent angle through small amounts of elevator pitch movements.

   1987, Dave Prochnow, Flight Simulator and Flight Simulator II: 82 Challenging New Adventures, Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.: TAB Books, →ISBN, page 39

   Synonyms: elevator speech, elevator statement