Welcome back to the Look and Sound of Leadership, an ongoing series of executive

coaching tips designed to help you be perceived in the workplace the way you want

to be perceived. I'm Tom Henschel, your executive coach, and today we're talking

about elevator speeches. Weston was disgusted with himself. Man, did I miss a great opportunity, he said in the first minutes of our coaching session?

I ran into Brad, the division president, on my way to the parking lot on Monday, for

a change he actually had a minute to chat. So first we were

talking about our weekends but then he asked me about the Chandler Project and I

started babbling like a junior intern. I sure didn't sound like the project lead. It was horrible.

Weston knew he'd had an opportunity to give the President an elevator speech, a crisp executive summary that lasts no longer than an elevator ride.

But because he was unprepared, his comments were anything but crisp.

My friend and colleague Lois Frankel has a saying when she coaches people about creating strong networks. She says, by the time

you need a relationship it's too late to build one.

Here's my variation on her saying,

By the time you need an elevator speech, it's too late to make one up.

A few minutes with a senior leader as Weston had is just one situation where an elevator

speech will help you sound executive.

At a social gathering someone asks, what do you do?

That's an elevator speech opportunity.

At an all-hands meeting, someone from another division asks about an inter-departmental

initiative.

That's an elevator speech opportunity.

On a conference call with team members, someone asks for an update on a customer.

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