Lift (or elevator) Speeches1
A “lift (elevator) speech” is a brief summary of your project, activity, or organisation that can be
delivered in the time it takes for an elevator to reach its destination (e.g. 30 seconds – 2 minutes).
This means that your speech needs to be short, sharp, clear and concise.
Developing a "lift speech" that fits these criteria, without scrimping on information about your
activity/organisation and what it does, requires a certain amount of preparation. However, spending
time on preparing a "lift Speech" for your activity/organisation has many benefits, including:
o Focuses and solidifies your message/ actions/ activities/ stance in the minds of
those who learn the speech.
o Provides a short, sharp basis to build on when explaining or introducing your
activity/organisation to those who know very little about it. A good icebreaker in
many situations.
o Can be tailored to certain situations depending on your current needs or activities –
for example, a volunteer drive, call for donations, publicity effort or awareness
raising exercise.
o It can be a time saver, as a good "lift speech" can be used as a basis to build on for
future advertising or media efforts.
o It can be a real asset for growth in numbers, recognition and influence for your
activity/group if it is effective and stays with people who hear it.
o It can provide some great sound bites – short, sharp, catchy quotes for
media/future funders.
A successful, personalized Lift speech contains two important elements:
1. Authenticity or genuineness – sharing your passion for your activity / the organisation and
letting your audience in on your personal connection to the organisation or what you are
doing
2. Relevancy – assessing your audience, addressing their specific interests and concerns, and
inviting their personalised involvement
Think about what you want people to remember about your activity, or organisation, and what you
would like them to do.
Add your own story. Make sure it has a beginning, a body and an end.
Think passion, relevance, and simplicity. Humour is also a great way of opening conversation up
further.
General Elevator Speech Outline
1. Your focus: With whom do you work and/or what is the problem or need you address
2. What your participants accomplish/achieve; How your participants benefit
 This is about them, not you
 This is about changes think what, not how
 If there is time, offer examples: “For example, we recently worked with…who was/were
1
Adapted from Thaler Pekar and Partners tpekar@thalerpekar.com; and Developing a Lift (or Elevator)
Speech for your community group www.ourcommunity.com.au
 trying to …. And through our work together they achieved/were able to…
3. What makes you passionate about what you do?
4. How the listener can get involved, a call to action
 Would you like to learn more?
 Tell me a little bit about your work/situation and I’ll explain how our service/activity might
be helpful.
Think about leaving people with one to two key messages.
It is worth practising your “lift speech” with friends, colleagues and family, so as to polish its content
and delivery.
One method for “Lift speeches” is to fill in the blanks of a sentence similar to the one below:
"(Name of group) works with (participant/client group) to (statement of need or Opportunity) so
they can (outcome) which means that (statement of key benefit).
For fundraising you can add:
We’re the only (unique selling point) and if we can raise another (amount) we can (forward
projection) and achieve (new goal)."
Aspects of Communities for Children you might want to include:





Free activities for local families and children (0-12)
Providing links to services and supports/information about health/child
development/parenting
Enhancing partnerships and collaboration between local organisations and services
Creating opportunities for families to find support/create new social networks
pathways for parents and children/families to get more involved in their local community
Broader CfC information:





funded though the federal government and operates in 45 sites around Australia
there are five Communities for Children sites in South Australia: Port Augusta, Murray Bridge,
Onkaparinga, Salisbury, and North Western Region (Port Adelaide)
the Facilitating Partner is a local non-government organisation (NGO) or NGO consortia
activities are developed in response to extensive local community consultation
CfC activities are delivered by local Community Partners who may be schools, government
departments, community groups etc as well as the Facilitating Partner team