Friday, May 22, 2015

More Thoughts on Thirty Seconds

As I network, I listen intently to others' "30 second commercials" and "30 second elevator speeches".  As I have noted before these vary in quality.  Another matter I notice is repetition.  There is sometimes a place for it, but it does pay to freshen the text regularly.

In my thinking, a standard 30-second spot is perfect for known first contact situations, almost certainly in 1:1 environments like "speed dating".  Those are absolutely cases where a first impression makes a huge difference.  And in such cases the most polished delivery works for you.

Then there are networking groups, leads groups, BNI clubs, and more.  Here, repetition of the same thing is deadly.  I have reached the point in mine where I can almost reproduce some others' "30 second commercial" word-for-word.  These poor folks have become wind-up monkeys and I see others tune out.  I really enjoy speakers who always have something new to say, perhaps another way they helped someone, or a new fact that makes their service compelling, or a new way of understanding what they do.  For the fresh-deliveries, in no cases is the core message changing.  It is reinforced by supporting detail.  

A great question for all of us.  How fresh is our "30 second commercial"?  Are people tuning in or tuned out?

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