Elevator Pitch Template
Ten, Thirty and Sixty Seconds, Built From Your Positioning
Short answer
An elevator pitch has five parts, in a fixed order. Start with the buyer's situation, then what they do about it today, what you do differently, one piece of proof, and a question back. Write it at ten, thirty and sixty seconds, in the words buyers use.
1. What is an elevator pitch actually for?
An elevator pitch exists to earn the next question, not to close. If the listener asks how it works or whether it would suit them, the pitch did its job. If they nod politely, it did not.
- Elevator pitch
- A short spoken description of what a company or product does and for whom, designed to be understood in well under two minutes and to prompt a follow-up question.
- Also known as: Elevator speech, Pitch
The usual definition puts an elevator pitch at roughly thirty seconds to two minutes and stresses that the first two sentences carry most of the weight [s1]. In practice, small teams need it in three places: the answer to "so what do you do?" at an event or on a call, the first lines of a LinkedIn or podcast introduction, and the opening of a sales conversation.
The pitch is not the positioning statement. The positioning statement is an internal tool, written in the "for, who, unlike" structure, precise and a bit stiff. The pitch takes the same decisions and says them the way a person would, starting from the listener's situation. If you do not have a positioning statement yet, write that first; the pitch has nothing to stand on without it.
2. What are the parts of a good elevator pitch?
Five parts, in this order: the situation, the current alternative and what it costs, what you do differently, one proof point, and a question. The order matters because it starts with the listener, not with you.
| Part | What it does | Where it comes from | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Situation | Names a situation the listener recognizes | Your ideal customer profile, the buying trigger | Opening with your company name and category |
| 2. Current alternative | Says what people do about it today and what that costs | Your competitive alternatives, often a manual process | Attacking a named competitor |
| 3. The difference | One thing you do that the alternative does not | Your differentiation and value proposition | Listing three features |
| 4. Proof | A single concrete example or number you can back up | Customer results, demos, reviews | Vague claims like "loved by clinics" |
| 5. Question | Hands the conversation back | Your qualifying questions | Ending with a website address |
Parts two and three do the heavy lifting. A listener cannot value a difference until they know what it is different from, which is why pitches that skip straight from "we are a platform for" to features get polite nods. Naming the current alternative, especially the manual one, gives the difference something to push against.
3. What is the fill-in elevator pitch template?
Use one fill-in structure per length. The ten-second version is parts one and three. The thirty-second version adds the alternative and a question. The sixty-second version adds proof and a short example.
| Length | Use it for | Template |
|---|---|---|
| 10 seconds | Introductions, event badges, the first line of a bio | We help [who] [get outcome] without [the painful part of the current alternative]. |
| 30 seconds | "So what do you do?", a call opener | You know how [who] usually [current alternative]? The problem is [cost of that]. We [what you do differently], so [outcome]. Is that something you deal with? |
| 60 seconds | Podcast intros, partner meetings, a longer event conversation | Most [who] still [current alternative], which means [cost]. Other tools [what they do], but [why that misses]. We [difference]. For example, [customer] [concrete result]. How are you handling [the situation] at the moment? |
Should the pitch mention the company name?
At the end, or not at all. The listener remembers the situation and the difference; the name only sticks once they care. In a written introduction, the name is already on the page. In person, "we're [your company name], by the way" after they ask a question lands better than opening with it.
4. What does a finished elevator pitch look like?
Here are the three lengths for your company, pictured as a booking tool for small physio clinics. Each is built from the same positioning, with the paper diary as the alternative and course booking as the difference.
| Length | Pitch |
|---|---|
| 10 seconds | We help small physio clinics fill their diary without answering the phone between treatments. |
| 30 seconds | You know how most small physio clinics still take bookings by phone, between patients? That means interrupted treatments and patients who drop off halfway through a course. We let patients book the whole course online in one go, so the diary fills itself. Is booking something you handle yourself at the moment? |
| 60 seconds | Most physio clinics with a few practitioners take bookings by phone and a paper diary, so someone is answering calls between treatments and patients quietly drop off after two sessions. The big practice systems solve it, but they take weeks to set up and cost more than a small clinic wants to spend on booking. We built a booking system just for clinics: patients book their whole treatment course at once, and it is live the same afternoon. One two-practitioner clinic stopped taking booking calls entirely in its first month. How are you handling bookings right now? |
Notice what the sixty-second version does with the competitor. It never names Sondera; it describes the category of alternative ("the big practice systems") and its cost. Naming a rival in a pitch invites a debate about them. Describing the type of alternative keeps the conversation on the listener's situation.
5. How do I know the pitch works?
Say it to ten people who fit your target customer and count the follow-up questions. A pitch that works gets "how does that work?" or "would that work for us?". Rewrite the part people ask you to repeat.
- Read it aloud and time it. Written pitches are almost always too long. Read each version aloud at a normal pace, with a timer. Cut words until the thirty-second version really fits in thirty seconds without rushing.
- Remove every word a buyer would not say. Replace category jargon ("platform", "solution", "end-to-end") with the words customers use in reviews and on calls. If you would not say it to a friend, it does not belong in the pitch.
- Try it on ten people in the target segment. Use it for real at events, on calls and in introductions. After each one, note whether the listener asked a follow-up question and what it was. The questions tell you which part landed.
- Rewrite what confuses people. If people ask "so is it like a calendar app?", the difference is not clear. If they ask about price immediately, the situation resonated. Adjust one part at a time and try again.
In Oppira, the Positioning Statement, Value Propositions and Message House sit together in the playbook. When the agent proposes a change to one of them because a competitor moved, you see the proposed edit with the signal that caused it, which is the moment to rewrite the pitch too, rather than discovering months later that it describes an old position.
Key Takeaways
The goal is the next question
A pitch works when the listener asks how it works or whether it fits them. It is an opener, not a close.
Start with their situation
Opening with the listener's situation instead of your company name makes the rest of the pitch relevant.
Name the current alternative
A difference only means something against what people do today. The manual process is often the best contrast.
Write three lengths
Ten, thirty and sixty seconds cover introductions, "what do you do?" and longer conversations.
One proof point you can back up
A single concrete example beats three adjectives. Only use results you can substantiate if asked.
Test aloud on real buyers
Time it, strip the jargon, try it on ten people who fit, and rewrite the part that confuses them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources
- Elevator pitch Wikipedia, September 2026.General definition, typical length and the importance of the opening sentences.
- A Quickstart Guide to Positioning April Dunford, March 2021.On competitive alternatives, which the pitch uses as its point of contrast.
- Advertising FAQ's: A Guide for Small Business U.S. Federal Trade Commission, September 2026.Why proof points need evidence before you use them in marketing.
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