by Steve Laube
Small Message, Big Impact by Terri L. Sjodin is this month’s “Book of the Month.” I recommend that every veteran and aspiring writer read this book and glean from it.
The key to this book is in the subtitle: How to Put the Power of the Elevator Speech Effect to Work for You. Sjodin defines the elevator speech as: “A brief presentation that introduces a product, service, philosophy, or an idea. The name suggests the notion that the message should be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride, up to about three minutes. Its general purpose is to intrigue and inspire a listener to want to hear more of the presenter’s complete proposition in the near future.”
For years I have been trying to hammer home the necessity of putting a book, either fiction or non-fiction into a sound bite. A quick and powerful presentation of the idea. One so strong that the shopper, the potential reader, is intrigued.
This is not an easy thing to learn but it is critical in this day and age of Distraction (with a capital “D”).
The author’s book is designed for the business world in sales and marketing but I believe it has wonderful application for authors.
Get a copy for yourself and then leave a comment here as to what you thought of the book. Hardback is about $15.50 as of this writing. The Kindle edition is $7.69. Nook edition is $7.99.
Confession: I don’t have this book yet, but I’m sure it will be helpful to anyone to reads it and takes it seriously.
I tell all my editing clients and writing proteges about the elevator pitch. (Learned about it from Terry Whalin originally.) I drive it home to them that they need to be able to explain the novel enough to hook an editor or an agent in 50 words or fewer. It is a great help with the foot in the door.
It also helps when people in general ask what you’re writing. They don’t want a long, drawn out synopsis. They want a single sentence that will let them say “oh, really” and go on. Or “tell me more” and sit down for a real conversation about your writing.
I am a social worker for hospice, which is unfortunately a very misunderstood healthcare service. We are working hard to educate people about hospice and to dispel the many myths surrounding this fabulous service. As part of that, we all work on our “elevator speeches” about what we do and why hospice is so great. It really does make a difference.