Pitching Your Idea 1- BEFORE the Elevator Pitch

So you have this truly wonderful idea for an invention and you’ve actually begun to think about how you make it a real thing. Maybe you are drawing pictures or maybe you are already fooling around with creating a prototype. It goes without saying that soon after the moment of inspiration; you will find yourself in describing your idea to someone.

At that moment, you are pitching your idea for the first time.

From this moment on, you will pitch your idea again and again as you try to get help creating a prototype or try to find investors to help you get it manufactured.

To get what you want, you have to be ready to pitch your idea. That means that you have to think about what you want to say.

In the business world, there is a lot of talk about the “Elevator Pitch,” so called because it compels you to be able to describe your business plan to a stranger in the time it takes to ride in an elevator from the 1st floor to the 7th floor. The rationale is that a concise, carefully planned and practiced pitch is more likely to be successful than a stumbling, disjointed delivery.

Makes sense, right?

But my experience is that way before you reach the business plan stage, you have to pitch your idea, describing it to people who will help you in your inventor journey. For instance, you may ask your brother-in-law to loan you money to get started or you find at a meeting explaining your idea to the local inventors group.

I’m talking about the time BEFORE the “Elevator Pitch.” You aren’t actually pitching a business yet, but you are headed in that direction.

So I recommend creating a concise description of your invention as soon as possible:

Write it down;
1. Edit it; make it 25 words or less;
2. Use simple to understand words;
3. Make it sound compelling;
4. Then practice saying it. Say it so many times, that you are dreaming the words.

Here is my description the attachable eraser for a dry erase marker:

KleenSlate's eraser cap will fit on your dry erase marker. It's much better than using your finger. Would you buy a pencil without an eraser?

With this description ready to pop out of your mouth, you will be ready for ANY encounter. You never know when you will meet someone who can further your journey.

And you will have the first step of your “Elevator Pitch” ready to go.