A New Way To Build A Better Self-Introduction
(By Gil Gerretsen) Professional rainmakers often seem to have trouble during conversations or networking events with getting their business story and self-introduction straight.
I've had many conversations with folks who BUMBLED through their firm’s message. I've been guilty of that many times as well. Even though I created BizTrek over 30 years ago, I still get frustrated sometimes because I could have been more succinct and done it better.
If only we could quickly tell people everything they needed to know about us or our firm! Too often, we just can't seem to find the right words at the time. We mutter some poorly framed message that we later regret. Hours later, we come up with the perfect thing you SHOULD have said.
That is perhaps one of the frailties of the human existence, but one place it should NOT happen is on your website's About Us page. It is one of the first pages new visitors will investigate after discovering a brand or professional that has captured their attention. It’s the best place to simplify and share your core message.
If you refine your About Us page and get it right, then your self-introduction during networking or business events can mirror it. It will flow naturally and provide consistency.
First, Tweak Your “About Us” Page
Begin by understanding that website visitors want to know the people behind the curtain - their origin, their story, their passion, and what makes them tick. Before they buy, they want to feel good about who they are buying from.
Certainly, there are no standard rules about building the perfect About Us page, but I've put together some things you might want to include. You don't need to incorporate them all, but consider sharing the following elements (concisely stated from the 10,000 foot level):
1) OVERVIEW - A sentence or two about what you do and what you sell.
2) ORIGIN - A sentence or two about why the business came into existence and how it has evolved since then.
3) OBSESSION - What kind of change do you want to create in this world. Who do you help? Why them?
4) OATH - What are the core values that drive your day-to-day operating decisions?
5) OPINIONS - Why your existing customers buy from you. Provide or link to social proof in the form of quotes or positive press mentions.
6) OPTIONS - Some prospects might want to follow your social media activity, so provide links.
7) OVERTURE - What should they do next? This is your call to action.
8) OMBUDSMEN - Business is about relationships (people to people) so introduce the humans who are the public face of the company.
9) PICTURES - You thought this was going to start with the letter "O" right? Visual elements will make your About Us page much more engaging. Consider including photos with the elements listed above. Perhaps pictures from the early days. Or behind-the-scene pictures. Product or action photos from current events might be interesting too.
Second, Tweak Your Self Introduction
Once you have built your About Us page content, it will be much easier to build your personal self-introduction.
What should your self-introduction include? There should be two parts:
1) The quick one-liner that can be shared in just a few seconds.
2) The maximum 30-second “elevator pitch” that would flag whether a further or future conversation might be appropriate. It would be your response when the other person says something like “Really! Tell me more.”
Your “one-liner” would simply be a personalized and casual version of the Overview statement from your About Us page.
Your “elevator pitch” would grow from your one-liner to include an abbreviated combination of your Origin, your Obsession, and your Overture. The last element is crucial. In a business conversation, you must always be assessing whether a next step is appropriate, and what that next step might be.
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