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The very first thing your pitch should do is introduce you to your listener. Immediately launching into an anecdote about your accomplishments or a list of your skills might leave your listener feeling a little bewildered.  For example, you can start by saying something like, “Hi, I’m Amanda Smith. I just recently graduated from the University of Maine’s marketing program,” or, “Hi, I’m Ryan Long and I work in manufacturing sales.” In both examples, your listener immediately learns your name and the most important thing about you. Now that your listener knows who you are, tell them why you are at the event you’re both attending. It might be a job fair or an industry conference or you might just be dropping off a resume. In each situation, you should know why you’re there.  For example, if you’re attending a job fair, your objective is probably to get a job. You could say something like “Hi, I’m Amanda Smith. I just recently graduated from the University of Maine’s marketing program. I’m looking for an entry-level position in social media coordination.” You could also say something like, “Our auto parts manufacturing business has been growing, but I’m looking to take our sales numbers to record-breaking heights.” In both examples, your listener has learned who you are, what you do, and what you’re looking for next in only two sentences. The best way to convince your listener that you can reach your stated objective is to share past successes. This tells your listener that you already have a good track record in your field. Use the CAR technique for this: Give the context for your accomplishment, the action you took, and the result of that action. For example, your accomplishment might be that you improved your company’s sales over the last quarter. The context might be that sales were okay, but you believed they could be better. Your action might have been that you sat down with the sales team and reworked your entire selling strategy. Your result was that your company’s sales increased. Telling your listener what skills you have allows you to emphasize what you can do for them in the future (and not just what you’ve already done for someone else in the past). Share both your hard skills – things like degrees, certifications, and work experience – and your soft skills – things like being good at interpersonal communication or an excellent writer. For example, you might say something like “I have a Master’s Degree in Business and worked for eight years as the assistant sales manager for a smaller auto parts manufacturer. My superiors have always commented on my ability to communicate clearly and effectively with our clients.” Your call to action is basically what you can do to seal the deal after you’ve made the pitch. This will look differently from situation to situation, but it should set up the next step in your relationship with this new contact. For example, you can end your pitch by saying something like “Can we set up a meeting to discuss how I can increase your company’s sales?” You can also end it more simply by saying “I think I could be a great asset to your company; can I give you my business card?”
Tell your listener who you are and what you do. State your objective. Share your accomplishments. Share your skills. Close with a call to action.