CAB 5 : Elevator Pitch and Small Talks

Hello everyone.

From the last edition of the newsletter, you have already identified the people that you need to network with. Now you have to start executing your networking plan.

You have to start planning whether you want to arrange a 1 to 1 meeting with them or just a casual meet whenever possible such as during a company townhall meeting or during lunch in the office pantry.

Whichever way it is, what is important is that you have to prepare what you want to let them know about you and your achievements.

This is where the concept of ‘Elevator Pitch’ comes in handy. It is a term from America because in Malaysia, we don't call it Elevator, we call it Lift.

‘Elevator Pitch’ in this context means a short introduction about yourself. In theory, you should be able to deliver it while you are on an elevator ride, therefore it should only be about 30secs to 1 minute long. It’s not that long.

I suggest that you include

• What you do now

• Summary of key past working experience

• 1 key achievement

For example, if I were to introduce myself to a senior colleague from Boehringer Ingelheim who I have never met before, I would use this.

“My name is Azhar. I am the Head of Medicine for Malaysia, Singapore & Indonesia. I started working for BI in Ingelheim 12 years ago. I was there for 4 years before moving to the US for 2 years and now I'm back in Malaysia. I was a Team Leader in the global team that launched Pradaxa”

Clear and simple.

The ‘Elevator Pitch’ is your conversation starter and let’s see where the conversation takes you after that.

People often say to me as well that they don’t know what to talk about when they have to network. To help you with this, you have to do your research about the person that you are meeting.

What do you know about that person? What is their personal situation? Single or married? Kids or no kids? Family topic is always an easy conversation topic.

What about their career progression? Where have their worked before? If they have worked abroad before, you can ask about their experience working abroad. If they have worked in other companies, you can ask them what is the difference in terms of work culture.

What about their hobby? If you don't know what their hobby is then check their social media accounts. You might get some clues there from their Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn postings.

What about their opinion of the current news? This one is also an easy item for a conversation. For example right now in Malaysia one of the big news is about our Prime Minister DSAI meeting up with Elon Musk to discuss about the investment of Tesla in Malaysia.

To help you remember this, you can use the acronym FROG

F - Family

R - Recreational hobby

O - Occupation/Career progression

G - General news

With your ‘Elevator Pitch’ and FROG ready, you should be able to have a great conversation with whoever that you needed to network with.

Use FROG to help you with making small talks when networking.

Write down your ‘Elevator Pitch’ for your next meeting with an important person that you need to network with