Pronouns are tricky things, and when and how to use them in elevator speeches is important. No, I’m not giving you a grammar lesson, but instead discussing how pronoun usage affects how people react to your speech.

I’ll be splitting this one over two days. Today, I’ll tackle “you.” Tomorrow I’ll discuss when you use “I” vs. “we.”

It’s very tempting to use “you” in an elevator speech. You are talking to a group of people, and you probably want to attract some of them as potential customers. But we resent being sold to uninvited and using “you” in a speech can come across that way.

Let me show you why. Take the following example:

“Hi, I’m Juli and I offer business services. I’m looking to work with people just like you, so if what I say interests you, please come talk to me later.”

Before you say that’s unrealistic, understand that I have heard speeches using that exact formula. It’s not wrong, exactly, and if there’s a good story there, someone might respond by asking “tell me more.” But it does sound like the speaker is trying to sell the group, which may leave some feeling uncomfortable. It also subtly discourages the audience from thinking of referrals for the speaker. The use of “you” sends us down the following thought process:

Do I need this product or service?
If yes, I might ask to learn more
If no, I’m done.

There’s nothing there that makes me think about finding a referral for the speaker. Let’s say this speech was given to a room of 20 people. That’s 20 potential clients. But the rule of thumb is that everyone knows at least 250-300 people on a first name basis. Why not structure your speech so it has the potential of attracting 5,000-6,000 potential clients?

Second example:

“Hi, I’m Juli, and I offer coaching services. I’m looking to work with small business owners who need to use social media more effectively. Who do you know who owns a restaurant or small retail business looking for more walk-in traffic? Please refer them to me.”

See the difference? The only place I used “you” was in the “who do you know” question. If someone in the audience fits my category, he or she can self-select to speak to me. But I’ve made it clear that I’m looking to work through the people in the room to get to their referrals.

This structure opens myself up to many more potential clients than using the “you” structure.

Make sense? Have you been using “you” statements in your elevator speech? Thinking you might change that?

Tune in tomorrow for when to use “I” or “we” in an elevator speech.

Tags: communication, Elevator Speech, Referrals

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 5th, 2010 at 6:41 am and is filed under Referrals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.