No matter what product or service you offer, it’s essential you have an elevator pitch—a way to explain your offering to strangers in a few brief sentences.

Being able to quickly and clearly communicate what you do increases the odds that a chance encounter might land you a prospective customer.

Roxana Bahar Hewertson, CEO of Highland Consulting Group, says, “If you can’t say who you are and what you do in a few sentences, you don’t know who you are and what you do and neither will anyone else.”

This is critically important, since you never know when you’ll bump into someone you might otherwise never hope to meet—and that’s when you must seize the moment to make your mark.

Julie Bawden-Davis, a contributor to Open Forum, enlists the advice of experts in crafting an elevator pitch “that leaves a lasting, positive impression.” (more…)