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A guy at the Detroit meetup told me my handshake pitch was too long, and I still don't know if he was right
Went to that networking breakfast in Troy a while back and when we did the 30 second intro thing, I gave my whole spiel about my roofing company. Afterward this older guy pulled me aside and said it ran 47 seconds and he zoned out around the 20 second mark. I cut my pitch down to one line about flat roofs on commercial buildings in Detroit, and now I get way more follow up cards, but I also feel like I'm leaving stuff out. Two sides here: short and punchy so people remember you, or longer so they actually know what you do. Anyone else get feedback at one of these events that made them change their whole approach?
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skylerkelly1mo ago
The part about cutting it to one line is smart, but the old guy wasn't totally right... people don't zone out at a set time, they zone out when you're not giving them anything to grab onto. A 47 second pitch that keeps landing hits works fine, while a 15 second one that's all facts about you puts people to sleep. So it's less about short vs long and more about whether the first few seconds make them want the next few.
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