Written by Lauren Kutsko
Keynote
How to Get Your Message Across in 60 Seconds or Less
Andy Gray
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou
As a communication expert with over 35 years experience, Andy guided us through helpful practices to build our confidence in understanding our own story and authentically communicating with others.
He started his talk by saying this: “The biggest take away that I hope you leave with is that everything you do to prepare for your interview also falls into the preparation that is required for the 60 second moment they ask you, so tell me about yourself.”
To learn how to communicate your story in 30 seconds takes practice and work. We only have 7 seconds to make an impression.
Your 30 second elevator pitch should communicate:
- Who are you?
- How do you fit?
- Why should they think of you?
We start to understand this by a process of introspection.
Find out who you are by listing the following:
- Your skills – abilities, education and professional experiences
- Your passion – Passions and personality are keys to a strong brand
- Your niche – The key to success is specialization. “The nicher, the richer.” Your natural gifts are part of your strengths and value.
Take time to write the lists out so that you remember and can reflect. It’s important to convey passion during the conversation. People want to see your spark!
Another way to come up with content for your 30 second elevator pitch is to think about your unique features and benefits and who would benefit and care about them.
- Features – what you are good at
- Benefit – how your features are helpful to others
- Target audience- who would care about the feature
- Why would they be interested
One tool to help you find keywords being used in your industry is to use Google adwords. It is essentially a social thesaurus of the most popular words that have been searched in the last 30 days.
Embrace your story and your unique writing. Your 30 second elevator pitch should reflect who you are in a real way. You do not need to be anyone else but you!
After you have a strong understanding of your features and benefits, it’s also important to adapt the communication to different audiences, such as networking events, recruiters, interviews and more. Do research on the audience to understand as much as you can so you can craft your message with words these people want to hear. Use Google, Linkedin, Glassdoor for research purposes.
Once you have done the work of crafting your 60 second pitch make sure you represent this on your Linkedin profile. Also check out the profiles of those who are interviewing you so that you can know more about their passions.
Now it’s time to practice!
- Practice in front of cameras, mirrors and friends
- Practice on the phone
- Practice over coffee
- And don’t forget to dress the part!
Remember you can confidently and authentically communicate your desires and passions to others in a meaningful and memorable way if you take the time to craft and practice your story!
Hiring Companies
BASIS.ed
Mendy Metcalfe, Recruiting Manager
With 26 schools open and new ones opening each year, Basis Schools are growing like crazy. Basis is a very academically rigorous school that is ranked with Finland and Japan.
Their open positions are:
- Latin Teachers
- Kindergarten Teaching Fellows
- Elementary Teachers
- Math & Science
- General Teaching
- Monitors
- IT coordinators
- Front office coordinators
- Auxiliary program Coordinators
Visit their website to search positions by location for more detail.
Enchantment Group
Jennifer Albert – Sr. Manager of Reservations
Enchantment Group creates a culture of exceptional service in a dynamic company with lots of potential for growth. As a group of luxury destination experiences, the Enchantment Group has vast opportunities. In reservations they don’t just book the accommodation, they book the destination. Team members are just as important as the guests. Their goal is to make sure everyone is welcomed as a VIP guest.
Click here for all Enchantment job opportunities.
Tech Finders, HR Finders, and Finance Finders
Kristy Bach, Chief Operating Officer
Tech Finders, a female owned company, is obsessed and fanatical about making sure that the client and prospects feel understood and valued. Staffing is one of the best ways to get your foot in the door to get a contract position that turns into something extraordinary. Finders walks with you and helps you with insight and coaching so that you can interview with the most education and preparation as possible on the company. They also receive feedback on their client’s interviews, which can be used to help coach you for future interviews.
Explore available positions here.
Resources
Woz U
Scott Caruso, Software Development Advisor
Scott started coding at ASU and is currently enrolled in the Data Science program at Woz U. However there is no experience needed to begin a coding education with Woz U.
They teach:
- Java
- JavaScript
- .NET
- RubyonRails
- DataScience
This is the fastest growing area with many job openings unfilled. They also offer a coder for life program that allows you to come back for the rest of your life to learn updated coding anytime.
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