Everyone needs an elevator speech

I know we’ve all heard about it, but how many times have you needed to use it? I’m talking about your elevator speech. Google defines an elevator speech as a clear, brief message or “commercial” about you. It communicates who you are, what you're looking for and how you can benefit a company or organization. It's typically about 30 seconds, the time it takes people to ride from the top to the bottom of a building in an elevator. If you are a superintendent or someone working in our industry, being prepared for that one time when someone asks you what you do can make a big difference in how that person perceives you. This can also have a huge impact in how you relate to your lawmakers as many of us will be attending our state golf days as well as National Golf Day.

Image by claybanksstudio.com

We all have our own elevator speech and are probably not even aware of it. Let’s say you run into an old friend and they ask you, “How’s the family?” For the next 30 seconds, you will probably give them a brief update on the kids and your spouse and then you’re off to the next subject. This morning after my swim at the gym, I was enjoying the sauna for a few minutes and started a light conversation with a gentleman sitting across from me. He proceeded to ask me what I did for a living so I explained that I was a golf course superintendent by trade and am now currently working for the golf course superintendent's national association (GCSAA). I knew right away that this guy wasn’t a golfer when he asked me how we keep the grass so green. I went into my elevator speech and told him how superintendents are always in the quest for knowledge and how we constantly work to reduce our inputs. Then I gave him my favorite analogy, which worked out great since I wasn’t wearing my shirt. As I patted my tummy, I said, "turfgrass is like you and me, if we overfeed it and give it too much to drink, it becomes unhealthy." Right then, I saw that look in his eye. It was either the fact that he instantly got the point or he was repulsed by my budding spare tire. I would like to think that it was the prior.
My point is: I gathered enough information in that short period to give him the golf course superintendents perspective on fertilizer and pesticide use. I feel like he left enlightened on our position and could probably tell someone else the same story. It’s all about one victory at a time. We may not be able to change the masses in one fell swoop, but if we all work as individuals with a common message, or our elevator speech, we may be able make a difference just one encounter at a time.