The concept of an "elevator pitch" is well established in the venture and entrepreneurial community. The typical scenario envisioned, when the term is used, and likely the origin of its name, is the following:

"You walk into the building of the perspective investor you've been courting over the last month. They meet you in the lobby of their building and you enter an elevator to go up to their floor. As the elevator door closes, one of the partners turns to you and says, "So what does your company do?" You respond to the question, as the elevator goes up a few floors."

Your response to that question, asked in that situation, is your elevator pitch. There are many different aspects to an elevator pitch, like: style, content, length, tone and usage. The focus of this article is to highlight three common attributes of successful elevator pitches.

Be Concise: Unfortunately the element in shortest supply in the elevator pitch is time. A typical elevator ride, up a few floors, is thirty seconds to a minute long. That kind of time constraint forces you to be brief, or lose the opportunity to make a solid first impression. In order to achieve the required brevity, you must prepare your message beforehand. Improvising a pitch, while possible, won't yield a high caliber result. It also won't give the kind of first impression you need and want to project for your organization. Another factor to consider when composing and condensing your pitch is word economy. You have to get your point across in the least amount of words. No orthogonal elements should be permitted. In the elevator pitch, less truly is more. Finally, practice, practice and more practice. The more times you give your elevator pitch, yes even in front of the mirror, the greater your fluidity, and therefore the less time you will consume. The clock is ticking and you have to beat it.

Be a Storyteller: A final suggestion for building the irresistible pitch: tell a great story. Your elevator pitch's success rate will substantially increase if you can leave behind a compelling story. You obviously won't be there every time your concept is discussed or evaluated; the same isn't true for your story. It not only enables others to understand what you are doing, but it also helps them recall your concept and company in future discussions. Like any good story you need a beginning: the customer's pain; the middle: your solution; and the end: the market value of your solution. Clearly, concisely and consistently told a solid story has the power to make your concept and your company resonate with almost any audience. A strong story can make the difference between getting funded and waiting for a call back.

Elevator pitches are an art as well as a science. If even one of the tips mentioned above enables you to more effectively deliver your pitch, then it may help you close that all important funding round.