Last weekend, I made a trip to Goodwill and ran into my old friend James. We hadn’t seen each other in years so we were really excited for the chance to quickly catch up. I updated him on things going on in my life and we had a few laughs about the high school and college days. I then asked him, “So what’s new with you?” His reply was this:

I recently obtained by MBA from Loyola University and I am narrowing down a few opportunities. Over the past 5 years, I gained experience in project management, event planning, budgeting, leadership development and sales. Right now, I’m looking for Project Manager positions in the area. In the near future, I hope to start a consulting business helping companies manage their client portfolios.

I was blown away! I was ready to hire James right now and this wasn’t even a job interview. I could tell that he was really in job-searching mode. What was more impressive was that James delivered the perfect elevator speech to me and I don’t even think those were his intentions.

An elevator speech is an introduction that is used to articulate a professional message about yourself. It is your own commercial that showcases who you are, what you do and what you can contribute. It should be short, yet impressive so that you are able to clearly get your message across about your area of expertise. Elevator speeches are no more than 30 seconds, but impressive enough to capture the listener’s attention, leaving them wanting to know more about you.

There are four components to a good elevator speech. Start with a quick introduction, followed by your career goals and experience. You should always end by mentioning what you can offer. Do this by emphasizing your skills so that the listener gets a feel for what you bring to the table and what makes you unique. James highlighted that he had project management, event planning, leadership development, budgeting and sales experience. I could immediately get a feel for who he was as a professional because he highlighted his areas of expertise. To add an extra touch, try including what you are looking to do in the future. It gives the listener a chance to hear what you are passionate about and what excites you.

Having a general elevator speech will take you very far when you’re networking. You never know when you’ll use it and when you do, you want to give off a professional image. Using the four components above, come up with your own elevator speech and remember to limit it to 30 seconds. Once you have your elevator speech memorized, head to a Goodwill store and practice :-). And, while you’re there, don’t forget to pick up some professional attire to wear. Goodwill has lots of nice interview and business professional attire to choose from (see How to Find the Perfect Interview Outfit at Goodwill).