Elevator pitch

The name—elevator pitch—reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty seconds to two minutes.

According to Rosenzweig, Caruso was a senior editor at Vanity Fair and was continuously attempting to pitch story ideas to the Editor-In-Chief at the time, but could never pin her down long enough to do so simply because she was always on the move.

[1] So, in order to pitch her ideas, Caruso would join her during short free periods of time she had, such as on an elevator ride.

Philip Crosby, author of The Art of Getting Your Own Sweet Way (1972) and Quality Is Still Free (1996) suggested individuals should have a pre-prepared speech that can deliver information regarding themselves or a quality that they can provide within a short period of time, namely the amount of time of an elevator ride for if an individual finds themselves on an elevator with a prominent figure.

Once they reached the floor where the CEO was getting off, Crosby was asked to deliver a full presentation on the topic at a meeting for all of the general managers.

According to the Idaho Business Review,[4] the first two sentences of any elevator pitch are the most important, and should hook or grab the attention of the listener.