In every Communication there is a Storyline and often as Knowledge Managers we are at the center of it giving updates to leadership, interacting with project delivery teams and mostly Employee Engagement. Did you know that employee engagement directly correlates with a company’s financial health? Studies show that a majority of employees don’t feel engaged at work and one way is through effective Internal Communication. Employees have key questions and it is through answering these questions that you can increase employee morale and make sure you’re a Top Employer.

Now imagine the CEO of the company wants to come up with a newsletter where he speaks to the audience and makes a Connection. Often as Knowledge Managers when we are given this opportunity it’s a once in a lifetime chance and we want to make a good first impression, the Elevator Pitch.

Let’s begin with discussing the Biggest Elevator Pitch Myths and make it relatable to Knowledge Management Practices.

Prospects want consistency not creativity

MYTH:  If you give the same 30-Second Elevator Pitch to the same audience more than once, people will be bored.

TRUTH

• Repetition reinforces your message.
• The more times prospects hear the same message, the more likely they are to respond.
• Consistency implies integrity and trustworthiness.
• If you keep changing your Elevator Pitch your prospects don’t have time to respond

As Knowledge Managers, we conduct many train-the-trainer sessions for our KM Champions. Some of our Champions even record these sessions and look at it each time they engage with their internal stakeholders. Each time they are asked a question like the Benefit Realization of KM Contribution, they would look at your pitch and this repetitive sense making increases their understanding and consistency. In-time many of them don’t even have to come to you for a new joiner induction on introducing the portal, as they have now internalized the pitch and are confident. So, as Knowledge Managers we should work on perfecting our pitch the very first time and believe in our messaging, to ensure we are engaging a wider range of stakeholders through the community we engage on a daily basis.

Catch people at the right time

MYTH:  Once you’ve heard my Elevator Pitch, you don’t need to hear it again.

TRUTH

• There are always different people in the room.
• The people who already know you are in a different frame of mind today than they were last time.
• Your message strikes a different chord today than it did before.

Consulting Leaders often present Webinars and the KM team enables these sessions and anchors them. I remember during the last 10 minutes giving a short brief on the benefit realization to the audience a mix of Consulting, Sales and Delivery teams. My safe assumption was on an average there would be X leads generated as I was confident that there would be an average number of sales people who are responding to the proposal or delivering a client project and the solution presented helps their client. All of these sessions would be recorded and uploaded on the KM portal and after many weeks I would still get enquiries from a sales leader who attended the session then and now wants to engage with the presenter because as on today the solution meets his client demand. So as Knowledge Managers it’s important we focus on user personas and present out KM solutions Elevator Pitch as the messaging will eventually land and connect with our community at a later time if not today.

Focus increases opportunities

MYTH: Casting a wide net creates more opportunities

TRUTH

• Prospects are distracted.
• Prospects are busy.
• Prospects are being bombarded with messages.
• Narrow focus makes you stand out.

Many KM Professionals start with the Overview slide and then onwards dwell into the KM Offerings and benefits and go so wide that the audience has lost the plot. According to this blog post by Dan Steer we need to answer 3 questions.  

• What’s your point? Knowledge Management is often a relatable subject and hence it’s important we break the ice through Conversation ensuring we introduce ourselves and talk about What We do for our larger Community?,  the ways we enable business value through execution enabling self, teams and larger enterprise.  
• What’s in it for me? Knowledge Management Governance frameworks define the span of control and if a user is outside this circle then it is obvious they would want clarity on the reason they should be involved in enabling Knowledge Management.
• What do you want me to do?  This question aims to involve the user and engage them in contributing to KM as a Decision Maker (sponsor), Implementer (KM Team) or Influencer (KM Governance Team including the Steering Committee at times)

 
In-Summary to Put it all Together

As Knowledge Managers we make an Elevator Pitch each day in ensuring through our Conversations we enable our leaders to build trust through Internal Communication Digital Channels. Leaders are looking for Connecting with the larger enterprise and building trust to increase employee engagement and morale indirectly impacting financial performance as employees feel wanted.

There are myths of an elevator pitch and how as Knowledge Managers our behavior should be contrary to ensure we deliver impact. It is important we reinforce how KM can enable our teams and in-time help our community to elevate their understanding of how KM is beneficial.

We are called to Practice-Practice-Practice our Elevator Pitch and make it consistent rather than confusing our audience each time. In-time our km champions likewise leaders should recognize elements that ensure they revisit the KM portal and apply the knowledge rather than have us catch them or practice a pull-based rather than push-based KM. 

With time we should focus on ensure a strong KM governance framework and ensuring our internal stakeholders find KM relatable to participate in driving the adoption and we as KM practitioners can focus on capturing more business value of use-cases that they partner with us to capture each day.

Disclaimer: These are purely my own views and experiences as a seasoned KM practitioner in driving employee engagement and operationalizing the KM strategy through helping employees Connect & Collaborate.

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About the Author: Michael Sequeira is an independent consultant who is passionate about helping organizations discover how KM can be a key differentiator for their business, teams, and clients. If you would like to learn more about his background and get-in-touch you can connect with him on LinkedIn.