How Client Storytelling Can Take the Fear Out of Your 60-Second Pitch

There are three main reasons my clients dread their elevator pitch:

1. They hate being/feeling “salesy.”
2. They think their business is “boring.”
3. They can’t fit everything they want to say about their business into just 60 seconds.

Do any of these sound familiar?

If so, I’ve got good news for you. There’s one straightforward yet powerful technique you can use to address all these issues with your pitch.

Storytelling. Client stories, to be specific.

Why client storytelling is so effective for your business pitch

Sharing a client story in your pitch by outlining the problem they came to you with, how you worked with them, and the results they achieved is a clear, structured, compelling way to let people know exactly how you work with your customers.

Strategically adding a client story to your pitch makes it conversational, helps the flow and piques the audience’s interest; a well-told story naturally makes you want to know more.

But there’s some science behind it too. When we hear a story, specific parts of our brain are activated, which means we experience the message being shared in a more connected and engaging way.

That makes it easier for us to draw meaning from it, relate to it and, of course, remember it!

But how does client storytelling solve the specific elevator pitch problems I mentioned earlier? Let’s look at each scenario in a bit more detail.

Related Reading: The 3 R’s of Storytelling: Use Them Wisely for a Powerful Presentation 

“I hate being salesy in my pitch”

No one wants to give the impression of being salesy, pushy, or overbearing in their 60-second pitch. So forget about the idea of “sales” or “selling” for a moment, and instead explain how you help people.

Think “show don’t tell.”

If you’re a garden designer, don’t just say, “I help people create gardens they love,” and then speak in general terms about the services you offer and the type of clients you work with.

Instead, tell the story of the client with three small children who’d been stuck in the house bouncing off the walls all through lockdown because the garden was just a pile of rubble.

This lady was at the end of her tether because she could never find a moment just for her throughout the day. And every time she looked out the window, the state of the garden made her even more frustrated.

But since working with you, every morning in the summer, she goes out onto her new decking area, overlooking her rose beds for at least 30 minutes of uninterrupted, blissful silence as she drinks her coffee while the children play happily on the lawn below.

You did so much more than figure out what to put where in her garden. You helped your client create a little slice of peace and half an hour of me-time in her frazzled and frantic day.

That’s the beauty of using a story in your pitch. You're moving completely away from that sales idea and instead concentrating on talking about the client. The focus isn't on you or your business - it's on your client and how you're helping them.

“My business is too boring to talk about”

Another common reason that my clients struggle with their pitch is that they feel their business or area of expertise is “boring.” This comes up a lot for my clients who are accountants!

Yes - accounts can be dull and frustrating for some people, but that’s why accountants exist! You're removing that stress and boredom from your clients by doing what you enjoy and what you're good at - and there’s nothing boring about that.

So tell the story of that client of yours who absolutely hated their VAT returns or the one who dreaded the end of year accounts. Describe how it was causing them an incredible amount of stress and anxiety. And then explain how you came in, took over, and lifted that stress and worry right off their shoulders.

They might find what you do day-to-day boring. They might find accounts boring. But the results that your business helps them achieve most definitely are not boring, and neither should your pitch be.   

“I can’t fit all the information I need into my pitch”

How can you possibly cram everything you want to say about your business into a 60-second pitch? You can’t; it’s just not possible. But using client stories is a simple and really effective way to deal with this particular pitching challenge.

In my “Master Your Pitch” training and during one-to-one sessions, I teach my clients how to use customer stories as the basis for their pitch. And they’ll often find they can fit that story comfortably into their 60 seconds with five or six seconds to spare. That’s quite a lot of time in the context of a minute-long pitch!

It also means they walk away with at least a couple of different versions of their pitch. By following the same framework, they can simply switch the client stories to tailor their pitch to the relevant situation and talk about different elements of their business.

Chances are, you're working with more than one type of client. Telling a story about those different types of clients allows you to reveal a little more about your business each time.

You Might Also Like: Why Your Elevator Pitch Might Be Falling Flat (And How to Fix it)

Start capturing and recording client stories for your pitch

There’s a wealth of information to be mined in your client stories. Use it to your advantage to craft your pitches. Think back over the customers you’ve worked with and how you’ve helped them. Can you identify themes in the problems you’ve solved or the questions you’ve answered? What specific client stories do you have that will illustrate that?

Taking a story-based approach for your pitch means you’re not adding extra detail that might distract from the core message. Your pitch is structured around the story of that particular client and the essential elements your listeners need to know to immediately understand what you do. And because you’re conjuring up a very vivid and specific picture of how that happened, your pitch will stick in your listeners’ minds.

Learn more about the art of business storytelling

If you’d like to know more about using the art of story in your business communications, these two books are an excellent starting point:

Wired for Story - Lisa Cron

Building a StoryBrand - Donald Miller


And, for some further guidance on pulling together a pitch that shows off your business in the best possible light, download my free guide, 3 Essential Ingredients of a Powerful Pitch. It takes you through a simple process to build a pitch that you can tailor to suit any situation.