The right way to make an "elevator" pitch

(MoneyWatch) So there you are, riding an elevator at a trade show, and on board steps the CEO of a company you would love to partner with. Maybe you're in sales or marketing development, but perhaps you're a developer or a product engineer and not used to making sales pitches at all -- but you want to engage anyway. What do you do? What do you say?

This is a somewhat different situation than the 15-second elevator pitchI told you about last week, and it requires a different approach. 

5 Tips for Giving Amazing Speeches and PresentationsPerfect your 15-second "elevator" pitchFree alternatives to using PowerPoint

Recently, the Harvard Business Review contrasted the right and wrong way to make such a pitch. According to the HBR, there are a number of common mistakes many people make in such a situation. Here are the highlights:

Using truisms. You will instantly lose credibility if you throw out blurbs from your company's own Kool-Aid dispenser.

Using buzzwords. Don't frame your pitch around industry or corporate buzzwords, which either ring hollow or are meaningless to your audience.

Presenting an unreasonable close. If you're talking to a senior leader, be sure not to make an unrealistic request of their time or demand too much from them.

So what should you do? HBR recommends using a "linguistic structure" that is built around these six elements:

Softeners: A softener eases listeners into the next thought or is used to set expectations. When you say, "I'm sorry to bother you," you are using the pre-apologizing softener technique. Facts: Facts are recognized instantaneously.

Metaphors: Metaphors enable complex concepts and theories to be explained in an understandable, interesting, and persuasive manner.

Suggestions: Foreground suggestions are direct and explicit ("Consumer Reports gave our product the highest rating.") Background suggestions are indirect and their meaning is inferred ("One of their customers recently switched to our product.")

Fallback position: Instead of giving ultimatums that force the customer to accept or reject your close, provide options from which customers can select from prepared in advance.

Silence: Silence is an important and useful linguistic structure. It indicates you are listening and waiting for a response.

Be sure to check out the complete column for a specific example of how to use these elements in a hypothetical elevator pitch.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Gideon Tsang