Written By: Kylie Gates

Every year, the UNH Collegiate Chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) hosts a fun, valuable fall event we call “Elevator Pitch with the Pros.” This event allows our members to practice one of the most important skills for networking and career development: the elevator pitch.

What exactly is an elevator pitch?

An elevator pitch is a short, 30-60 second professional introduction that gives someone a quick idea of who you are, what you’re interested in, and what you can offer. While it may only last a minute, that minute can start a much larger conversation and potentially set you up for future success.

UNH AMA’s Elevator Pitch with the Pros

At our Elevator Pitch with the Pros event, we invite 5-6 industry professionals to meet with our members. Before the event, students prepare their elevator pitches and dress in business professional attire. Each industry professional has their own breakout room, and students rotate through the rooms one at a time to deliver their prepared pitch.

After each student presents their pitch, the industry professional provides feedback and advice on what the student could improve. This allows our members to be coached directly by professionals on how they are presenting themselves and how they can make their pitches stronger.

In addition to general professional development, this event also provides value by helping prepare our members for the AMA International Collegiate Conference (ICC), which we attend every spring. For 2027, the competition will take place in New Orleans, where AMA collegiate chapters from across the globe will come together and compete in a variety of marketing-based competitions. One of the competitions we participate in is a personal pitch competition, where students compete against hundreds of other AMA members worldwide in delivering these exact elevator pitches. Practicing in the fall gives our members the chance to become comfortable with their pitch before stepping into the competition in the spring.

What makes a strong elevator pitch?

There are a few key questions to make sure you answer when pitching:

What makes you unique?

Go beyond your major or job title and elaborate on what experiences, interests, skills, or personality traits make you stand out.

What are you looking for?

Are you looking for an internship, a full-time position, or simply an opportunity to learn more from a person or their industry?

What can you offer?

Highlight the skills and experiences that you can contribute to a company or organization.

What do you want them to remember about you?

With only 30-60 seconds, you can’t say everything. Choose one or two things that you want the person to walk away remembering.

Factors to keep in mind

One important thing that comes with practicing elevator pitches is making sure that your pitch doesn’t sound like a script. While preparing pitches and practicing them in advance, individuals must ensure that their words flow naturally and conversationally, rather than sounding like a speech that has been memorized numerous times.

This element should be an easy part of the process, seeing as when it comes to an elevator pitch, it’s all about you. You know everything about yourself, so there shouldn’t be too much that you need to memorize. The main factors you should focus on practicing are hitting all the important points and answering the key questions above. An elite elevator pitch requires feeling prepared and confident while still sounding like yourself.

The value of the pitch

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 70% of jobs are found through networking, which solidifies being able to pitch yourself as an incredibly valuable skill. Whether you’re talking to a potential employer, faculty member, alumni, or another professional, you never know where a 60-second introduction could lead.

It’s this contribution to future employment that makes UNH AMA’s Elevator Pitch with the Pros so valuable. It gives our members a low-pressure environment to practice, receive honest feedback, and build the confidence they need to both perfect their pitch and make their next introduction count.