Have you ever found yourself struggling to capture the essence of an idea, or to summarize a broad subject succinctly? It could be that what you are searching for is the ideal ‘elevator pitch’, a way of telling someone somthing succinctly and persuasively in a short space of time.
One of the best ways that you can learn how to do this, is summarized by scientist turned Hollywood producer Randy Olson, in his book, “Houston, We Have a Narrative.“
In Chapter 7 he writes, “I’ve developed [the formula for an elevator pitch] into a simple one-sentence, fill-in-the-blanks template called the ABT (meaning “And, But, Therefore”). The template is this: _ and _, but _, therefore _. Every story can be reduced to this single structure. I can tell you the story of a little girl living on a farm in Kansas AND her life is boring, BUT one day a tornado sweeps her away to the land of Oz, THEREFORE she must undertake a journey to find her way home. That is the ABT at work. In a more practical way, a scientist could say, for example, “I can tell you that in my laboratory we study physiology AND biochemistry, BUT in recent years we’ve realized the important questions are at the molecular level, THEREFORE we are now investigating the following molecular questions . . .” That would be the narrative of that particular research program. You can do the same for whatever you are working on. The ABT is also a tool for creating an “elevator pitch” (a concise explanation of a project) in a way that draws on the power of narrative structure. …
“If you craft a one-sentence presentation of your research program with the ABT, you will (a) not bore anyone, (b) not confuse anyone, and (c) activate the narrative part of the brain (remembering back to Hasson’s neurocinematics—you’ll be doing the Hitchcock thing to some degree). It’s that last element that is the real communications powerhouse: the ABT activates the narrative part of the brain. …
“The ABT Template matches the basic three-act structure that I talked about at the start of this book. “
The whole book is well worth reading for anyone to whom communication matters (and I’m guessing that is most of us). But if you are pressed for time – just read Chapter 7. I promise you it will do wonders for the quality of your ‘elevator pitch’.
