Senior Connection
Team
Yavapai

Tips for Scripting Your
5-minute Parking Lot Speech
for the Virtual-Mixer & Virtual-Expo

The 5-Minute Parking Lot Speech is designed to compactly and effectively convey who you are, who your company is and what you do, once you have successfully buttonholed a potential Client or Colleague in a parking lot (that is, before their eyes begin to glaze over).

The elements of a Parking Lot Speech to effectively communicate your business environment are:

• Who you are
• Who your company is
• What your company does
• Call to Action

   

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  "Hi, I'm ___________________________".
  
  You are trying to get your Client (or Senior Connection Member) to start placing your face with your name, so start off with your name. You want to make it easy for them to approach you in the future, and to make use of your business card (that is part of the handout next to your video) when the time comes to use your services.

  You can exercise the luxury of the extra time that a 5-Minute Parking Lot Speech provides you by talking about how long you have been doing what you do and how much you enjoy the work.

  ---

  I'm with __________________________".
  
  You need to immediately establish what company you are working for, and your position in the company.
  
  Include the Company Name that you represent. You may also want to explain a little of the company structure, the number of employees, how big the company is, where it is located, and maybe a little chit-chat about how great the company is to work for.

  ---

  I provide help to ______________________".
  
  This is where you identify who your main client is.

  Identify your Primary & Secondary client bases - you want those who are listening to know that you are well established and can help them. Let them know whom you serve. A broad brush stroke here is good.

  ---

  "My Clients feel bad usually because ____________________".
  
  Tell us what makes them feel bad (the problem that you can help with). This is kind of a secret handshake, too, that all your professional listeners are using to judge whether you understand the problem that you are ultimately trying to solve.

  If you understand the problem, your peers will listen to what you have to say and, more importantly, will risk sending their clients to you. Further, Your clients will understand that YOU understand their difficulties.

  You probably want to keep this as concise as possible so as not to confuse potential clients. Keep away from industry jargon. Plain words, plainly stated, carry a lot of weight.

  ---

  "I help these people feel better by ________________".
  
  OK, this is going to be difficult because, like every other Senior Resource (Goods and/or Services) Provider, you do SO much for your clients, that the urge is to list everything you do.

  Somehow you are going to have to whittle down your 50-hour week into a sentence that clearly addresses the SOLUTIONS to the most prevalent problems that make your clients feel bad.

  You may want to try to list EVERYTHING that you do. But resist that temptation - after all, that's what your brochure is for. Instead pick the three most prevalent solutions you & your company are especially good at, or the ones that you are constantly dealing with.

  If any of your solutions are proprietary, then say that. If any of your solutions are too involved to explain, say that too. Do what you can to make the listener a more knowledgeable consumer.

  ---

  "Please call me for a consultation (or flyer, or brochure, or a tour, etc) now, so you will be prepared if a crisis hits. Thank you".
  
  This is referred to as a Call to Action. You are making it clear what you want to happen because you took the time to reach out to the Senior Caregiver Community in a Safe & Sane way.

  For Live Events, be sure that you bring (AND PASS OUT) your business cards. For the Virtual Events, make sure your Handout contact information is current and correct.

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You CAN do this.

Build your scripts. Keep fine tuning them until you pretty much know what you are going to say within your allotted 5-minutes.

Do Not Be Shy: Stand in front of a mirror and watch yourself give your presentation. Do not worry if you have to read from a script - just be sure to make eye contact regularly throughout your presentation.

Be sure of your timing. You are under a rigid 5-minute limitation for your presentation. Run through your presentation several times to make sure that you are done in time.

Be aware that if you try to cram too much into your presentation, you will end up reading way faster than is comfortable for you to present, and will distract your listeners from ‘hearing’ your content. Slow down, take a deep breath, talk clearly - throw less important (I know, they are ALL important) sentences out in order to meet your time limit.

One thing that you will find almost immediately is that, once you build your 5-Minute Parking Lot Speech, you will actually look forward to giving it every chance you get - you will feel that good about it.

As an aside, you may want to also build different 5-minute speeches for different situations. Use this blueprint for building additional effective Killer 5-Minute Parking Lot  Speeches:

• One for the Senior Connection Live Mixer/Expo

• One for Potential Clients

• One for Colleagues

• One for Senior Connection V-Mixer and V-Expo

• One for your Family

• One for In-House Training

Good Luck, and remember: We Are All In This Together.