Elevator rides can be short, so if you need to describe your personal brand and experience in the time it takes to climb a few floors, you’re going to need an elevator pitch that is concise, comprehensive, and well-rehearsed. That’s the idea behind The Athena Alliance’s Elevator Pitch Nights, where Athena women try out their pitches on Athena’s board and executive experts. Our experts provided feedback not only on each pitch’s content but on each woman’s delivery and presence. Here are the unique perspectives each expert brought to the critique:

• Dora Vell, Board Recruiter – Dora has placed many board directors over the years and honed in on how each woman’s differentiating value was represented in their pitch versus their LinkedIn profile. After comparing the two, she provided on the spot guidance for adjusting the essence and content of each woman’s pitch.
• Gary Purece, Executive Advisor and Coach – Gary used his expertise in radio, advertising, and branding to enhance the storytelling aspect of each woman’s pitch. He helped strengthen each woman’s unique message of impact and value.
• Hillary Wicht, Voice Coach – Hillary adjusted for tone, inflection, and physical presence to ensure that each woman’s words and actions were polished and effective. There were a handful of moments in which Hillary worked magic on the pitches of our women, transforming a relatively plain narrative into a powerful one.
• Hilary Weber, Executive Coach and Innovation Expert – Hilary has consulted a variety of companies and executives around innovation and transformation. She helped our members articulate their true passions and ensure that the types of boards roles they were pursuing would enable them to drive scale and success.

After our experts were introduced, Athena women sat in groups of five with each expert, then rotated to the next table after each of their pitches had been reviewed. As Athena Founder Coco Brown noted, “‘holy cow!’ moments were a constant throughout the evening” and energy was high. Athena women were continually surprised and thrilled with the adjustments and guidance they received. “We genuinely could have gone on for hours,” says Coco, “in fact, we did run well over letting time just fly by! Most of the attendees expressed interest in joining us again for our August pitch night for more refinement and fun.”

Are you an Athena member interested in attending August’s Pitch Night? Click here to RSVP.