elevator pitch

American

[el-uh-vey-ter pich] / ˈɛl əˌveɪ tər ˌpɪtʃ /

Also elevator speech

noun

a brief talk or pitch intended to sell or win approval for something, as a product or business proposal.

a two-minute elevator pitch to a prospective investor.

Etymology

Origin of elevator pitch

First recorded in 1995–2000; from the idea of persuading someone while on an elevator moving between floors

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Even before I first saw the film during last year’s Sundance Film Festival, this one-line elevator pitch was taking up all the space in my prefrontal cortex.

From Salon

That Pritzker doesn’t have a natural feel for such material is a bit surprising given his history in venture capital, a cultural space that celebrates the visionary elevator pitch.

From Slate

Asked to describe the sport in which he is a double world champion, Tomas Woods has it down to an elevator pitch: "It's basically BMX in a wheelchair."

From BBC

For 15 minutes, nearly every line of dialogue could be an elevator pitch for a Roland Emmerich movie: earthquakes in California, volcanoes in Germany, a nuclear meltdown in Japan.

From Los Angeles Times

Any new musical is a hard sell to investors, but especially one with an elevator pitch that’s slightly odd.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023