In the early 2000s, the most terrifying place on earth for a techie was trapped in an elevator with Steve Jobs. He was notorious for corning, then grilling people on their projects. These sweat-and-panic inducing sessions could lead to a “well done” or to a “you’re fired.”

Now imagine it’s you. You push 6, and standing next to you is your CEO. You have 30 seconds before the doors open.

She turns to you and asks, “So, what’s this new pilot we’re working on really about?”

What do you say?

Too many of us freeze at this moment. We default to feature lists, technical jargon, or vague buzzwords. Or we make promises on a pilot that we can’t keep. Raising expectations well before we’ve hit the runway, much less taken off. But great PMs tell a story—fast.

Relatable Problem: You struggle to explain your product vision quickly in a way that actually excites leadership, teams, or customers.

Pro Tip: Use the Elevator Drama Technique to craft a killer 30-second pitch:

  1. Start with a relatable scenario: What pain does your product solve? Make it personal. Your CEO needs to know the demand is there first, before anything else. Can you offer 1 data point about the pain and the need?
  2. Create urgency: Answer the question, “Why this, Why now?” IF you can get it down to 2 sentences, you’re golden. We call this the shift, and it’s the pivotal point that makes the case for any innovation.
  3. Introduce the Magic Tools: What is the special sauce that makes this new idea irresistible?
  4. End with impact: How does this change the world, the customer, or at least the business?

Example:

A PM at a healthcare tech company was asked to explain their new AI-powered patient intake tool. Instead of saying “We automate form processing,” he shared this:

“Every day, nurses spend hours filling out patient paperwork instead of saving lives. That’s time wasted. Our AI tool slashes paperwork time by 80%, getting nurses back to what matters: patient care. Hospitals using this saw a 30% increase in efficiency. We’re not just automating forms—we’re giving nurses their time back.”

The CEO smiled. “That,” she said, “is a vision I can get behind.”

Your product has a story. Make sure you can tell it—in an elevator, in a meeting, or on the fly.