Use an elevator pitch to get executive support

I was happily surprised to see a post over at the SANS ISC website (by Savvis' Lenny Zeltzer) about elevator pitches. What is an elevator pitch?

An elevator pitch (or elevator speech) is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (say, thirty seconds or 100-150 words).

The best elevator speech has

• an intriguing intro
• lasts about 40 seconds ~ 100 words
• is delivered with passion
• ends with a question or invitation to start a conversation

In the article, Lenny puts together a few sample pitches that you could use with the executives. If you need support or funding of your security projects, you have to show how it will help make or save money. Security is no longer a technical discipline, it's about the business. And if you can't talk about business, then you aren't going to be a very effective security professional.

Read Lenny's post and then start working on your own elevator pitches.

Related posts:

• Compacting your presentations. Yes, you really can.