In creating an elevator speech, I think that I realized that it can be difficult to come up with the perfect statement. In order to be short and memorable, you might have to skip some details. These details might be what the customer needs to determine if you are the right person for them. However, if you give the details, you may go over a person’s head and they will easily forget about you.

Maybe it would be better to have a couple of different elevator speeches ready. Then you can adjust and use one that seems more appropriate for the situation. Or, you can start with the basic one and them move to one of the advanced ones based on a person’s reaction.

In creating my own speech, I found that I wrestled with this issue. I didn’t want to leave out anything that would describe what I can do. Since I was creating a speech for a fictitious web design consultant firm (using the name of my real web design business), I knew how fickle the web design field is. Some people get a certain buzz word in their head (Web 2.0, RSS, XML, etc) and discount you as inexperienced if you don’t throw it out. But them again, some people get lost and feel you are irrelevant if you throw out something they have never heard of before. So I decided to skip a lot of the details and describe the general feel of the sites that can be designed. That way, anyone that I am talking to can throw out something like “what is all this about wikis that I keep hearing?”

The person I interviewed was Robert Garza of Chimera Software. I first met him at the IOL 2006 conference. We pretty much discussed most of the questions at the conference, or on a phone call this week. He was nice enough to type out his answers, as well as adding some details in that we didn’t have time to discuss.

One of the things that I was impressed with about Robert was his willingness to do things for free, just to promote his field. I think I always had this impression of consultants that the “clock was always ticking,” and that nothing comes free. That’s at least the impression that I got from one consulting firm that my last job dealt with. They charged us over $16,000 to get a rough draft of a Flash animation. What we got was a stick figure standing a circle. It was supposed to be a talking person standing on an island. I went out and learned Flash that day and did something twice as good as they did in one day.

Robert is a Moodle consultant. He helps people get Moodle going, basically. But he also hands out free CD’s with Moodle pre-installed, and puts together Moodle groups. All of this stuff is for free, and of course, people could learn that they are free to install Moodle themselves and not hire anyone. But I think most people will go the consultant route with it.

Formal credentials (e.g., CPR certified, CPA, passed the bar, hold a real estate license, have teaching certification, etc.).
1) Texas teacher certification
– designing instruction for 8th grade science
– 8th grade team leader
– developing online components of learning
– classroom management
– organization
2) Certified Pool Manager
– keeping a pool clean and running
3) Certified Food Manager
– all levels of restaurant sanitation

Informal business-related
1) Computers
– html, css, xml, xhtml, php, mysql, javascript, rss, actionscript
– Macromedia Studio 8, Moodle, BlackBoard, WebCT, MS Office
– podcasts, blogs, wikis, pda, emerging technologies
2) Leadership/Management
– hiring, interviewing, scheduling, staffing
– running meetings and problem-solving
– decision-making, dealing with clients, bringing in new clients
– standards compliance, inspections, code enforcement
3) Instructional Design
– developing new instruction, Kindergarten through adult levels
– reviewing and revising existing instruction

Other skills
– playing bass guitar, guitar, drums, sitar
– painting, drawing
– studying other cultures

What I like to do:
(a) Communication – I prefer to talk to small groups, but I have done speaking to very large groups, too.
(b) Problem-solving – I prefer to solve problems, but I have also been in positions to find them and determine what they are, too.
(c) Planning – I like to keep things organized, but I am fine with handing off details to people who like to do certain tasks.