Sometimes, you need to be convincing, quickly.

While a lot of advocacy is about patient effort over time, you might have an opportunity to spend a minute with a key decision maker – a mayor, a minister, a funder.

They’re likely to be busy, with many other things on their mind.

But if you can get them on your side, you can make major progress.

These moments can happen at any moment – at a reception, a public event, in a lift (or elevator!). You need to be ready!

So for the 15th 10-Minute Library Advocate exercise, prepare your ‘elevator pitch’.

This is the term for a very short speech you give which convinces someone else of your point of view – and in this case, of the importance of libraries.

Something you can deliver in an elevator between floors!

You need to focus your arguments, get rid of unnecessary information, and ensure you say what needs to be said, in the simplest, most convincing way possible.

Try writing out your speech, and then editing it, word by word, until it is as short as it can be.

Good luck!

See the introduction and previous posts in our 10-Minute Library Advocate series and join the discussion in social media using the #EveryLibrarianAnAdvocate hashtag!