John and I had the pleasure of joining EKU professor George Landon and host John Hingsbergen on Eastern Standard a few weeks ago. Below is a link to the archived show.
For John and myself, this was our first time on a live radio broadcast. Sitting in a radio booth with live mics and headphones was an interesting experience and one we greatly enjoyed. While parts of the broadcast focused on the standard talking points in gaming, such as violence in games, the discussion was lively. We would love to return to WEKU in the future for a more in depth discussion of any of the topics.
If you listen to the talk, John and I do quite well discussing the issues and bringing our knowledge and experience to the table, except when I am asked about Speakeasy. Having nothing prepared, I stammer on for a bit and really let the opportunity slip away to say some great things on the radio about a game we really believe in and are proud of. Due to this error on my part, I want to use this post to talk about the elevator pitch for a game, instead of focusing on the radio show experience itself.
If anyone is unfamiliar with an elevator pitch, the essential idea is this: given the 30 – 60 seconds of an elevator ride, attempt to pitch a product to someone on the elevator with you, such that once the elevator doors open again they absolutely want to know more about your product. The challenge of an elevator pitch is that a stranger with no interest and/or knowledge of your product (for our purposes a game) must be persuaded into a position of understanding and intrigue within a very short time frame. To manage this task one must succinctly describe their game in a clear and compelling manner.
Elevator pitches are very important in business, especially so in the start up communities where money is tight and projects fail routinely. I personally have a deep cynicism regarding many aspects of the start up community, business, and elevator pitches; and this cynicism has caused me to constantly fall short at mastering the elevator pitch. My constant struggle, and the reasons behind it, are the motivations for me to write this article.
Why is the elevator pitch important?
People are very busy. They only have so much attention to dole out. If they are not your friend or already a fan, you have very little time to convince them to take a closer look at you and your game. As a small studio this is doubly important, as exposure is difficult, obscurity the norm, and whatever fragment of time you have may be your only chance to speak directly to a person or group of people. The point is, you want someone to care about what you are doing. If they care, they are far more likely to read further, follow you, remember you later, etc. Whether it is a game, a studio, an art installation, or a political message, you are vying for someone’s time and attention because you believe in what you have to say and want them to believe as well. A successful elevator pitch is a quick fire way to grab someones attention.
Here is the elevator pitch I like to use for Speakeasy. This is what I should have led with when asked to describe Speakeasy on WEKU.
Speakeasy is a rapid-fire, party-centric game that is not about reaction time and memorization but instead about reading your opponents pattern and mind to stay one step ahead.
Why did I not say that when asked to describe Speakeasy?
I have boiled it down to four main reasons.
#1 I am super busy with Speakeasy and other projects.
#2 When I am involved in development of a game it is hard for me to step back and describe the game in simple and concise language.
#3 Speakeasy means a lot to me and I find the more I care about a project the harder it can be for me to talk about it.
#4 I tend to get nervous when speaking in public. Especially when I suddenly feel unprepared!
So how valid are these reasons?
100%
How much do these reasons justify a defective elevator pitch.
ZERO!
Regardless of reasons, I and anyone else trying to sell people on a game needs to have their elevator pitch ready at a moments notice, no excuses allowed.
Why?
You never know when the chance will come. And chances are few. So be ready. Always!
But Elevator Pitches suck and I hate bullshit canned PR stuff.
Sure. You must have gone to art school like me 😉 Here is the question: Do you care about what you have created? It is a scary and courageous thing to want to share a creation, but if you want others to know, which you should because dammit you created something!!!, why not tell them and raise awareness in the most efficient way possible? There are times that this comes in conflict with the intent of a work itself, but not many. By and large, there is rarely a conflict other than an internal conflict, and that is a conflict that should be addressed.
Internal Conflict?
Yes, internal conflict. I have read numerous articles about the importance of marketing, the importance of an elevator pitch, etc. yet I still fall short. I don’t know if others face the same internal conflict, but if so, then I hope this article can help. I know of no other way than to speak personally on this matter…so here goes.
Over the years I have built up a perception of business and art that is at times naive and flawed. I have avoided the elevator pitch and other methods of promotion because I dislike certain aspects of business and feel at odds with myself when using these methods. So I am working to slowly change my internal conflict. I still dislike many elements of business and start up culture. And there are things I will never agree with and/or do that seem commonplace in certain business circles. What I need to do is separate that which I feel is unethical or what is outside my comfort zone, from the naivete and cynicism that causes me to lump things together that are not in fact similar. I am working to compartmentalize those issues I have an ideological problem with, as well as those perceptions I cultivated over the years that are in fact flawed or ill informed.
Okay but, removing the internal conflict, why is the elevator pitch so hard?
I have a very hard time describing games I am working on. Maybe you don’t have this problem, but I certainly do. Before I start working on a project, I can generally describe the idea in a sentence or two. In fact, I like to come up with crazy game ideas and then pitch them to John and Shea in a few sentences. This is a hobby I have. However, once development starts then Trello lists grow long, a piece of my heart and soul gets implanted in the game, and I suddenly can’t speak words hard time game is good.
I know many of my friends and fellow developers struggle with the same issues. I was just talking to my friend Jason from Really Big Spiders today about this. Part of my problem comes from knowing all of the intimate details about the game. So many ideas, intentions, and decisions that were made are rattling around in my brain when I begin to speak, I have a hard time focusing on a succinct description. “…party-centric”, well is it? Is that how we want to describe it or how others would describe it? “…reading your opponents pattern” did we successfully achieve this? Am I blowing smoke? Then there is the fact that part of myself is in the game. It makes it intimate. Scary to share. Like I am pitching myself and any negative response to the pitch is a reflection on me, or my abilities. Plus, how can I distill this complex thing I have worked on, though about, lived and breathed, into something so simple and bite-sized? Isn’t the game made up of all the little decisions, small artifacts of development?
I believe all of these above concerns (and more) to be reasonable responses by a creator of something. But they are all walls impeding me from doing what I actually want to do, which is convey the game clearly to someone else as efficiently as possible. If I can’t get them hooked in the elevator, will they ever even play the game so they can laugh and have a great time with friends? Will they play long enough to see all of the love, care, and craft we put into it?
Actions to help.
There are a number of great articles out there about pitches in general, how to promote, and elevator pitches. Below are links to just a few.
All around great read by Leigh Alexander
Another amazing hub of info by Pixel Prospector
General advice about marketing and promotion
Quick read, nice behind the scenes about how film handles pitching
Pitching to a publisher, lots of good points for pitching in general though
And of course the Wikipedia article about the elevator pitch 🙂
Instead of discussing these articles and ideas, below I list techniques that I believe will help those that struggle with the elevator pitch for reasons I have highlighted in this article.
- Commit to memory a pitch for a game. It can always be revised, and using a pitch is the best way to discover its strengths and weaknesses.
- Realize that a pitch is not just about marketing products to make money, it is also a concise way to share ideas and passions.
- For those such as myself that have an issue with the idea of marketing and pitches in general, continue to look at your (our) own disposition to find flawed notions and perceptions.
- Put yourself in positions where a game pitch is needed. These sink or swim situations are great practice and a huge motivator and learning tool. The only way to fail is to not put oneself in these positions.
- Try creating pitches for other games that you have played.
Someday, I hope Super Soul gets to a place where I can focus solely on games, letting someone more experienced and more skilled at PR/Marketing handle pitches and the like. The reality is we may never get there if I can’t figure out how to do it first. And even then, wouldn’t I want to be the one talking about the game I developed, I mean who else knows it more intimately?
If anyone can relate to this article, I hope you find words of value from it. Thanks for reading!
Image Credit: Logan Riley