Telling people what you do is usually pretty easy if you’re in a one-on-one casual conversation with no time pressure. If what you offer isn’t straightforward or widely known, you can use examples and analogies to bring clarity.

But what happens when you only have a minute to explain?

Passionate business owners have so much they want to explain that it can be painful to formulate one or two sentences that clearly state what they do.

Anybody I’ve ever coached who told me they didn’t know how to explain what they do—or struggled to create their elevator speech—had the words inside of them. It just took a few questions to put the puzzle together.

Most business owners (and many marketing experts) think that their tagline, elevator speech, or headline on their website has to be perfect in order to get business in the door. I disagree. It just has to be clear enough that people can easily make the decision to find out more.

Forget about nailing your unique selling proposition for a moment. That conversation will just muddle your thinking while you try to “figure it out.” You already know what you do!

Answer these questions from the heart to get to the essence of your elevator speech:

• What do people have, be, do, or feel as a result of buying your product or using your services?
• When it comes down to it, why do most people buy your stuff?
• What are they expecting to achieve or experience?
• What is the essence of that?
• What do past customers love most about your company?

I was once at a business workshop where we were asked to introduce ourselves in less than 7 seconds. I had to cut out all the fluff about what I do and say it in one sentence.

“I help business owners double (and even triple) their profits by leveraging the power of intention, fun, and proven strategies!”

It doesn’t matter if I passed a marketing test with that statement—it worked. People either really dug the part about doubling their income or wanted to know more about having fun in their business.

They were interested!

The best part about my one-liner is that it rolled off my tongue. It felt good. I didn’t have to remember the “right and perfect” words. It was coming from my heart and what I knew to be true.

I have a hunch that many business owners are afraid that if they don’t tell people all the things they do or all features associated with their offer that people won’t get the power of what they’re saying.

But if you have to do a lot of explaining to get people interested in your offer… you’re not clear what your 5-Star Clients most want. And you’re probably boring or confusing your listeners.

Trust me, a clear one-liner will always get ideal clients to want to know more. Always aim for simple and clear over cute or clever.

I don’t have to tell people that I’m a certified master coach, teach Law of Attraction, use behavioral assessments, or wrote several books. They don’t need to know how I help them to double their income… at least not yet.

I just have to give them a snapshot of the results or experience they’ll get when they work with me.

If you try really hard to craft the perfect elevator speech, it’s going to be an uphill battle. Let it be a fun exercise.

Grab a colleague and use the questions above to throw something together. See how it feels when you say it. Notice how your friend responds. It doesn’t need to be zippy, sassy, or super unique. Just clear.

In fact, focus on creating a connection with your listener over choosing the perfect words. When you’re not worried about sounding perfect, you’ll naturally say the perfect words.

It’s the same with your elevator speech. If it feels authentic, it’s going to be just fine.