Welcome Knight Foundation Grantee!

Marc Fest

Marc Fest

Has Knight Foundation sent you an invitation for Elevator Speech Training? Awesome!

Up to three members of your team are eligible for a training session with the founder of Elevator Speech Training, Marc Fest. That’s a one-on-one, 60-minute training session for each person!

Spend just one hour to strengthen your pitch to potential funders and partners.

Training sessions are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Booking yours as soon as possible will secure these Knight-funded spots for you.

To enroll, please click the red button below or ask your colleagues to visit book.est.io and use  the coupon code KFSUPPORT to reduce the $800 fee per session to zero. To download an info pdf to share with your colleagues, click the blue button.

Learn how to create interest in a flash.

Our Elevator Speech Framework enables you to attract more interest in what you do. Its seven steps teach you how to talk about your work in a way that will engage listeners in a matter of seconds. You will be able to use it as a powerful tool to increase your success and your organization’s impact.

What you get

Have a framework for any speaking situation.

Our training offers you the 10-step Elevator Speech Framework that you can use as a skeleton structure to master any speaking situation, including one-on-one conversations. It makes preparing for or even winging a speaking challenge as easy as painting by numbers.

Increase confidence and gravitas.

Anxiety about public speaking is natural because our brains are hard-wired to fear rejection. The training offers a systematic approach to managing your fear not by trying to vanquish it but by befriending it. In the process, you will also learn tools to “prime your brain” before entering a speaking situation.

Discover how to be most interesting.

When making a first impression, being interesting is far more critical than being informative. The unique way we go about our work is often more interesting than what we do. The training offers a framework to identify what is most interesting about your work and for communicating it effectively.

Get your listeners to trust you.

In all situations, mutual trust is crucial for people to realize the full potential of collaboration and connection. The training gives you an easy, surprising, and highly effective step-by-step approach for getting your listeners to experience a “trust boost” towards you.

Solve the challenge of having too much to say.

A common challenge our clients experience is having to convey to listeners the complexity and sheer volume of their work. The training offers a solution to this problem. It leaves your listeners looking forward to continuing the conversation with you. It even turns them into messengers to others about your work.

Create a frame of relevance and purpose.

Everyone focuses on their day-to-day work. That focus often becomes the first thing we discuss when explaining what we do. The Elevator Speech Framework helps ensure that you step back at the beginning of speaking situations to answer the question, “why does it all matter?”

How we work, step by step

#1: We learn about you.

We do research about your work and your professional background to customize the training to your specific needs and context.

#2: You prepare a bit.

Preparing is as quick as answering these three short questions. If you want to prepare more deeply, simply use our preparation worksheet.

#3: We do the training.

The training comprises one or two Zoom calls. Each requires one hour and is one-on-one. Expect a fun workshop atmosphere where trial and error is OK.

#4: We follow up.

After the session, we’ll send you an email with a summary of your specific key take-aways. We’ll touch base a couple times a year to reinforce what you’ve learned.

Success Metrics

1500
clients trained
99.99
"Exceptionally" and "very useful" ratings
88
Endorsements from CEOs

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300
Testimonials

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Elevator Speech Frameworks distills insights from thousands of Elevator Speech Training sessions into a 60-minute read. Clients receive a complimentary copy.

Buy now

“If only all my one-hour meetings were so productive!”

Priya Jayachandran, CEO, National Housing Trust

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“Elevator Speech Training helped us translate our successes more clearly to crucial investors like Morgan Stanley.”

Julia Kumari Drapkin, CEO, ISeeChange

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“This one hour was more impactful than days I have spent in other communications trainings.”

Dan Nissenbaum, CEO, Low Income Investment Fund

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“Marc’s Elevator Speech Training was, quite simply, transformational.”

Heidi Binko, Executive Director & Co-founder, Just Transition Fund

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“I have never experienced a more streamlined, to-the-point, and helpful one-hour training session.”

Ben Strauss, CEO and Chief Scientist, Climate Central

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“Marc’s training was like hitting a re-start button.”

Gladys Limon, Executive Director, California Environmental Justice Alliance

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Click here to browse more testimonials and here for a client list.

About Marc Fest

Marc Fest

Helping leaders worldwide communicate better

Marc Fest is a communications expert who helps clients increase interest in their cause by changing how they talk about what they do.

He created MessageHouse.org, a free toolkit used by thousands of NGOs, companies, nonprofits, and governments around the world to create effective key messages and improve messaging discipline.

Marc has also served as the Vice President of Communications for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the New World Symphony.

He is the author of several books, including “Elevator Speech Frameworks,” “The Message House Method,” and “Farm Stories.”

Marc lives on a remote farm on the edge of the Everglades with his dog Zeus and a variety of animals, including lizards, hawks, and raccoons. He occasionally shares short stories on his website, mf.ly.