The elevator speech is out of order: Michelle Golden at TEDxCitadelPark

"What do you do?" It's often the first question you hear when you meet someone. Yet even the savviest business person struggles to give a great answer that makes people want to do business with you. Consultants tell us that we should have a prepared 30-second "elevator pitch," but these awkward spiels typically fall flat. In her TEDx talk, Michelle Golden tackles the problems with canned pitches and teaches an alternative approach that's not only more effective, it actually feels right.

Michelle Golden, CPF, is a growth strategist. She's president of Golden Practices Inc and a senior fellow of VeraSage Institute. She works around the world teaching innovative management and marketing strategies, and facilitating change. Recognized as a thought leader in the professional-services sector, she has been honored as one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting and one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting. She authored "Social Media Strategies for Professionals and their Firms" (Wiley, 2011) and writes the popular blog Golden Practices (.com). Her full bio is at michellegolden.com.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)