The short answer
How do you practise a concise value proposition?
Explain your offer to the same buyer in sixty seconds, then thirty, then twenty. Keep the one point that matters to them, stay accurate and end the shortest version with a question.
Foreword
Why it matters
Shortening an explanation forces you to decide what matters. Saying each version aloud and checking it against the buyer’s response is what makes the short version usable on a call12.
Retrieval
61%
of a passage recalled a week later after three practice tests, against 40% after four readings1
What we’ll cover in this guide
- Part 01: Three rounds, shorter each time
- Part 02: Keep what the buyer needs
- Your practice task: a short exercise to try with Selly
- Conclusion and what to practise next
Part 01: Three rounds, shorter each time
Explain the same thing to the same buyer three times, cutting the time each round.
The countdown
Round one: sixty seconds
Say everything you think matters. Notice what you included.
Round two: thirty seconds
Keep the problem, one capability and one example. Drop the rest.
Round three: twenty seconds
Keep the one point this buyer cares about most, and end with a question.
Reflection questions and how to get started
- What did you cut between rounds one and three? Was any of it missed?
- Did the buyer respond better to the short version? Often they do.
Part 02: Keep what the buyer needs
Shorter is only better if the essential point survives.
Checking the result
Tie it to the buyer
The twenty-second version should include something the buyer told you.
Stay accurate
Cutting words is fine. Cutting qualifications until a claim becomes untrue is not.
Reflection questions and how to get started
- Is the twenty-second version still accurate? Check every claim.
- Does it include the buyer’s words? It should.
Your practice task
- In Selly, set up a buyer with one clear problem.
- Explain your offer in sixty seconds, then thirty, then twenty.
- End the twenty-second version with a question.
- Compare the feedback across the three rounds.
Conclusion
The countdown shows you what matters. Sixty seconds reveals what you say by habit; twenty reveals what the buyer actually needs to hear.
