亲爱的安妮：我准备放弃当前的工作，追求更大的职业发展空间。这将是我20年以来首次求职。上一次在不熟悉我工作的人面前谈论自己，已经是很久以前的事情了，所以我阅读了大量关于自我推销的建议，其中有一条建议是：利用简短的（一至两分钟）“电梯演讲”，概述自己的能力和经验。

    对此，我有两个问题。一是我拥有近二十年的工作经验，足迹遍及全国各地，所以要把这些经历浓缩在一两分钟之内并不容易。二是“电梯演讲”这种事在我看来根本不靠谱。你和其他读者怎么看？我需不需要来次“电梯演讲”？——S.S.

亲爱的S.S.：在参加社交活动或派对的时候，你是否遇到过有人不顾你的感受，硬要照本宣科地介绍自己的生活和职业？假如你遇到这种情况的反应是想方设法摆脱对方，你就可以想象一下，在电梯里遇到极力向你游说的人，心里会是怎样的感受。

    相比之下，史蒂夫•亚斯特罗表示：“如果你在派对或者婚礼等场合遇到某个人，并约好下周一起吃午餐，这并非因为你们彼此进行了乏善可陈的自我介绍，而是因为你们相互建立了联系。这同样适用于面试、电梯里或其他任何场合。”

    亚斯特罗是一位品牌顾问，他的客户包括麦当劳（McDonald's）和珍妮•克雷格减肥公司。最近，他出版了一本与此话题有关的新书《放弃游说：即兴说服的艺术》（Ditch the Pitch: The Art of Improvised Persuasion）。他表示，千篇一律的演说注定不会有人愿意听，这是因为我们每天都会被成千上万的广告信息狂轰滥炸，以至于“只要感觉有人想游说他们，人们就会产生防卫心理。”

    更重要的是：“如果你在不了解对方的情况下准备一些信息，你又怎么知道这正是对方想了解的呢？这样做就像是在黑暗的房子里扔飞镖一样，漫无目的。”

    所以，他建议：“与其在电梯里进行令人窒息的自我推销”，不如练习如何激发对方的好奇心，让对方愿意了解更多。他说：“你不可能在电梯里做成一笔交易或得到一份工作，如果是高级职务，即便通过一次正式的面试也不见得能够成功。所以，你的目标应该是引起对方的兴趣，并获得再次见面的机会。”

Dear Annie: I'm ready to move on from the job I have now to something with more scope for advancement, which means I'm job hunting for the first time in about 20 years. Since it has been so long since I had to talk about myself to people who aren't familiar with my work, I've been reading a lot of advice on how to go about it, and I keep coming across this idea of having a short (one- or two-minute) "elevator pitch" that sums up my skills and experience.

    I have two problems with this. First, I've had almost two decades of experience that varies all over the map, so it isn't easy to pack it all into a minute or two. And second, the idea of trying to do that just seems really phony to me. What do you and your readers think? Do I need an "elevator pitch" or not? -- Skeptical in Seattle

Dear S.S.: Ever been to a networking event, or a party, where someone buttonholed you and delivered a scripted presentation of his or her life and career? If so, and assuming your reaction was to look for some way to escape, you know what it's like to be stuck in an elevator with someone who's delivering a pitch.

    By contrast, says Steve Yastrow, "If you've ever met someone at a party -- or a wedding, or anywhere -- and made a date for lunch the next week, it wasn't because you and that person made scripted presentations to each other. It's because you connected. The rules are the same in a job interview, or on an elevator, as everywhere else in life."

    Yastrow, who is a branding consultant with clients like McDonald's (MCD) and Jenny Craig, recently published a book on this topic called Ditch the Pitch: The Art of Improvised Persuasion. A canned speech, he says, is doomed to fall on deaf ears, partly because we're all bombarded with thousands of advertising messages every day, to the point where "when people sense a pitch coming at them, they get defensive."

    Even more important: "If you create a message before you know anything about the other person, how can you possibly know it's what they are looking for? It's like throwing a dart in a dark room."

    Instead of "sucking up all the air on the proverbial elevator by talking about yourself," he says, practice piquing the other person's curiosity so that he or she wants to learn more. "You won't close the deal, or get the job, in an elevator, or even in one interview if it's a senior role," he says. "So your goal should be to earn the other person's interest -- and another meeting."