What is a Birth Doula? My Doula Elevator Speech

When I jump in an elevator wearing my doula tshirt and another passenger asks "What is a doula?", it is time to bring out the "Doula Elevator Speech"  

Before I perfected my 'doula elevator speech' this question often resulted in a very confusing jumble of descriptions that left the person who asked the question with a puzzled look on their face.  If I didn't start with an easy description that they could quickly understand I often lost them before I even got started.  They tuned me out and didn't get to hear about the most amazing profession that I am so passionate about!  I spent some time working on this speech and not have it down to a one-minute concise description highlighting what I feel is most important about my role as a birth doula.  

I took some time and worked on this speech and now have it down to a one-minute concise description highlighting what I feel is most important about my role as a birth doula.  I don't try to convince the listener to use a doula.  My goal is to clearly explain the role and my job to the listener in under one minute. You can download the text of the speech here.

 What Is Included in My Doula Elevator Speech

I wanted the speech to start with a comparison to something that most people understand.  I think this is a great way to begin and a quick win for me!  The listener gets an immediate picture of what I do.

From there I expand with details about what a doula does and I give the details that I think are most important.  Doulas know that we do a lot, but I tried to use top level descriptions.  I then tried to cover the most common things that people ask.  This includes "Do you catch the baby?" and "Do you do medical procedures" and "Do you only work with moms that want to go natural?".  

What Is Not Included in My Doula Elevator Speech

I don't mention my training, experience or background in the speech.  While this information is important, I don't think it is needed to make my point.  This is the type of information that I would go over during an interview or when a am speaking to someone who is interested in my personal story.  I also don't mention anything about my personal opinions on tricky topics like birth choices, c-section, epidurals and circumcision. 

What does your elevator speech include?

I would love to hear about how you quickly describe your job as doula.  What do you include or omit?  Please share in the comments below. 

 Download my Doula Elevator Speech now