J25 BNI Derby Business Networking

Psychologists have long known that there are three things human beings fear most in life –

drowning, being burnt alive – and public speaking.

To find the latter ranked alongside the other two may sound almost unbelievable, but years of research into

human behaviour has confirmed that, while we are all born with the easy

ability to communicate verbally, many people are initially terrified by the

prospect of having to address a business audience, and more than a few will

go to great lengths to avoid the ordeal. Happily, the majority of BNI members

do not freeze at the prospect of promoting their business services to

colleagues in the relaxed surroundings of the weekly breakfast meeting but, as

every member knows, the quality and content of those 60-second presentations

varies between the sublime and the totally wasted opportunity.

I would suggest that, with sufficient thought, planning and practice, every

member of BNI is capable of delivering an effective, persuasive commercial.

In my own North-West London region, we now run regular members’

training courses in basic presentational skills and BNI is encouraging the introduction

of similar courses in other parts of the UK and Ireland during the coming

months – details of which will be made available through your chapter or

executive/regional directors. However, there are a number of ways

you can start to improve your existing 60-second presentations, simply by

avoiding some common mistakes. Having listed a number of DOs in my

first article, I would offer the following DON’Ts, if you want to avoid wasting

yours, and everyone else’s time:

 

1 DON’T leave any aspect of your presentation to chance: The most

entertaining, informative, relaxed and seemingly impromptu presentations,

are nearly always the result of careful planning and practice. If you don’t start

planning your ‘slot’ until you’re on the way to your chapter meeting, the

chances are it will have an almost zero effect on your colleagues.

2 DON’T expect colleagues to understand your whole business in

one minute: It may sound absurd, but I am constantly amazed by how many

members try to summarise their entire business in 60 seconds. As the saying

goes: ‘If you’re going to serve up an elephant, you wouldn’t expect your

guests to eat the whole thing at once. You’d offer it to them in bite-sized

chunks!’ So it is with your business, which you should break down into

small, easily digestible components.

 

3 DON’T ignore your body language:

It’s not just what you say that  is important. It is the way you present

it. If you are not a natural public speaker – and few of us are – then it

may be difficult to put on a confident, self-assured manner but, if you want to

sound convincing to others, you must practice your presentation techniques

until you are happy that others will see you in your most positive light.

4 DON’T waste time handing out brochures or using technical aids:

Use your chapter brochure table to display your promotional literature and

product samples. If you plan to rely on  a projector or computerised animation,

the chances are you’ll be let down – or distracted – by the technology. Keep

your commercial simple.

 

5 DON’T repeat yourself: Heavens, you only have 60 seconds a week, so

why waste time telling colleagues what you told them last week, and the week

before? That’s why it is so important to  break down your business services into

individual ‘chunks’ and plan to present these one or two at a time, each week.

6 DON’T sit down without ensuring everyone knows who you are:

However well you think you’ve performed, and however much you think

your chapter colleagues already know  about you, never sit down without signing

off with your name, your company name and… your memory hook.You

want people to be thinking about you and your business when they leave the

meeting, and still thinking about you as  they go about their week’s business.

7 DON’T give up your 60-second slot if you are the featured tenminute

speaker that day: Your subscription entitles you to only 70 minutes

of promotion for your business in a whole year, so don’t waste any of it.

8 DON’T forget to ask for the business you want:

Too many members spend all their time telling us who

they are and what they do, and forget to tell us what sort of business they

would like colleagues to find them. Remember, the more specific you can

be in defining the business referrals you would like to receive, the more

likely you are to get those referrals. Finally, remember that public speaking

in BNI is about selling yourself, not your company.The aim is to persuade

colleagues to bring the right people to your door, primarily because they

(your colleagues) believe in you and trust you to do a good job for the person

they are referring. For them to do this with confidence,

they need to know you and understand what you do well.

Which, is where I started, and why I cannot overstate the importance of

using your 60-second commercial to the best possible advantage. So, plan, practice,

and good luck.

UK National Director Gillian Lawson from a BNI Success Net http://www.bni-europe.com/successnet/bniaut00.pdf