While writing a press release for a client the other day I was reminded of one rule all good copywriters apply and how relevant that rule is to an effective BNI 60 second presentation.
Most writers will strive to eliminate the words ‘we, me, I and myself’ from any copy that has to do a job of selling – whether web copy, brochure copy or press release copy among others.
The reason is simple. Your audience aren’t interested in you, they’re interested in what you can do for them.
That’s why “You” is a magic word.
If you want to grab attention, engage your audience and stimulate desire – don’t talk about yourself.
Most suave men, I am informed, know that when they take a lovely lady on a date they must avoid talking about themselves. Instead, they should be good listeners so that she will go away thinking that ‘he’s the most interesting person’ she ever met – even though he said virtually nothing about himself during the entire time.
Courting customers is the same, as is engaging your BNI audience.
This even applies to asking for the referral.
Instead of saying ‘a good referral for me’, trying ‘if you want to give lots of referrals, listen out for somebody complaining about their interest rates – that person right there is a good referral for you to give’.
Or
‘Who do you know who…’
There are many ways you can avoid talking about yourself during a presentation and instead engage your audience by using the word ‘you’.
I recently set BNI Ponsonby the challenge of not using ‘me, myself, we and I’ in their 60 second presentations.
You should try it – I would love to hear how it goes.
Colin Kennedy is a keynote speaker, writer and marketing consultant at Iron Road. As BNI New Zealand’s marketing director he is responsible for the organisation’s communications strategy, and also serves as an assistant director for North Central region of BNI.
