I was recently invited to speak at BYM Queen’s Birthday Weekend conference for youth leaders in New Zealand. I led an hour-long seminar on how to inspire young people to follow their dreams. I asked the 80 participants to raise their hands if they had a dream. Most raised their hands. I then asked them what their dreams were. Some volunteered their answers. I asked them if they knew what the next steps were. Fewer of the young people put their hands up. Next, I said: Put up your hand if you know of a connection that could help someone realise their dream or you know how to take someone closer to their dream. To the surprise of many in the room, a whole lot of young people raised their hands. It was an immediate reminder to me of the power of networks and what we do here at BNI. From this one simple act, connections and contacts were made that could help a whole lot of young people to realise their dreams. After the seminar, a lot of the participants came up to me and said they had no idea that someone sitting next to them could help them with the next steps in their journey.
Try to inspire through stories
Presenting at the event was incredible for me because it’s what I am truly passionate about – inspiring others. That’s what I try to do every week during my 60 seconds at BNI. As someone involved in a creative industry, inspiring people through stories is a big part of what I do. Since I was seven years old I knew I was going to be a film director. There was no ‘if’ or ‘maybe’. It was my dream and is now my reality. Inspired by the likes of Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg, I began making movies with my Action Man figures. I soon graduated to shooting horror films on my handicam, using my friends and family as cast and crew.
I left school at 16 and applied to study Film Directing at UNITEC. A risky move, but one that I knew was right. I was accepted, and started off on one of the biggest learning curves of my life. As graduation neared I decided that I couldn’t accept a career outside of film, so I started ‘Frog Productions’ and moved to direct my first feature. The making of ‘Syrenia’ was an incredible time for me. I accomplished what I set out to do but also realised that I had so much yet to learn. I learnt to collaborate, to listen and found that there is always more than one way to achieve your goals. Since then, Frog has expanded into a company that tells the stories of businesses, entrepreneurs and foundations.
British actor Nick Frost acting in Fraser’s debut feature film ‘Syrenia’ (2014)
I take the view of selling your business by selling yourself . I first got involved in BNI through my mother (Sarah) who was a member. As the youngest member of my chapter, I guess I do things a bit differently. I see every 60 seconds as a great opportunity to make something creative, relevant and fresh every week. I sell my business by selling myself. I try to inspire the businesspeople in my chapter, to challenge them and to tell stories.
I think it’s important for all of us to remind ourselves of the dreams that originally prompted us to get into business. Think about your mission statement and remind yourself of the WHY. It’s easy to get jaded in business but the truth is we have a great opportunity at BNI to do something unique every week and make something special that will really connect with people. A lot of people don’t see this opportunity but it’s there.
It’s vital to tell your own story to connect with people. I used to get nervous presenting at BNI but now I see it as excitement. I put planning into my time at BNI and effort into presenting my 60 seconds. I must be doing something right because I win the speakers cup very frequently in my chapter. I think the key is to put passion and planning into your presentation. Tell your personal story so you connect with people. Remember, building trust and credibility can also be about inspiring others.
I consider another key personally to having success at BNI has come from joining the Leadership Team. When I joined I noticed that I started to get a lot more out of it, because I was putting more into it. I immersed myself in our group and felt like I was more part of the family. I’ve made great friends there, become more connected and that’s flowed on to more referrals. Taking that next step into the Leadership Team at BNI really worked for me and my business.
Fraser Grut, Director, Frog Productions, member BNI Titirangi
