It often takes some time for members to fully appreciate the core purpose of BNI. This may seem surprising, but the difference between gaining referrals and selling your business is an important one that escapes some people.
Referrals take trust and confidence in the other person and this takes time and understanding. Referrals come from establishing a clear understanding of what someone else wants in the way of a referral or a business contact. This means that you are responsible for being clear about what you want. You need to educate your fellow BNI members, not sell to them.
This isn’t always easy as the temptation is to focus on what you actually do assuming that chapter members will automatically understand what you want.
Some members get into the bad habit of turning up without preparing their presentations with the intention of ‘thinking on their feet’ and telling everyone what they do, again. Don’t leave it to chance.
Even though most members prepare their ten minutes they might miss out on key factors that make the best presentations. So what are these factors?
1. Ensure there is a strong purpose to your talk, a premise and a promise.
2. Draw about 2 to 3 stories from your own life experience to prove your point.
3. Include a call to action or challenge like “the best referral for me would be…”
4. Include a quotation to act as a memory hook.
This gives you the basis for your 10 minute, but there are some other things to consider. For example:
1. You’re not selling to the room.
It isn’t important that anyone in the room buys your product. Your primary focus during your ten minute presentation is to trigger the subconscious of the audience so they can think of someone they can refer. Don’t be frightened of listing the type of clients you would like an introduction to.
2. Connect with the audience.
Establish eye contact with every person, smile and convey your enthusiasm. People buy people and enthusiasm is contagious. Get into a position where everyone can see you and vice-versa.
3. Get visual.
Create a display of your products, marketing material and literature in advance. Position your visual support where everyone can see it and test it first. If you hand out too much information you may lose the focus of the audience so ensure your visual material sticks to your core messaging.
Adding visuals to your 10 minute presentation is a very important part of generating interest and improving understanding. Don’t rely on just talking to your chapter; the more visual you can be the better. Can you show us before and after photos? What about special equipment you use? Can you involve the audience? How?
Recently a BNI member gave a 10 minute presentation that was particularly visual and engaging in nature. Part-time daredevil stuntman and business owner Benn Milne became a ‘human inferno’ by setting himself on fire during BNI Hutt City’s regular weekly networking meeting. Milne, who owns Vogel Motors in Lower Hutt, is no stranger to setting himself alight; having become a human torch on a dozen occasions in the past. This time he wanted to do it in order to illustrate the importance of facing your fears in business.
The stunt was a great example of a member thinking outside of the box. Though setting yourself on fire may not work for most members, finding a way to do something different and setting the room alight during your 10 minutes should be your goal.
You can watch Benn’s video here.
