Article contributed by Mike Tennent.
I have been working a lot with my chapters recently on being visual during their 60” infomercial.
For weeks I have been trying to hammer in that having a prop or something to grab the attention makes a difference. I even ran a test one morning. It was a small chapter – 18 there if you exclude me – and I made notes on the key point/s of each speaker.
At the end of the meeting we still had time and so I passed around sheets and got everyone to write down what they thought were the keys points of the other speakers.
The recall was just over 42%! And that was boosted by 3 speakers who had been very effective with props and had nearly 100% of the listeners recalling correctly.
The message is simple…. BE VISUAL!
But there is more….
Last week I was at one of my larger Chapters (over 30 present) and this time I was watching the members as the 60” spots were done. Over half of the listeners were not even watching the speaker. Now because I was not watching the speaker (I was watching the members), it became obvious to me that unless you are ‘actively listening’ – watching and listening, you cannot take in the information to its best effect… Especially with lots of speakers.
The exceptions again… speakers who broke the mould, they had props, one sang her 60” (and very well too), another hopped on a kiddies trike and motored around the centre of the group while doing his 60”. They grabbed the listeners’ attention and kept it.
Props don’t even have to be complicated, at one chapter recently the Real Estate agent took her shoes off (not recommended for male agents) and used them to demonstrate the difference between buyers and sellers and bringing them together.
To summarize… you can troop along to BNI each week and read out a boring 60”, or worse still, do it off the cuff and get heard by probably a third of the chapter.. or you can undertake to stand out, be bold, be visual and as a result… be successful!
Imagine a chapter where every speaker grabs your attentions with fun, interesting and visual infomercials… wouldn’t that be fantastic!
4 comments
Wouldn’t it be! Nice post Mike.
This morning at our developing chapter Profit Portal BNI (Waiuku) the president used a broken coat hanger. She introduced herself as Captain Hook and had the hanger part sticking out from her sleeve like a hook. Why do I remember her? She had a prop! It got a laugh made the message memorable and I am sure she will get referals by hook or by crook!
Regards
Paul
BNI Assistant Director
South/East Auckland
Excellent post Mike – thanks for your contribution to this blog 🙂
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Totally agree Mike. Bringing along a tool of your trade is also a great way to liven up your 60 seconds. Seeing a tool of trade can trigger ideas about referrals you might not get from the usual verbatim. I always enjoy these meetings best. Try it!
I have used a similar sheet Paul, only during the 10 minutes, giving members time to comment on a) what they liked best about the 60 secs of members and What they would like to see improved. The resulting feedback, not to mention interest this generated among the members was quite fantastic. So much so many of our chapters want to see this done again.
How about this for visual. A travel agent lady in our Norwich UK chapter stood up to do her 60 seconds, complete with flippers and a snorkel. You may see that quite a lot in New Zealand (?) but Norwich England…………………… Great article
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