This morning I attended a networking meeting in Winchester with members of 4Networking, it was a great event with some really great people and I was particularly impressed by the communication skills of some of the group members. They spoke with confidence, authority, humour and engagement.

One member had volunteered to give a 10 minute educational slot on the legal profession and how to get the most out of it. He wasn’t selling his firm, he was helping to broaden our knowledge and in doing so he help build his own brand in our minds.

So many networkers complain that they don’t get a return on their networking investments and yet they do the minimum possible in the meetings. They stumble through their 1 minute elevator pitch, and they run a mile when given the opportunity to speak for longer. How crazy is that. Who in their right mind would avoid a direct opportunity to establish their credibility and expertise?

I appreciate that public speaking is a major fear for many people but that is no excuse. Given the impact that developing this skill can have on your business, career and income, isn’t it worth learning how to do it properly! Practice in conjunction with constructive feedback is the single most effective way I know to overcome your fear and develop this immensely valuable skill.

Hats of to the people who take the plunge and as for the rest of you…

What will it take to make you change your mind. There is a great communicator in every one of you. If you can’t find it in you on your own, don’t hesitate to ask for help!

Gavin Meikle,
The Presentation Doctor.

Recently I posted video about the importance of first impressions both in short networking introductions and in longer presentations. Today I’d like to focus in on the typical 1 minute introductions you get at a Networking group.

This is your chance to showcase your business and educate your fellow networkers on what you do so it is really important. I see that whilst some networkers take it seriously and prepare in advance. Others see it as a chore and tend to repeat the same tired old phrases week after week.

Let’s start by asking ourselves what is the outcome we desire from our pitch? Is it to “fill 60 seconds”? Is it to “talk about our business”, is it to “inform the audience?” – No! You want the audience to do something as a result of your introduction!
How about some of these outcomes?

• Remember what you do!
• Think of someone in their circle that is looking for your product or service right now and refer you to them!
• Be curious enough about what you do to want to ask you some questions about it after the meeting.

That’s more like it. We are talking about getting clear about what we want the audience to do as a result of our mini presentation.

So once you are clear about the outcome, then and only then should you start to pull the content and structure together.

Look out for my next post which will address stage two in more details and give you some ideas to get you thinking.

Hello
I have been experimenting with my new flip video camera and here is the first result. Its a bit rough and ready but the content is dynamite!

{vidavee id=”16404″ w=”320″ }

I heard my good friend Jim Culverwell use the phrase “pitching beyond the room” last night whilst discussing his approach at networking meetings like BNI and Peer Group Learning.  I loved the phrase  because it sums up a truth that most people who network seem to completely ignore and I had to share it with you.

Many people join networking groups because they just want to sell to the other people in the room.  The challenge is that most groups are full of other people in the same position and in truth, few either need or can afford your services.   So should you give up on networking?  Absolutely not.   What you need to do is remember one simple fact.

Understand that everyone in the room has a huge  network of their own consisting of friends, family, neighbours, colleagues, clients, ex colleagues, social club members, sporting partners and almost certainly some of those people would love what you do and could afford to pay for it if they knew what you did and how you could help them.   In order to capitalise on this inescapable truth , you need to design your pitch to  be attractive to those people who are not in the room but who are connected to those that are.   You also need to help your audience to make the connection in their heads between you and their friend, colleague or client.

How can you do this?  Well one classic way is to verbally paint a picture of the type of person you would like to connect with.  For example I might ask the audience to think of anybody who they know has recently been promoted to a position where they have to stand up on their hind legs and speak in public.   Perhaps they have a friend or neighbour who has been complaining to them about how uncomfortable they feel having to fulfil this new responsibility.   If they have someone like that in mind then II ask them if perhaps they would do both of us a favour by simply making an introduction.   Think of the goodwill that helping a  colleague or client will bring you and all you need to do is put me in touch with them.

So that’s what I mean by pitching outside the room.   Firstly you need to make the mindset shift and realise that the people in the room are not your prospects however they can become your gateway to the type of people you really want to connect with.

Secondly you need to structure your presentation so that you help them to identify potential people who might genuinely benefit from what you do.   It’s all just common sense really but I see people ignoring it every day and I know that their short sightedness and inflexibility is costing them dearly!

Thanks Jim for the timely reminder