Mastermind Alliance Guide to making a great presentation
More feared than death, public speaking is often cited as the number one thing that people are afraid of. There is no real need for this fear: in fact, studies have shown that two things can really help with a fear of speaking in public. The first is to know what you are going to say – this guide will help you with that. The second is to do it more often.
Join a breakfast meeting group, such as the BNI, Breakfast for Business - or if you are in the Leicestershire area - Working Breakfast, which will give you the opportunity to practise and perfect your public speaking skills on a weekly basis!
If you are in business in the Leicestershire area, you are invited to attend one of our meetings to see for yourself what we get up to, talk to our members and see if Working Breakfast will suit your business. If you join, and are able to provide a good service for members and their associates, you can expect a steady stream of new business leads, as well as a reliable source of pre-approved suppliers. Currently, we are averaging around 80 new business leads which are shared between our 30 members.
This guide will help you get more out of your membership of any such business referral group and make you a better presenter in any situation.
40 Ways to Deliver a Powerful 60 Second Presentation
- Don’t read off a sheet of paper. If you are going to read your material, make sure you have a good idea of the content and make plenty of eye contact with the people around the table.
- Be specific in what you ask for. It always works well if you name a specific type of business or position within companies.
- Start your 60 seconds with a joke or some humorous reference to gain people’s attention and separate you from the previous speaker.
- Use props. If you want to show a product you have for sale or want to show the results of your activity or even want to make a point by using a humorous object, props can be a memorable way of making a lasting impression.
- End with a strap line. The last thing you say will often be what you are remembered for. Don’t just end with a whimper – go out with a strong benefit driven message that will make people remember you for the right reasons.
- Keep it brief. You have 60 seconds – don’t drag your slot on longer than it should be. You do not want to be an unwelcome guest at a dinner party with the host looking at the clock. If you exceed 60 seconds (the bell will usually tell you) then be courteous and end your piece promptly.
- Prove it. We are used to being sceptical about advertising and the same applies to your 60 second advert. If you are making an impressive claim, then prove it. If you have satisfied customers, tell people about them, show them comments and letters. That way people are more likely to believe your claims.
- Get the basics right. For the benefit of guests, new members and the more forgetful members, always state your name, your company and what you do. You might think that everybody should know this, but it is essential that you state these basics so people can pass you leads.
- Make a wish. What would be your ideal referral? Why not ask for it? It’s amazing how many times people ask for a seemingly obscure contact at a seemingly impenetrable organisation – only to end up with 2 or 3 ways of approaching that person. Try it. If you don’t ask, you may never receive.
- Speak clearly. Remember you are addressing the whole table. If you can only be heard by a few people, you are wasting a huge opportunity. You need to be heard over the mutters and sounds of people eating their breakfast. Make sure that your voice is heard clearly.
- Don’t rush. It’s better to say less in a clear way that is understood by all, than to rush through a load of material that does not sink in.
- Rehearse. It’s usually easy to spot who knows what they are going to say next and those who make it up on the spot. On the journey in, practise what you are going to say at least a few times in your head and a few times out loud in your car. Don’t worry – nobody else is going to hear you.
- Work on the structure. There is no point in having a wonderful, humorous introduction and then running out of time before you get to the main point you wanted to make. The rule of thirds can be a helpful guide to your 60 seconds: spend 20 seconds on your intro; 20 seconds on what you want and 20 seconds on summarising what you want and closing.
- Focus. Is there a theme that you can focus on? If you have been successfully working with a particular group, you can talk about their success in your presentation and then ask for more of the same.
- Variety. Don’t repeat that same 60 seconds week after week. It will bore regular members and lead to a steady reduction in leads. It’s far better to change your presentation week by week to keep the interest in what you offer.
- Solve problems. Is there something you can offer that will take away the pain for a customer? If you can save money, save time or save hassle, talk about what you can do specifically to help people.
- Stand up. Almost everybody stands up, but sometimes you might be tempted to stay seated, particularly at the end if you don’t have many referrals to pass. Always stand up and say clearly what you want to say. Sitting down makes it look like you have nothing important to say.
- Don’t read from a piece of paper. Standing up and reading from a piece of paper (unless perhaps you are a substitute) just looks terrible. If you don’t know enough about your business to talk about it for a minute, you will not inspire confidence in your audience.
- Smile. If you are nervous, you might not feel like it but it helps the tone of your voice and shows that you are comfortable speaking.
- Eye contact. Make eye contact with at least 2 – 3 people around the table when you are talking. They are more likely to pass you a lead if they feel you are talking directly to them.
- Name check. Everybody likes the sound of their own name. You can see some people’s faces light up if their name is mentioned. If members around the table have experienced your product or service, give them a name check. They will be listening more closely from then on and it is a clear endorsement of your business if respected people around the table have experienced it.
- Silence is golden. A dramatic pause can be very powerful. People are used to hearing a constant chatter for 60 seconds. Even a 5 second pause will cause most people to stop and look up to see why you’ve stopped talking. It can be very powerful, but be warned. Even 5 seconds can seem like a very long time when people are looking at you.
- Use the presentation technique of feature - advantage - benefit - close. For example, “All our mugs have handles (feature) this separates your fingers from the hot surface of the mug (advantage) which means that you will never have to burn you fingers again (benefit) so if you know of anybody who doesn’t want to burn their fingers… (close).
- Be memorable. The purpose of your 60 seconds is to generate leads: a good way to do this is to be remembered. What can you do that will make you remembered? Can you dress up like a pirate? Can you sing? Can you run around the room? You might feel daft, but if you do something that is memorable and relevant to your business, you can dramatically increase your leads.
- Prepare. There is an old show business motto: prepare, and then when your moment comes to walk into the spotlight, you won’t look foolish. You never know who is going to be sitting abound the table and you can never be sure who the people around the table know. The right 60 seconds could land you a project that could make your business. But if your presentation is poor, you are not going to impress anybody and you will never find out what might have been.
- Keep it simple. There isn’t a great deal of time to put across the point you want to make. It is better to make one point and ask for one type of lead, than trying to list all the different services you offer and all the types of customer you might be interested in. Better to ask for one thing well, than a dozen badly.
- Scare people. What are the consequences of people not using your product or services? Will it cost them money, will it make them look foolish, could it lose them clients? If so, lay it on the line and make them realise that not doing what you suggest could have some serious consequences.
- Don’t get technical. There is a fine line between showing that you know your subject and baffling the audience. The trick is to make it clear you know what you are talking about without boring and baffling people with jargon and irrelevant information that does not add to the point you are making.
- Interact. Most people think that a 60 second presentation means that they need to talk for 60 seconds. However, you could spend at least some of this time asking questions, requesting a show of hands and generally getting the people in the room to interact with you. At the very least, it shows that people are listening.
- Get people on your side. We all like people who are ‘like’ us. If you are going to use an example or tell a story, pick a topic that people can relate to. By showing how clever you are or how much money you have, you are more likely to alienate the group than to win friends and influence people.
- Shut up and listen. There is nothing, absolutely nothing that shows ignorance and disrespect for other members of the group more than talking through their presentations, through education slots or chattering away in your own mini meeting when the rest of the group is getting on with business. For your 60 seconds you deserve silence just as everybody else deserves your silence and respect during theirs.
- Just the facts. Don’t try and bamboozle the group with dubious claims. People can usually see through waffle and flannel. Tell the truth, stick to the facts and you won’t come unstuck.
- Turn off your phone. Don’t be the one who everybody looks at when a text message arrives in the middle of somebody else’s 60 seconds. Make sure you turn off your phone as soon as you sit down at the table.
- Tell them straight. You can give out very clear instructions of what type of lead you want. If you are happy with e-mail addresses of people who run their own company, that’s fine. Not every lead needs to be a raging certainty for conversion into a sale. If you want ‘raw ore’ then ask for it. Tell people what you want and you are more likely to get it.
- Hands up. Ask members of the group some ‘who else questions’. Who else would like to pay less for their utility bills? Who else either belongs or used to belong to another networking group? Who else has problems in retaining customers for more than 5 years? etc. This creates empathy, and once the person has agreed with your question, you can then follow up with a request such as ‘If so, pass me a lead of anybody else you know who would like to pay less for their utility bills…wants to keep their customers for longer…has belonged to other networking groups’ etc.
- Explain the benefit. Your 60 seconds is not really about you. It’s really about what benefit you can bring to a potential lead. Can you save them money? Can you save them time? Can you generate extra income for their company? Don’t just talk about yourself, talk about the benefit that you can bring to a lead that is passed your way.
- Memory hooks. Most members of Working Breakfast use a memory hook at the end of their 60 seconds. This not only works, it is really expected of members. It gives a clear signal that you have ended your slot, but more importantly, it gives the other members a simple memorable phrase to associate with your business. If you create a really good one and use it for long enough, you will even find other members chanting along with it as you end your piece.
- Win confidence. What’s the best way to win the confidence of the group? It’s probably making it clear that you know what you are talking about. If week in, week out you make reference to new legislation or talk about specific ways you have helped people, your knowledge of your business will shine through. It is very difficult to recommend a company that members do not have confidence in.
- Do repeat yourself. There is nothing wrong with repeats during your 60 seconds. If you have a main point to your presentation, by all means repeat this before you sit down. You may have asked for it and spelt out exactly why, but re-stating in one simple sentence will increase people’s recollection by at least 30%.
- It’s your 60 seconds. If you were given 60 seconds airtime on ITV, you would be unlikely just to claim 40 seconds of it. Use your full minute to make the most powerful, engaging and persuasive 60 seconds that you can – even if it is your 10 minute slot later in the meeting. This is your opportunity to bring in new business to your company, you have paid for this opportunity, so prepare yourself and make the most of it.
Hope you found this Mastermind Alliance Guide helpful