This morning I went to a networking breakfast.
Nothing unusual in that - I often go to these events. It's a great way to meet people and to learn about what other businesses are doing (as well as to promote one's own business of course).
At this meeting everyone had a chance to deliver their business message in 60 seconds, and there were some stand-out performances in amongst those short presentations, but there were also quite a few who didn't really get the job done.
The thing is - it can be hard to create a compelling message in such a short time, and so we find people either trying to cram every detail into the time, and so failing to hold attention, or apparently believing that the world can read their minds, so they speak in a kind of shorthand, which can leave their audience wondering what the message was.
I believe it's better to get a smaller chunk of your message over clearly than to deliver an obscure or boring monologue.
Get people interested. Get them curious to know more, and let them come to you and ask. That way, you'll have all the time you need to give them the whole story!
News & updates from Profile Training - providers of presentation and communication skills training, business coaching and mentoring.
Hi Steve, you are absolutely right. I felt my 40sec introduction was more of a waffle than anything else. That's what happens if you don't prepare for the occasion but hope for some kind of magic intuition. It's only 40sec but getting it wrong can have a negative effect on your business.
ReplyDeleteHi Stephane,
ReplyDeletePreparation is vital, but so is freshness. If you say the same thing too often it starts to bore you, and that means it'll fail to hold your audience as well.
How about telling a (very) short story about a client each time you present, and topping and tailing it with something about the business. It'll be different each time, and regulars will start to look forward to your story instead of 'knowing' what you're going to say.