BNI 793: Weekly Presentation Coaching 126 - Stephanie Meekhof - Personal Trainer - BNI & The Power of One

Summary5 min read

Summary of Podcast Episode: BNI & The Power of One - Episode 793: Weekly Presentation Coaching 126 with Stephanie Meekhof

Introduction

In episode 793 of the "BNI & The Power of One" podcast, host Tim Roberts delves into the art of effective presentations within the BNI (Business Network International) framework. Focusing on success, increased referrals, and strategic growth, this episode features a detailed coaching session with Stephanie Meekhof, a personal trainer from Alpharetta, Georgia. The primary objective is to refine Stephanie's 30-second weekly presentation to maximize its impact within the constraints of a 60-member chapter.

Stephanie Meekhof's 30-Second Presentation

Stephanie’s initial submission aims to engage her audience by addressing common signs of diminished confidence and positioning her fitness classes as a solution. Below is her original presentation:

“Good morning BNI. I'm Stephanie with Omni Fight Club. Have you ever noticed a friend that doesn't look you in the eye when they talk, fidgets or hides in the back of photos? At OFC, we know sometimes our confidence fades and we need a pick me up. Our boxing and strength classes are designed to not only boost their fitness and get rid of self-doubt, but bring you back to you, leaving them feeling as powerful and confident. If a friend shows these symptoms, let them know you have a colleague who has been there and would love to help.”
— Stephanie Meekhof, [00:55]

Tim Roberts' Coaching and Feedback

Tim Roberts meticulously analyzes Stephanie’s presentation, offering constructive feedback aimed at enhancing clarity, engagement, and effectiveness within the limited 30-second timeframe.

Identifying the Problem and Audience:

Tim commends Stephanie for effectively identifying her target audience—the friends who exhibit signs of low confidence. He highlights her ability to pinpoint behaviors such as avoiding eye contact, fidgeting, and hiding in photos as indicators of self-doubt.

“You did a good job with the trigger. You did a good job with who. We're talking to your friend who is timid.”
— Tim Roberts, [01:40]
Balancing Content Within Time Constraints:

Tim points out that Stephanie's presentation becomes too commercial in the middle portion, which could dilute the initial impact. He advises focusing more on initiating meaningful conversations rather than purely pitching the classes.

“It became more commercial like in the middle and then at the end it's a quick if a friend shows these symptoms, let them know you have a colleague who's been there and would love to help.”
— Tim Roberts, [03:10]
Streamlining the Message:

To make the presentation more effective, Tim suggests trimming the middle section to allow more time for encouraging members to engage in conversations about confidence-building. He recommends prioritizing key messages that prompt action rather than selling the service.

“Take out most of that, if not all of that second paragraph and use that time to get the conversation started going.”
— Tim Roberts, [04:50]
Focusing on Initiating Conversations:

Tim emphasizes the importance of guiding members on how to approach sensitive topics with their peers. He advises Stephanie to allocate more time to teaching strategies for starting conversations about confidence, which is crucial for meaningful referrals.

“You're going to have to show them how to make it more comfortable.”
— Tim Roberts, [07:15]
Optimizing Time Allocation:

With only 30 seconds available, Tim recommends that Stephanie focus on one or two key indicators of low confidence rather than listing all three. This approach ensures a more focused and impactful message.

“Pick one of those triggers to do this with. Just because you only have 30 seconds.”
— Tim Roberts, [05:50]
Encouraging One-to-One Interactions:

Tim underscores the significance of one-to-one meetings within BNI chapters. He connects Stephanie’s presentation to the broader strategy of building deeper relationships and having strategic conversations that extend beyond the weekly pitches.

“This also highlights for all of us why one to ones are so important.”
— Tim Roberts, [09:30]

Key Insights and Takeaways

Clarity and Focus: Within limited timeframes, it is crucial to maintain a clear and focused message. Avoid overloading the presentation with multiple points which can dilute the primary objective.
Engagement Over Selling: Shift the emphasis from selling a service to engaging members in conversations that can lead to meaningful referrals. Encourage the development of strategies to approach sensitive topics effectively.
Strategic Time Management: Allocate time wisely to ensure that each segment of the presentation serves a purpose. Tim’s feedback highlights cutting out less effective parts to strengthen the overall message.
Importance of One-to-Ones: Building strong one-to-one relationships is essential for the success of BNI chapters. These relationships facilitate deeper, strategic conversations that are often more impactful than weekly presentations.
Training and Preparation: Members should be trained not just in presentation skills but also in initiating and navigating complex conversations that can lead to referrals and business growth.

Conclusion

Episode 793 of "BNI & The Power of One" provides valuable insights into crafting effective BNI presentations within strict time constraints. Tim Roberts’ coaching session with Stephanie Meekhof underscores the importance of clarity, focus, and strategic engagement in weekly pitches. By honing these skills, BNI members can enhance their presentations, foster stronger relationships, and ultimately drive greater success and increased referrals within their chapters.

For BNI members seeking to refine their presentation skills or seeking further personalized feedback, Tim encourages submissions through bnipowerof1.com and invites listeners to share their experiences and reviews.

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

Identifying the Audience:

“You did a good job with the trigger. You did a good job with who. We're talking to your friend who is timid.”
— Tim Roberts, [01:40]
Balancing Content:

“It became more commercial like in the middle and then at the end it's a quick if a friend shows these symptoms, let them know you have a colleague who's been there and would love to help.”
— Tim Roberts, [03:10]
Encouraging Conversational Strategies:

“You're going to have to show them how to make it more comfortable.”
— Tim Roberts, [07:15]
Optimizing Message Focus:

“Pick one of those triggers to do this with. Just because you only have 30 seconds.”
— Tim Roberts, [05:50]
Highlighting One-to-One Importance:

“This also highlights for all of us why one to ones are so important.”
— Tim Roberts, [09:30]

This comprehensive coaching episode serves as an invaluable resource for BNI members aiming to enhance their presentation skills and leverage the Power of One to achieve greater business success.

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Transcript1 lines

[00:26]
Tim
Foreign. Welcome back to bni, the Power of One podcast. Back with our weekly presentation coaching episodes where we are reviewing submitted weekly presentations to try to give feedback, help make them as effective as possible. If you ever want yours done, go to bnipower of1.com and submit it there. Today we are going to hear from Stephanie Meekoff. She's from Alpharetta, Georgia. I believe I'm saying all of these right. Alpharetta, Georgia. So Stephanie, thank you for listening, thank you for submitting. I'm gonna pull up my timer here. As I talk. I do time these for everybody just to give point of reference. Let's see, she's got a 30 second presentation review. Hi Tim, thank you for doing this. Love the podcast. Listen multiple times a week. Thank you you so much for that. Really appreciate it. We have 30 seconds as our chapter has 60 members. Okay, so great size chapter. And again, when we have shorter time, it's even more imperative that we are highly efficient and effective. We need to make sure we're hitting our three parts. Who, how, what, and we just don't have as much time for stories and everything else. So 30 seconds, Stephanie, again, I'm going to do this at a different speed than you will just because it's the first time I'm reading it. We also talk at different speeds, but it'll at least be a reference point. So here we go. Good morning bni. I'm Stephanie with Omni Fight Club. Have you ever noticed a friend that doesn't look you in the eye when they talk, fidgets or hides in the back of photos? @ ofc we know sometimes our confidence fades and we need a pick me up. Our boxing and strength classes are designed to not only boost their fitness but and get rid of self doubt, but bring you back to you, leaving them feeling as powerful and confident. If a friend shows these symptoms, let them know you have a colleague who has been there and would love to help and that's it. Okay? So right on. 30 seconds for me. The challenge with this for you in this particular example is I think you did a good job with the trigger. You did a good job with, with who. We're talking to your friend who is timid. Here's how you're going to pick up on that, right? They don't look you in the eye, they hide in the back photos, they fidget. So we're identifying somebody who might be lacking confidence. The missing element is how do we, how do we bring that up? Right? You just, you, you got the who, you got the fidget then you spent most of it kind of selling the class, if you will not. I don't find it to be very salesy, but you're, you're. It became more commercial like in the middle and then at the end it's a quick. If a friend shows these symptoms, let them know you have a colleague who's been there and would love to help. How do I do that? How do I, how do I get there to that part of the conversation, right? This is a personal thing. It is going to be something that people aren't, you know, just jumping at to talk to their friends about and it's not going to be very comfortable potentially to bring up. So you got to, you got to spend more of your time getting to that, you know, getting them into that conversation. So you got to cut this. At ofc, we know sometimes our confidence fades. We need to pick me up our boxing, like if I just time this part. Let's just do this for a fun exercise. At ofc, we know sometimes our confidence fades and we need a pick me up. Our boxing and strength classes are designed to not only boost their fitness and get rid of self doubt, but bring you back to you, leaving them feeling as powerful and confident. Okay, so that was 12 seconds. So it's more than a third of your time that isn't fully accomplishing the goal. You know, I would be spending that time saying this is an area our classes really help people improve on. So here and then get into how do I get into that conversation? Ask them. You notice they're not looking in the eye. Ask them this, okay, you notice they're always hiding in the back of photos. Ask them this. And to get into the conversation. So, and I would. You're going to have to pick one of those triggers to do this with. Just because you only have 30 seconds. If you had 60 seconds, you'd have a lot more time to do it, but in 30 seconds. And I would rather 30 seconds in front of 60 people than 60 seconds in front of 20 people just to make that clear. But because it's only 30 seconds, it's pick one, right? You can name all three at the beginning. I don't think you're losing a tremendous amount of time when you say, have you ever noticed a friend that does these things? But pick one to go. You know, when you see them always in the back of photos, ask them, hey, I always notice you're in the back. What's up with that? Or why? And if they, you know, give you an answer like, I Just don't like how I look. Then get into, hey, have you ever thought about this? Or I have a friend who really helps people with that. Can I make an introduction? If they just say if it's hey, I noticed you, you have trouble looking me in the eye. What's going on? Oh really? I never really noticed. Da da da. Whatever. You're going to have to train them on how this conversation might be taking place. So really take out most of that, if not all of that second paragraph and use that time to get the conversation started going. Because I just don't think this is going to be highly effective for you in the sense of your members will probably be able to. I think you're really effective at the beginning. We could probably all immediately think of someone. But I go back to as much as we love each other and we want to help each other and even as much as we love that friend, people avoid difficult conversations or uncomfortable conversations. So you're going to have to show them how to make it more comfortable. This also highlights for all of us why one to ones are so important, why you have to be doing them and why you have to probably be doing more than you're currently doing. Because we really need to spend time having these strategic conversations like how do I really get into a conversation with somebody about this? And that's going to take longer than 30 seconds. Right? So 30 seconds. It's just about quick hit training and so we can leave the fluff out, we can leave the salesy stuff out, we can leave a lot of it out. Quick hit boom. This is what I'm looking for. Here's how you see it, here's what you say, especially at 30 seconds. So hopefully and I would, I would envision, but I don't know that a successful chapter is encouraging and is highly active in one to ones. Make sure we all are. This just highlights again the problem with this. I did a member success program training the other day and reminded all these members like over a course of a year, in a perfect year you maybe have 50 meetings because of holidays and stuff maybe. And that's if you make every single one and that that means you have somewhere between 25 and 50 minutes of training time in just weekly presentations. We gotta be doing a lot of one to ones to really be effective. So Stephanie, thank you for submitting. Hope this is helpful. And for everybody else, go to BNI Power of one. Submit yours and if you're finding them valuable, leave me a review, let me know, I'll talk to you soon.