First of all, what do I mean by sizzle? My definition of a sizzling 60-second presentation is a presentation that captures the audience attention, hold it like a vice and then move that audience to act on your behalf. Now that we are on the same page as to what I mean by sizzle, here are five items that will bring more sizzle to your 60-second presentations.
The first element you have to add to your 60-second presentations is something that will get your audience’s attention. I call this first element “the opening salvo”. My favorite technique is to ask a relevant question or ask a riddle. I often start out with the words; “Did you know”, then ask a question usually tied to some current event or sensational headline. These headlines usually grab a persons attention because of the words used in them are dynamic and emotional. An example might be; did you know that last year more than 80,000 people in the US had been hospitalized because they used Tylenol? I would then go on to tell the punch line, which then allows me to transition into my own emotionally charged story. The key point here is to grab the audiences’ attention with “opening salvo”. This grabs your audience’s attention and gives you the momentum to move into your story. Your story has to be related to your “opening salvo” in some way for this to work. By using, the right words in your story you will be able to keep your momentum and their attention.
The second thing you must make sure you do is to use emotionally charged words throughout your 60-second presentation. This allows you to keep their attention all the way to the end where you will empower them to act on your behalf. I have done a lot of research to find which words carry the most emotionally charged weight. These words can carry both a positive or negative charge. You want to use words that primarily have positive connotations. Here are a few of the word I use in my stories; Easy, Healthy, Love, Safety, Proven, Results, Guarantee, and Excited. There are many others highly emotionally charged words that are not listed here. I devote a whole chapter in my book to this subject. Check out 60-Second To success if you want to learn more about these magical words. The point to remember is that positive words draw people to you and negative word push people away. Both types of emotionally charged words will hold your audiences attention. Make sure your words are nudging them it the right direction.
Third, you need to make sure that your message is focused and has a specific outcome. If you try to ask for a half dozen different types of referrals, you will lose your audience and most of them will not know what you’re really looking for. On the other hand, if you only ask for one very specific referral, your message will be easy to follow and your audience will stay with you longer. Another advantage of being specific is that your audience/referral partners do not have to mentally work as hard to find you referrals. By being specific, you have done most of the hard work for them. Keep your message focused and specific. Being specific will always be terrific.
Forth, your task is to empower your audience. You empower them by giving them specific directions on what to do when they recognize your referrals. If you want your audience to have the referral check out your website, tell them to do this. If you want them to set and appointment with you, ask for that. If you are trying to get your referral partners to ask your prospects to meet with you, ask them to get permission from the prospect for you to call. Ask that they give the prospect your card. Giving your audience clear and specific instructions empowers them to act on your behalf. Add this piece to every 60-second presentation and your referral numbers will go way up, especially if you are not doing this now.
The fifth and last element that will give your 60-second presentation sizzle is to make sure you end your presentation with a memorable catchphrase or memory hook. Memory hooks should make you stand out in a positive way. They need not rhyme, but should be unique to you if possible and easy to remember. Using memory hooks is a way of branding your special talents, skills or product. This is important because good catchphrases will trigger a conditioned response to remember you. You should pop into the listeners’ head anytime your memory hook “plays”. Memory hooks, catchphrases, slogans, and jingles are all branding elements. Make sure you are using memory hooks to brand yourself in a positive way. This will definitely increase your recognition and get you more referrals.
Using these five techniques will radically transform your 60-second presentations for bland to bam, from dull to dynamic, from so-so to sizzling. Word of mouth marketing is more than just meeting and greeting people at business events. Being systematic, prepared and professional will increase your credibility. If you use attention-getting headlines like my opening salvos, emotionally charged words to maintain momentum, a focused easy to follow story, ask for a specific outcome and use a unique memory hook, your 60-second presentations will take you to the next level. Using these techniques in your presentations will all add up to better communication, more visibility more credibility and before long more profitability. Best of all you will have more fun and have less stress and close more business.
That’s my opinion, what’s yours?
Hector Cisneros is an entrepreneur/businessman with over 25 year’s experience, is a 17-year veteran of BNI, and was BNI Director for 6 years. Currently, he manages three businesses, writes business articles and coach's business people in the art of Word of Mouth marketing. He has several intl. published articles covering word of mouth marketing and how to improve your 60-second presentations. His new book "60-Seconds to Success" is aimed at helping business people make great first impressions and make more money through word of mouth marketing. To get a FREE PREVIEW of his book, 60 SECONDS TO SUCCESS", Sign up for his blog at http://networkersapprentice.blogspot.com/. Email us when you have signed up and he will send you the free preview. Friend us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/60-Seconds-To-Success/182027141821361?v=wall To contact Hector write him at hecisneros@gmail.com
Thanks, this is really useful and practical suggestion. If I may raise a question, should I need to keep my inquiry the same in every meeting? or should I change my subject for referral inquiry in every meeting?
ReplyDeleteThank you very muchfor your help.
Gary Chang
BNI Flagship Chapter, Taipei, Taiwan
EMAIL: yuigarychang@gmail.com