How to Be a Knockout Speaker at a Networking Event

Prepare, prepare, prepare

Then prepare again. If your presentation is virtual and you’re unfamiliar with sharing your screen or using slides, practice ahead of time so you don’t waste time fumbling with the technology. And remember to unmute! A lack of preparation will appear unprofessional. Of course, know your information cold. Have a clear plan for what you’re going to say for every slide and bullet point. If you prefer not to use slides, then send a document ahead of time so your audience can follow along. In a virtual presentation, have something for your audience to follow to keep them engaged. Nobody will know your content better than you. Deliver your material like a subject-matter expert.

Don’t abandon your intro

Most networking groups allow for each attendee to deliver a 45- or 60-second introduction. Put that time to good use! What impression would you leave with your potential referral partners if during your intro moment you said, “I’m the speaker today and you will learn more about what I do later.” Whatever the impression, why waste the time and opportunity? Always prepare for your intro. In fact, that intro moment can be used to set the stage and even build suspense for your main presentation. After introducing yourself, you could say, “Make sure you have a pen and paper ready as I’ll be sharing my sure-fire ways to close more sales in my presentation in a matter of moments! I can’t wait to share. Stay tuned!” What impression would that approach leave? Never waste a marketing moment to build suspense and make a great impression.

Be likeable

Discuss your family, friends, pets, activities, hobbies, interests, and fun facts. A fan favorite is to talk about how you got involved in your business or profession. If you contribute time and money to worthy causes, share your passion for those initiatives. For fellow members and attendees of the group to find you referrable you must first be likeable. If they don’t like and trust you, they won’t refer business or provide introductions. Simple as that.

Create a compelling biography

Remember, someone will be introducing you to your audience using your bio. Your bio should highlight information about your profession, clients, specialization, designation, awards, accomplishments, and career history. Add information about your hobbies, activities, family, pets, and fun facts – all the better! Write your bio in a way that the reader that’s introducing you can make your intro more personal and compelling. That’s what a great bio or introduction does!

Work on your public speaking skills

You may not be a professional speaker, but deliver the best possible version of you. A great exercise is to practice your presentation with a small audience and get their feedback about your speaking skills and the flow of your content. Have your practice audience be mindful about your use of verbal pauses (“so”, “like”) and verbal tics (“um”, “ah”). Of course, you want to minimize your verbal pauses and tics and a great way of doing this is to replace these noises with actual pauses. Pauses, as in no sound at all! This takes effort and practice. Be mindful about creating pauses between your speaking points, regulating your volume, and changing your pace throughout your presentation. Often, the loudest word in a presentation is a pause.

Engage your audience

Get your audience involved. One way is by making your presentation interactive with questions or by having your audience share stories and perspectives. A case study that puts your audience in the position of a client is always a nice touch. A quiz, scenario, or story that the audience can relate to is also powerful. Actual client stories are terrific! If your presentation is too technical and not relatable to the audience, they will not listen and therefore multi-task – especially with a virtual presentation. The job of a great presenter is to be excited about their material and to create excitement with their audience.

Use visuals

Providing visuals in terms of slides and even props is rarely an option for a virtual presentation. Remember, the goal of your presentation (any presentation) is to have your audience engage with you and learn from you. It’s so easy to lose your audience to email and other distractions. Pictures of you, your family, fun things you do, and of course important work-related content (make it fun and relevant!), is essential.

Call to action

Your presentation at a networking event should end with a call to action or a specific request to meet the economic buyers in your target market or logical referral partners. Isn’t this the purpose of your presentation? The more specific you are about industry, profession, market segment, niche, dynamic, geography, and company names – the better! Avoid the use of words like anyone, everyone, and someone. You want to meet someone like who?

Stay focused and on time

A great 10-minute presentation goes by like a blip. A not-so-good presentation gives the audience permission to visit their inboxes. Plan the time accordingly. If you were delivering a 60-minute presentation, you would divide it into sections based on topics or areas that naturally flow into one another. The same is true for much shorter presentations. Divide your 10 minutes into sections – open, body, call to action. The open should be your most engaging information. “Fun fact! I used to be a bodyguard for a celebrity. Can you guess which one?” Or you can share info about your family. Then get into the most important part of your talk in the body. This would be about your profession, how you help, who you help, and why. The call to action is your “ask” of the group. Who do you want to meet or be introduced to? There’s usually time for questions once the presentation is officially complete.

The breakdown of time might look something like this:

Open – (Fun fact, story, family, how you got in the business) – two minutes
Body – (Your profession, how you help, who you help, why) – six minutes
Call to Action – (Your request in the form of an “ask”) – two minutes

Of course, there are a lot of creative ways to deliver your presentation. Some speakers might use slides, others may use a handout or quiz, and yet others may use a video to tell their story.

Make yourself relatable, likeable, and referrable so the audience can help you grow your business. The ability to deliver a powerful presentation will inspire others and help you develop long lasting important relationships while having more fun!

Not a bad way to spend 10 minutes!

Michael Goldberg has helped financial advisors, brokers, agents, reps, wholesalers and other sales producers generate hundreds of thousands of dollars to their bottom line. His firm, Knock Out Networking, LLC, is renowned as a speaking and training resource in the financial services industry. Described by clients as a “spark plug”, Michael is a master at invigorating and engaging audiences. His “knock-out” style is “in your face” and high energy. His content is “real world” and can be applied immediately. Michael speaks at conferences and associations, runs sales meetings, and delivers “results driven” programs on networking, referral marketing, and sales presentations.

Read more articles by Michael Goldberg