Art of Networking
"Yahoo" for BNI-Yahoo! Group
Join online and widen your BNI world.
By Tony Dalia, BNI-Yahoo! Group Moderator

The BNI-Yahoo! Group, in existence since August 1998, is the official international group site for BNI members worldwide. The bulletin board is a forum for discussion about running good BNI meetings.

There is a broad range of questions, and the members post very helpful answers. There is a chat feature, and we have had several "Ask the Founder" chats. Some of the group members also get together at the BNI International Conference.

To join the group, you can go to bni.com. Then go to "BNI Links," click on "Related links," and finally click on the bottom link that sends you to the group. You must join Yahoo! before joining any Yahoo! groups. When you join, it's recommended that you make your contact information private.

If you would like a point and click invitation, please email me at tony@inlandauto.net. The group is fully moderated and posts do not appear right away. And to learn more about the BNIOfficialGroup, please visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BNIOfficialGroup.

Benefits of BNI-Yahoo!
When the question recently was posted regarding the benefits of participating in the BNI-Yahoo! Group, we received the following responses:

The BNI Yahoo! Group is a brilliant advice channel for making your own chapter stronger. Sometimes it is a playground for marketing creativity and other times for psychological analysis. The people who regularly contribute don't just 'get BNI'; they make a success of it and pass their experiences and views on to your own chapter.
James Shillaker

The greatest benefit is connecting with BNI members across the country and around the world. This group has a wealth of information and ideas for helping us all grow and strengthen both our chapters and our businesses. It shows us that BNI is a widespread and powerful organization.
Beth Anderson

You get the knowledge of other awesome BNI members who truly want to see others succeed. This Yahoo! Group has helped me learn to communicate the Givers Gain philosophy to my chapter and also get them fired up about growing the group, setting financial goals, and inviting visitors to an already dynamic chapter.
Christopher Signore

I love the "Blinding Flash of the Obvious." Global members share how to make BNI marketing better. BNI is about how to put Giver's Gain into action. The Yahoo! members give awesome ideas on how to personally implement BNI strategies. I borrow the ideas, and present them to my chapter.
Jeff Scott Hoyland

Don't put off joining the BNI-Yahoo! Group. The value of the discourse only increases with more BNI members online!


Present Yourself with Power
8 strategies to leave a significant impression.
by Joe Tye, America's Values Coach

Several years ago, I had lunch with the CEO of a major producer of corporate training videos. We were talking about effective communication techniques when he said, "Joe, if you really want to reach an audience, you have to have sex with them." I almost choked on my noodles.

"All of them?" I asked.

He replied, "S-E-X: Significant Emotional eXperience." He's right. You must touch someone's heart if you want to have a lasting impact on their thinking—and, more particularly, on their thinking of you. Here are eight things you can do to make sure people remember you—and that they think of you when they need someone who does what you do.

1. Create a visceral mental image: The most memorable advertising uses metaphors and images to create an emotional reaction. The Good Hands People have hands just like you and me, and Chevy trucks really aren't made of stone, but those metaphorical images create a positive feeling, which is why these campaigns have lasted for decades. What picture can you use to capture the essence of your business?


2. Sell with stories: Let's say you're an insurance agent trying to sell a life policy to a young father in a Harley-Davidson t-shirt, who's telling you that he can't afford it. What's more likely to convince him: reciting statistics about motorcycle mortality, or telling him about a previous client who traded in his cable TV for life insurance the month before being killed in an accident? I've posed that question to hundreds of agents over the past year, and without exception their answer is "the story." Every time I read a book or watch a movie, I'm on the lookout for a great story that I can borrow for my own purposes, and you can benefit from doing the same thing.


3. Touch listeners on the funny bone: People listen better when they're laughing. This doesn't mean you have to be a stand-up comedian, and by all means don't open your presentations with "So, this guy walks into a bar..." But you can and should learn how to make people laugh. T.S. Eliot said, "Good poets borrow; great poets steal." I do both! I illustrate the power of enthusiasm with humorous stories borrowed from Southwest Airlines. When speaking about the power of vision, I tell a story borrowed from another speaker, modified to fit my own needs. I adapted my signature Elmo story from one of those throwaway motivational publications we all get in the mail (you can see the video at www.joetye.com.).


4. Make the impossible believable: I'm on a quest to eradicate complaining, finger-pointing, rumor-mongering and other toxic emotional negativity from the workplace. When I challenge my audiences to join me in the campaign, people look at me as if I'd asked them to fly to Mars. Then I remind them that not so long ago, the room we're in would have been full of cigarette smoke. Back then, it seemed inconceivable that we could ever live in a smoke-free world, but today that dream is real. If we can eradicate toxic cigarette smoke from the environment, why not toxic emotional negativity – which is as harmful to the soul as cigarette smoke is to the body.


5. Ask for a commitment: In every speech I give, I ask people to make a commitment of some sort. For example, I'll ask listeners to stand up if they'd be willing to invest one minute a day for a year to change their lives for the better. Without exception, every single person in the room will rise. Then I challenge them to take The Self-Empowerment Pledge, which I will have included in their handout package. (To take The Pledge yourself, go to www.Pledge-Power.com; you can print out a mini-poster and listen to all seven audio tracks from the CD.)


6. Learn from the experts: Most professional speakers have online video clips featuring their best material; you can efficiently see lots of them by visiting speaker bureau websites. Even more helpful is watching videos of the best business speakers, many of which are online and can be easily found with Google. Watch how Steve Jobs, John Chambers, Jeffrey Immelt, Carly Fiorina and other business leaders (and former business leaders) use (or don't use) notes and PowerPoint, how they use hand gestures and eye contact, how they connect with various audiences. Then adapt those techniques into your own presentations.


7. Practice, practice, practice: Make it a point to practice presenting with power at every opportunity. Work a visual image into your memory hook; include a story in every sales presentation; and, ask your BNI colleagues to make a commitment of some sort. Join Toastmasters or take a Dale Carnegie class. Communicating with power is a key business skill, one that you must cultivate if you wish to realize your potential as a professional and as a person.


8. Let your passion shine through: While preparing this article, I found an online video of Steve Jobs' presentation at Apple's 2005 software developers conference. He grabbed me by the collar and literally pulled me into the computer screen with his infectious passion. I'd intended to watch just the first few minutes; 45 minutes later, I was ready to trade in my Windows PC for a Mac and invest my next paycheck in Apple stock. Isn't that the sort of impact we'd all like to have? Don't be afraid to let your passion shine through in your presentations. If you can't be passionate about it, then you're in the wrong line of work.

When you stop worrying about what your audience thinks of you and instead focus on what you can do for your audience, you unleash incredible energy and enthusiasm. This power will pour out of you in more commanding body language, authoritative hand gestures, sincere eye contact, and all the other non-verbal cues that say much more to your listeners than the words coming out of your mouth. The technical term for this power is charisma.

Joe Tye is America's Values Coach. Join the thousands of readers worldwide who rely on his free Spark Plug newsletter for a twice-weekly infusion of great ideas and the inspiration to put those ideas into practice. You can sign up at www.joetye.com.