How To Give An Effective Presentation

IMG.Ws defines a Presentation as a formal offering of your product, service, or income opportunity for consideration by another person under favorable conditions. These favorable conditions are, time to tell your story, and a Class "A" Prospect.

A Class "A" Prospect is any person that can afford your offering, need your offering, or want your offering. As a Reality Networker, almost every person with regular employment or steady income is essentially a Class "A" Prospect.

The Presentation is given in order to explain how your product, service, or income opportunity can improve an existing condition or satisfy an unfulfilled need. After you have explained the features and benefits of your offering, and you have shown the individual how his/her condition can be improved, or how his/her need is satisfied by taking advantage of what you have to offer, ask the person to buy.

Regardless of the opportunity, there are five (5) Sections you must have in every income opportunity presentation. The goal of every Presentation is acceptance of your offering by an individual. You want the individual to act now or at some future date. Action or inaction will follow every Presentation. Your goal is to get action. The more people that buy your product, use your service, or join your Wealth Building team, the more money you earn.

The real secret to getting people involved in your opportunity is to relate your offering in terms the person understands. How many times have you seen an intelligent individual use high tech words that sound impressive? While his/her words may sound impressive, the person listening to these impressive high tech words, fails to understand what is being said.

If an individual fails to understand any part of your Presentation, he/she will not act. The reason for this is simple: People have a natural tendency to fear the unknown. Lack of understanding produces feelings of doubt, anxiety, misgivings, and fear.

Examples of this in networking, to new individuals, could be the following terms: (An uniformed individual's interpretations are in parentheses)

Downline (A power line that has fallen down)
Upline (A power line that has not fallen down)
Powerline (The wires to my house from the light and gas company)
MLM (A top secret government agency like the CIA)
PV (A rare disease like VD)
BV (A more powerful strain of the disease)
GV (An incurable disease like Herpes)
Networking (Making sweaters from balls of yarn)
Monthly Subscription Fee (What I would pay to get a magazine)
5x5 (Equals 25)
Matrix (An unsolvable problem in algebra or higher math)
Hits (Getting on base in a baseball game)
Unique Hits (Doubles, triples or homeruns in a baseball game)
Traffic (Cars going up and down the street)
Website (The exact location of a spider's web)
Hosting Company (The company that catered our last party)
Autoresponder (A telephone answering machine)
Forced Matrix (A really difficult and unsolvable problem in higher math)
Levels (The rising and falling of the lake)
Web page (A book page covered with a spider's web)
Sponsor (Free will donations to starving children overseas)
Bonus (What employees receive at Christmas)
Distributor (The part that breaks when the car won't start)
Override (4th gear on an automatic transmission)
Domain ( A biblical kingdom in the Old Testament)
Domain Name (The exact name of an Old Testament kingdom)
Breakaway (Leaving networking to do something)
Marketer (Someone who writes grafitti on public buildings)
Recruit (Someone inducted into the military)
Wholesaler (The meat packing plant on the other side of town)

Any one of these words can be used in a networking Presentation. The point is, always be sure to give proper explanations and be aware of the difficulty some people might have understanding terms and terminologies that are very familiar to you.

If an individual asks you a question, answer the question. Never tell anyone during the course of giving a Presentation that his/her question will be answered in the Presentation. You might proceed, but the individual won't. He/she is right where you left him/her, at the same spot, where the question was asked. In addition, it is arrogant, disrespectful and insensitive. Remember, you are a guest in his/her home.

The very last thing you want to do is upset your host. It doesn't matter whether you have known this person for 50 years. Not answering a question when asked, or evading a question, will destroy any chance you might have had of getting this person to buy your product, use your service, or take advantage of your opportunity.

Every effective Presentation contains 5 essential parts. However, if you have a Home Business Enterprise or a Home Business Shop Operation that is user based, your initial goal is to get customers. Therefore, after you explain your industry, company, product or service, go immediately to the close. If your offering is an income opportunity, include the sections that are relevant to your company. If your Home Business Shop Operation is more income based, than product or service based, then include all 5 sections in your Presentation.

The industry to which your company belongs.
The company you are representing.
The product/service/income opportunity
The support and training
The compensation plan

Your Presentation should take no more than 45 minutes to 1 hour, and go right to the information an individual needs to know in order to make an intelligent decision, whether or not to buy your product, use your service, or take advantage of your opportunity. Your Presentation must have these 5 key sections in order to be effective. Each section must answer one of the 5 basic questions every person that listens to your Presentation is asking himself/herself.

Answering these questions will end any confusion an individual may have concerning your offering. Once these questions have been answered satisfactorily, it's up to the individual to make the decision to join, use, or buy. You have fulfilled your role and function. Understand, you can't force people to make decisions, even when it's beneficial for them. There's an old saying and it's true: "You can lead a horse to the water, but you can't make him drink."

Your Presentation should always flow in a logical sequence. Begin with the general and move to the specific. The purpose of this logical information flow is to find the key benefit/s of your offering the individual wants to enjoy the most. There are two additional skills you need to have that have nothing to do with your Presentation. They are your Warm-up and Close. The Close will be discussed after Section V.

IMG. Ws defines Warm-up as the period of time prior to a Presentation whereby two or more people can converse and share ideas or get to know each other in a friendly relaxed manner. Before you begin any Presentation, set aside a few minutes to get to know the person/s that will be listening to your story.

Believe it or not an individual does not buy your company, your product, service or opportunity, he/she buys you. Your sincerity, honesty and integrity are what the individual is relying on to make his/her buying decision. When you present your offering, the individual does not see your industry or company, he/she sees you.

The Warm-up gives you an opportunity to really be yourself. It allows you and the prospect to relax and sets the stage for your Presentation. Every person you talk to about your offering has his/her antennae tuned to station WIIFM. What's In It For Me. The Warm-up is your opportunity to place programming on that station. After the Warm-up or get-to-know-each-other session, smoothly transition to your Presentation by saying the following or similar statements:

You: "I appreciate you inviting me into your home and telling me about yourself and your family. Like I said when I came in today, the Presentation only takes a few minutes, so why don't we go into the kitchen, where we can all be more comfortable. I have some information that I am going to share with you. The kitchen table will give me a little more room to spread things out."

"This information will not only help you understand our industry and company, it will also help you understand the advantages and benefits of our products and compensation plan. The next few minutes could be the most profitable, from a money stand point, you will ever spend. Why don't we go into the kitchen and get started?" {WFA}

SECTION I: YOUR INDUSTRY

An individual will want to know the kind of industry you are in. An Industry is a single branch of productive work. Therefore, the industry your company is in is defined by the work or activity being done. Some people may have a particular aversion to certain industries such as, insurance, cosmetics, diet products, nutrition products, wellness products, etc.. When it comes to your industry, there are basically only two types of individuals, those who understand your industry and those that don't. A good way to determine the extent of a person's understanding and knowledge is to ask:

You: "Mark are you familiar with the wellness industry?" {WFA}, [or whatever industry your company belongs to.]

[If the answer is Yes, ask the person to explain your industry in his/her own words. If the peron's explanation clearly demonstates a working knowledge of your industry, you can proceed to SECTION II. If the answer is No, then you must explain to the person what your industry is, how it works, and how people benefit.]

If you have a Home Business Enterprise or a Home Business Shop Operation that is user based, the best way to proceed is ask another question:

You: "Mark, since you are not familiar with the _________ industry, let me ask you this, what was the last item you bought from a store?" [Use whatever item the individual bought to explain your industry and your company's role in that industry. Define words as you proceed for clarification and use stories to produce visual images.]

In this information bin are a number of stories you can use to explain your industry. The mind can hold a limited number of facts and data, but it can hold an unlimited number of visual images. After you have explained your industry ask a question.

You: "Mark, we have been talking about the industry my compnay belongs to and how it works...did you follow my explanation...or should I go over it again? {WFA}

Asking questions and getting feedback will not only keep an individual involved in the Presentation, it will also help him/her get a better understanding of your offer. In addition, it allows an individual to relax and feel comfortable about your product, service, or income opportunity. You should not leave this part of the Presentation until a clear understanding of your industry is achieved. Normally, Section I should take no more than 5 to 10 minutes.

SECTION II: YOUR COMPANY

State the name of the company you are representing, how long it has been in business and how well the company is doing. What an individual is really interested in, are a few verifiable facts, not the company's entire history. This section should take no more than 5 to 10 minutes.

Don't make the same mistake that so many networkers make and dwell on your companies stock report, or what Business Week or some other publication says about your company, or this person or that person is on the Board of Directors. This information means absolutely nothing to the person you are talking to. What the individual wants know is:

How will this product, service, or opportunity benefit me? and....
How difficult or easy it is to earn money with this company?"

The average person realizes companies come and companies go.

SECTION III: YOUR PRODUCT/ SERVICE/ OPPORTUNITY

One or two key benefits will determine 80%-90% of an individual's decision to take advantage of what you have to offer. Therefore, arrange all the benefits an individual will enjoy in the order of their importance. With some products and services, there are several benefits, others only have one or two. If your offering is an income opportunity, your primary benefit is income, the secondary benefit is a useful product or service.

Your entire Presentation should focus on the benefits an individual will enjoy by taking advantage of your offering now. The more benefits you give; the easier it becomes for an individual to make a buying decision. After each benefit is given ask a question.

You: "Mark, using our energy drink provides more vitamins, trace elements and minerals than any other drink on the market today. Is good health important to you?" {WFA}

After the individual says Yes, explain how the product or service was produced or manufactured to provide the benefit. If all you have to offer is an income opportunity, and the secondary benefit is a useful product or service, spend the majority of your time explaining how income is earned. When you have completed your explanation, ask a question.

You: "Mark is it clear to you how our product, service, or income opportunity works?" {WFA}

Always use this formula when discussing your product, service, or income opportunity in your Presentation:

STATE THE BENEFIT - ASK A QUESTION

The importance of asking questions throughout your Presentation can not be over emphasized. This section of your Presentation should take no more than 10 or 15 minutes. You are giving an overview, not a training workshop. However, spend as much time as necessary. Leave this section when the individual has a clear understanding of the value and benefits of your product, service, or income opportunity.

SECTION IV: SUPPORT AND TRAINING

Practically every person you present your offering to realizes your company will have some kind of support and training program. Far too many networkers spend far too much time and energy explaining what the average person already knows. What you want to point out in this section is the extent and nature of your support and training and how it difffers from your competitors.

Emphasize the key features and benefits of your support and training program. Explain clearly how your support and training program enhances and strengthens the product, or service and the opportunity being offered. This section of your Presentation shouldn't take no more than 3 to 5 minutes.

SECTION V: THE COMPENSATION PLAN

the last part of your Presentation should be dedicated to explaining how your compensation plan works. Every person you present your offering to will have 3 basic questions concerning this section.

How much is it going to cost?
What do I have to do?
How much money can I earn?

By answering "How much will it cost me?" right away, will put an individual at ease. Inexperienced and far too often, professional marketers, wait until the very end to spring the price on the individual. You will do the opposite. You don't want your prospect thinking about cost throughout your Presentation. "How much is it going to cost me?" should be answered as soon as possible. Use product features and benfits to soften the impact of cost.

"What do I have to do?" should be covered and answered in your support and training section.

"How much can I earn?" should be explained in detail when you cover your compensation plan. In fact, the value and benefits of your product or service and how an individual can earn money with your company are the most important sections in your Presentation. 90% of your energy, efforts, and information should focus on these two areas. The compensation plan should be clearly explained; especially, if earnings are based on volume. Volume based earning systems are the most difficult for an individual to understand.

Direct earning systems and the Australian 2-Up system are the easiest compensation programs to understand. Binary and Matrix systems are the most difficult. Therefore, if your compensation plan is based on volume, binary, matrix, forced matrix or a combination of these, spend as much time as needed in this area. Ask questions frequently to make sure the individual understands the most important aspects of your compensation plan.

The Close: After you have finshed your Presentation go immediately into your closing sequence. IMG. Ws defines a Close as asking an individual to make a buying decision. Like the Approach, Closing is the next critical skill you need to develop. Also like the Approach, you will need an arsenal of Closes for a variety of different prospects and situations. Because your closing skills are so vital to your success in networking, we have devoted an entire information bin to Closes and closing stories.