How to Be a Knockout Speaker at a Networking Event

Being the speaker at a networking event is not uncommon. Being a knockout speaker is!

As a financial advisor, if you’re impactful when delivering a presentation to those that can refer you business, they will be impactful about referring you business.

What a great opportunity to showcase your background, promote what you do, and share how your networking community can help you.

Typically, in a networking group, you only have about 10 minutes (sometimes less!) to accomplish all of this so there isn’t enough time to teach your audience everything there is to know about your profession. That should not be your goal.

Your goal is to engage the audience, have them see a personal side of you, make yourself more referrable, and have fun.

A lot to accomplish in 10 minutes!

Since there is usually a rotation of speakers scheduled every week, every month, or whatever, you may not get another opportunity to be the speaker anytime soon. That said, you’ll want to load up on your knockout punch – so to speak.

Here are some best practices to consider as you gear up for your main event!

Prepare, Prepare, Prepare

Then prepare again. If your presentation is virtual and you’re unfamiliar with sharing your screen or using slides, please practice ahead of time so you don’t waste time fumbling with the technology. And remember to unmute! This lack of preparation could make you 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, you want to have something for your audience to follow to help keep them engaged. Nobody will know your content better than you so 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 to the entire group. 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? Bottom line, 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 likable. 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. If you can add information about your hobbies, activities, family, pets, and fun facts – all the better! If you can, 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 you do want to 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. As in no sound at all! This takes effort and practice. You also want to 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 somehow. One way of getting your audience involved 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 almost never an option when it comes to delivering a virtual presentation. Remember, the goal of your presentation (any presentation really) 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 definitely 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! You may want to 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 probably divide the presentation 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 probably 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) - 2 minutes

Body – (Your profession, how you help, who you help, why) - 6 minutes

Call to Action – (Your request in the form of an “ask”) - 2 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.

?The important thing is to make yourself more relatable, likable, 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!

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