How to Become a Successful 30 Second Business Networking SuperStar Michael R Dougherty Smashwords Edition Copyright 2011 Michael R Dougherty www.instant-persuasive-speaking.com License Notes: This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author Table of Contents Dedication Special Acknowledgment About the Author Introduction by Michael R Dougherty How Boring Can They Be? The Power of Terrifying Words Questions You Want to Hear Why Most Elevator Speeches Are Boring Creating Your Attention Grabbing Elevator Speech One Announcement That Makes You Want to Hide Creating Your Powerful Magnetic Introduction One Thing You Must Include A Final Word Book Michael R Dougherty As A Speaker Or Coach There are three priorities in life, put them in the following order and you will be blessed indeed God Family Work In dedicating this book, I thank God for the gift of communication which led to the creation of this book, and I thank God for my family To my wife Mary, who besides being the best woman on planet Earth, is my best friend, my partner and the love of my life Her daily delight in the beauty of the world around her and her encouragement is my compass and my inspiration To my daughter Nikki “Pooh Bear” White, granddaughter Amanda and son-in-law Steve, your love and belief in me is more of a blessing than you will ever know To my son Christopher “spud” Dougherty and granddaughter Scarlett, your love for me and your love for all things family, is an inspiration and a guiding light Special Acknowledgment From day one in life I was blessed with parents who taught me that doing your best is a noble benchmark to live by And that while doing your best requires hard work and dedication, the character it builds is a goal worth achieving With that in mind, I thank my mother and my father, Mary Louise Dougherty & Ray Dougherty who's hard work has now seen them to their final reward Without them, none of this would have been possible About The Author Michael R Dougherty When I was just 12 years old I was offered and I accepted my first speaking engagement Saturday nights our local community center held a dance for kids from 10 to 13 years old We did a lot of square dancing, then we danced to rock and roll music for about 30 minutes One Saturday night they ask me to be choose the music for the rock and roll segment, introduce the songs and play the records I had selected I said yes, but I had no idea what to say, so I quickly thought about how the local radio DJs introduced their songs and I tried to use that style After I introduced the 3rd song, I looked over to the side of the stage and noticed that there were or girls standing there looking up at me Then one of them motioned for me to come over My first thought was that these girls wanted to request a song, or dedicate a song to someone But this is what she said "Mike, we like the songs you're playing and we really like what you say between the songs You should this every Saturday." Wow! 12 years old and I already had groupies Flash forward years There I was at the ripe old age of 18, standing in front of a television camera, ready to host my first live television broadcast The program was called "The Varsity Show" and it was a long-running, local teen dance program that offered high school students the opportunity to work behind the scenes and in front of the camera The regular host was a popular local radio DJ who was out of town that week But instead of having another DJ host that week's show, they decided to have of the high school staff each host 15 minutes of the program Everyone that was chosen to host a segment was an on-camera staff member - except me - I was behind the scenes, on the camera crew But that was about to change Even though I had never been in front of the camera before, I was chosen to host the final 15 minutes of the show Imagine being just 18 years old and having someone tell you that you were going to host a very popular TV show - and it was live My first reaction was surprise at being one of the hosts I was a behind-the-scenes guy, part of the camera crew When my 15 minutes arrived, and the stage manager gave me my cue - I looked right into the camera lens and started speaking to it like that lens was my friend That evening I went to a local high school football game - and as I walked in front of the grandstands, people started hollering "hey Mike - great job" "hey Mike" "loved you on The Varsity Show today." I had connected with the audience, and they felt like they knew me Now with years of experience delivering presentations to a wide variety of audiences including college students, senior citizens and professionals, I've developed a simple system for creating powerful elevator speeches and introductions that work amazingly well Public speaking is one of the most powerful forms of communication because you can connect with your audience in person 30 Second SuperStar gives you the tools you need to connect with your potential clients and customers quickly and in person When you master the simple and easy-to-use techniques I cover in this book, you'll become a very powerful communicator who attracts more clients and customers because you'll be a 30 Second SuperStar Introduction Mastering the art and science of public speaking brings with it a host of rewards that more than make the journey worth your time As a small business owner, entrepreneur, sales professional, marketer, or anyone else who needs to speak in public, attend business networking gatherings, or business functions of any kind, you're ability to quickly let people know what you and how you it - in an interesting and dynamic way - is critical to your success How to Become a Successful 30 Second Networking SuperStar reveals simple, easy-touse strategies that will supercharge your “elevator speech” and your introductions, so that prospects will be asking for your business card, and wanting to know more about your products or services How to Become a Successful 30 Second Networking SuperStar is your handbook and guide to creating an attention grabbing elevator speech and powerful magnetic introductions that will make you stand out as someone that others want to business with Now get ready, because you're about to become a 30 Second SuperStar Michael R Dougherty How Boring Can They Be? Like you, I've been to a lot of gatherings where they go around the room and everyone has the opportunity to introduce themselves and their business But after only about so called introductions, I'm usually wishing that someone would inject the anesthetic novacaine into my brain to numb me from the pain of having to listen to the other 20 people in the room as they drone on and on and on It's not that my expectations are too high - it's that the introductions tend to be incredibly boring Person after person just sits there, or maybe they stand while they say their name in an uninteresting monotone and then go on and on about their company, products or services They conclude by saying they want to give you their brochure and/or business card after the meeting That is - if they remembered to bring their business cards Yes, once in a while someone does manage to stand tall, speak up and maybe even make you laugh, but let's face it - that person is rare indeed And when was the last time you actually wanted to follow up with someone at one of these gatherings because of their introduction? Not very often How boring can it get? I'm not a betting man, but I'd be willing to bet that as hard as you might try to pay attention to everyone as they introduce themselves and their businesses, you'd probably have a hard time remembering people that you didn't know before Why? Because of their boring introductions you're probably thinking about things How hard the seats are, whether or not the speaker is going to be boring and if you're going to have to suffer through the speakers 300 Power Point slides filled with tiny unreadable print - ugh Besides the seemingly never ending introductions, if you're brave enough to ask someone “what they do” or “what company their with” odds are you'll end up either getting an answer you don't understand, don't care about, or one that goes on for ever Some time ago, after a long drive, I arrived early at a hotel where I was attending a seminar Since the room was still being set up I decided to sit in the hotel lobby next to the seminar room and rest for a few minutes following my long road trip But before I could sit down, a man came out of the seminar room and asked if I was there for the seminar After I said yes, he introduced himself and said he was also there to attend the seminar He then asked me why I was attending the presentation I was about half a sentence into my answer when he suddenly interrupted and launched into telling me about his business After what seemed like an eternity, I realized that he was going to continue telling me everything I didn't want to know about his business until I was able to figure out a quick escape route So I held up my hand and said “excuse me but I need to visit the men's room.” I then hoped he wouldn't decide that he needed to visit the men's room too Fortunately he didn't As soon as I had made my escape, I decided that I would find another place in the hotel to wait for the seminar The story I just told is a perfect example of someone who doesn't have an elevator speech, and thinks that using a verbal hammer is the way to win clients and customers For the record I still have no idea what his company did or what his product or service was But then, I don't think he did either The Power of Do you know ways to communicate your message verbally? As someone who's looking for new clients and customers, you have golden opportunities to verbally showcase your products and services - and all must be powerful enough to make people want to know more The first is the often misunderstood “elevator speech” When you step into an elevator at a business gathering and someone asks you “what you do?” you have about 30 seconds to answer them before the elevator reaches it's destination and you both go your separate ways You elevator speech can be used in a wide variety of settings - it's not really just for elevator pitches By creating an attention grabbing elevator speech you'll start seeing an increase in the number of people who'll want to know more about your products and services and actually ask for your business card So make sure you have your business cards with you - and handy at all times The second is your 30 second introduction At networking gatherings, Chamber of Commerce meetings and business lunches, they often go around the room so that everyone can introduce themselves and say a few words about their business This is an excellent opportunity for you to stand out from the crowd with your powerful, magnetic introduction - one that people will actually remember The third is to actually presentations to groups about your products and services While this is by far the best way to get more clients and customers, doing presentations requires much more than 30 seconds, so it's also a topic that I'll cover in another book and CD Now let's look at creating your attention grabbing elevator speech and your magnetic introduction so you can become a 30 Second SuperStar 4 Terrifying Words What are words you want to hear, but when you hear them, they can make you very nervous? Not long ago I attended a presentation where the speaker asked a man in the audience to come up on stage and answer some questions about his business The man's response was not a pretty picture The speaker looked at the man and asked the terrifying words - “What you do?” Her question prompted the man to fidget and stammer as he tried to find the answer He finally came up with something like “I find the cohesive formula and forecast quarterly trends for target accounting that relates to projection data for small businesses.” Of course that's not what he actually said, but my creative re-telling is every bit as confusing as what he really said - and no one in the room, including him, will ever be able to recall his exact words The speaker was kind and then began asking a series of questions to help the man create a workable elevator speech After several tries, and to the speaker's credit, she was able to help him come up with a much improved answer When you go anywhere, you need to be ready, willing and able - at all times - to answer those terrifying words with easy, poise and confidence Because every time you do, you'll have an excellent opportunity to attract new clients and customers And You'll Stand Out From The Crowd Since most people don't have an attention grabbing elevator speech, your's will turn heads and attract more clients and customers which will lead to more sales 3 Questions You Want To Hear How would you like your answer to the question “what you do?” to lead to the second question “how you that?” and the third question “may I have your business card”? At a network gathering I watched a lady work the room She would approach someone, introduce herself and then ask the other person “what you do?” But after they answered her question, instead of asking them anything else, she would then move right into the only reason she was talking with them in the first place - which was to hand out her card “Here, let me give you my card.” And while she fumbled to find her business card, the other person would quickly say “oh, let me give you my card too.” She handed her card to the other person who then pretended to look at it, shoved it in their pocket as then handed her their card - which of course she pretended to look at briefly before stuffing it in her purse What did this lady accomplish? She accomplished exactly things She can now tell her boss that she showed up at a network gathering, met 10 people and handed out her business cards But did she attract more potential clients and customers? Absolutely not You goal should always be to ask, and to be asked questions “What you do?” When your give an attention grabbing answer to that question, your prospect will want to know more and will ask the second question you want to hear “How you that?” Answering the second question in a dynamic way will prompt a third question “May I have your business card?” Why Most Elevator Speeches Are Boring For the few who have actually come up with an elevator speech, most are fairly basic and uninspired - ok, their boring The typical elevator speech is around 30 seconds long Here's how it works Let's say that John is at a network gathering and he spots Mary standing across the room John walks over, introduces himself to Mary and then asks “what you do?” Being a smart marketer, Mary has her elevator speech all worked out and answers John's question like this “John I'm glad you asked me I work for Ron's Custom Bedroom Furnishings and we have a wonderful selection of bed frames, headboards and accessories, but we're also very proud to offer the complete line of “Sleep on a Cloud mattresses” And as you may know, Sleep on a Cloud mattresses are guaranteed to give you the best nights sleep you've ever had.” Mary continues her elevator speech “Now John, if you'll give me your business card I'll be happy to send you a brochure and then call you to set up an appointment so that you can visit our show room.” Notice how Mary's elevator speech gave John a quick overview of the business she's representing, and that she worked in a request for John's business card and an invitation for her to call him and to set up an appointment But there are several problems with Mary's elevator speech First, her description of the business she represents is factual but boring Her description didn't give John a reason to get interested in hearing more Her elevator speech is just like everyone elses It simply doesn't stand out She's selling the features and not the results Secondly, Mary asked John for his card and his permission for her to call him and to set up an appointment You might think that's a good thing, but it's not and here's why Wouldn't it be 100% better if John was interested enough to ask Mary for her business card so he could follow up? Creating Your Attention Grabbing Elevator Speech When you're at a network gathering or anywhere else and someone asks you the magic question “what you do?” you can literally grab their attention when you use this powerful 30 Second SuperStar method First, in today's hurry up world, the attention span of an average adult is just :20 seconds That's right - 20 seconds With that in mind, your attention grabbing elevator speech should be no more than 10 seconds long Imagine this John is at a network gathering, spots Mary standing across the room, so John walks over, introduces himself to Mary and then asks “what you do?” Mary answers John's question like this “I give you the best sleep you've ever had.” Now put yourself in John's place John is first of all surprised by Mary's answer, and John's brain is now telling him that he absolutely has to find out HOW Mary can give him the best sleep he's ever had Because Mary's answer has literally grabbed John's attention, his brain HAS to know the answer, so his next question will be “How you that?” Mary answers by asking “John, have you ever heard of “Sleep on a Cloud mattresses?” Once you try a Sleep on a Cloud Mattress, you'll never want to sleep on anything else again.” Now John will ask for Mary's card, then Mary can ask for John's card and tell him that she'll be giving him a call And when she does call, John will remember her See the difference? Mary grabbed John's attention with a powerful statement that made John want to know how she did that Then Mary told him the results of using her product, and not the features Suppose you work for a pharmaceutical company and you represent a line of drugs that can save someone's life When someone asks you what you do, you can answer by saying - “I save lives.” When you make a short and attention grabbing statement like that, you KNOW the person you're talking with is going to ask “how you that?” And they are going to WANT to listen to your answer When asked what they do, a financial planner might use this - “I give you peace of mind.” A restaurant owner might use this attention grabbing answer “I serve happiness” Imagine a florist answering “What you do” with this “I brighten up everyone's day.” The idea is to come up with a short answer that represents the core result when someone uses your product or service And to keep in mind that the goal of your answer is to make the person you're talking with ask you “how you that?” In other words, they actually WANT to know what you It's easy to see how using a short, attention grabbing answer will cause people to not only pay attention to what you have to say, but to actually want to know more Especially when everyone else in the room is droning on and on in the same old uninteresting way One Announcement That Makes You Want To Hide How many times have you heard “Lets go around the room and have everyone introduce themselves and tell us about your company.” Just about every networking gathering offers the attendees the opportunity to introduce themselves tell everyone about their business and make special announcements Unfortunately, everyone will find themselves suffering through most of the introductions for one simple reason 99% of the introductions will be given in a monotone voice by someone who means well, but has no idea what makes an introduction interesting Think about the introductions you hear when you attend a professional get together Do these problems sound familiar? Delivered in a soft-spoken, barely audible voice The speaker uses an uninteresting monotone voice The person stays seated so you have difficulty seeing who they are The introduction gives you no reason to want to know more And when everyone in the room has introduced themselves, can you remember what any of them said? Sadly, the answer is no - with rare exception But introducing yourself at any gathering is a golden opportunity to attract more clients and customers for your product or services So you want to make your introductions stand out in a way that makes people want to know more One Chamber of Commerce I know of has a monthly breakfast meeting where the person who gives the best introduction gets a prize This results in some very interesting introductions - but even with a prize at stake, most of the people in attendance still give the same old tired and uninspired “my name is, and my company is” introduction The reason? Everyone that attends a networking function, business gathering or social event wants to make a good impression and wants to attract more clients and customers But most just don't know how to craft an attention grabbing, magnetic introduction And in many cases, people just play follow the leader The person ahead of them says little more than “my name is Mary and at Better Business Supplies you'll find everything you need for your business supplies - give us a call.” Now you and I both know that an introduction like that isn't going to attract flies, let alone potential clients or customers So how can you create a powerful, magnetic introduction? Creating Your Powerful Magnetic Introduction How would you like to have a huge advantage when you introduce yourself at your next networking gathering, Chamber of Commerce get together, or any business function you attend? In a sea of boring to mediocre introductions, you're about to learn a simple, easy-to-use system for creating powerful, magnetic introductions that will make you stand out from the crowd 99% of the people in the room will only be introducing themselves by giving their name, the name of their business and maybe a weak pitch to get your business But you'll stand out head and shoulders above everyone else because your powerful, magnetic introduction will have everyone WANTING to hear what you have to say Remember how we put together your attention grabbing elevator speech? Now lets use some of those techniques to create your powerful, magnetic introduction By starting with either a powerful statement or a question, you'll automatically grab your audience's attention - just like a magnet Especially when your audience has had to listen to all those other boring introductions Let's say that our fictional character John represents an Ambulance company John could start his introduction this way “I save lives Good morning, I'm John Smith and every day Smith Ambulance service is dispatched to medical emergencies to save lives by transporting your loved ones to medical facilities quickly and safely when seconds count.” Notice the powerful statement “I save lives” is the first thing John said, even before introducing himself Why? To get the attention of everyone in the room Like a magnet, “I save lives” pulls everyone in so they're with you 100% Then notice that right after John introduces himself and his company, he quickly tells everyone exactly how he saves lives And notice that he says “by transporting your loved ones.” That statement personalizes his introduction and speaks directly to everyone in the room When addressing any gathering, always this - look at you entire audience, but speak to them as if they are one person So instead of saying “how many of you would like to make more money?” you address the gathering as just one person by looking at everyone and saying “how would YOU like to make more money?” Imagine attending a presentation where the speaker always uses the phrase “how many of you have done this?” or “can I see a show of hands, how many of you have ever seen this happen?” By phrasing questions to the entire audience, the speaker doesn't speak directly to the individual - and it reminds the individuals that they are just part of a group So the speaker's questions become far less powerful But look what happens when you look to your entire audience, but speak to them as if they are one person “Have you ever done this?” “How many times have you seen this happen?” Now you're speaking to the individual and your questions become 100% more powerful Let's look at how we can use this technique when creating your powerful, magnetic introduction Let's look at how our fictional character Mary can use this technique to grab her audience with this magnetic introduction And notice what Mary's saying at the end of her introduction “How would you like to have the best night's sleep you've ever had?” My name is Mary Jones and I want to introduce you to the “Sleep on a Cloud” mattress Once you try a Sleep on a Cloud mattress, you'll never want to sleep on another mattress again Now see me after our gathering because I have just passports to give away to the best sleep you've ever had.” Did you see what Mary did? She grabbed them by asking a question, then she introduced them to a type of mattress then she told them what the results would be if you use the mattress And then, she closed by saying she only has passports to give away to the best sleep you've ever had What is a passport? Maybe Mary is giving then a scheduled time to come to the store and try out the mattress But it doesn't really matter what the passport is because Mary is going to have some people come up and ask her about a passport after the gathering Curiosity is part of human nature, we're all curious and want to know the answer to any question we hear Bingo - more potential customers Now are you starting to see how creating powerful magnetic introductions will work for you? Ask your questions by looking at your entire audience, but speak to them as if they are one person How you come up with a powerful statement or question to begin your introductions? First, answer these questions What is the core of your business? What is the result of using your product or service? As a result of using your product or services, will your clients or customers: Be safer Have more money Feel better Look better Be more healthy Be happier Smell better Be more attractive to the opposite sex Feel cool and hip Have less stress Enjoy something more Remember, everyone in your audience is thinking the same thing - WIIFM Whats In It For Me? So you must always tell them about the core of your business or the results of using your product or services When you answer WIIFM, people will want to know more about your business Keep your powerful magnetic introduction fresh and surprising If you continue to use the same introduction time after time on the same audience, your audience will start to drift away, but when you create several introductions, you'll get another benefit - your audience will be waiting to hear what you have to say I look around the room to see who's in the audience, and then I decide which introduction to use Overusing an introduction will back fire because your audience will start tuning out Now what about using humor in your introductions ? Telling a joke can be dangerous because it takes some special skills to deliver a joke well But pulling humor from the situation, or the world around you can work very well especially when you can tie it into your business Some years ago I was at a network gathering where the topic was how to be a better networker Part of the presentation focused on the stress of networking The lady who was giving the presentation invited the audience to line up to one side, then come up to the microphone one-by-one, introduce themselves and say what company they represented and a bit about their company As you might imagine, after the first people had come up to the microphone, the audience was basically starting to tune out So I started thinking about what I could say that would make my presentation stand out and be remembered I was marketing for the psychiatric unit at our local hospital My goal was to get referrals from the people in the room This is what I said “Good afternoon, my name is Michael R Dougherty and I'm with our hospital's psychiatric unit If the stress of networking gets to be too much we may have a special room for you.” My introduction received a big laugh - and I knew that people would remember what I said And by the way, in my actually introduction, I used the name of the hospital I have omitted it here because of the sensitive nature of mental health care Why did my introduction work? Because it was unexpected and I had used humor as a call back to the topic of stress which was part of the presentation being given by our speaker One Thing You Must Include What's one thing you must include when you create your attention grabbing elevator speech and your powerful, magnetic introduction? To answer this, I need to ask another question Where does your best work come from? Here's a hint - it beats The answer is Your heart No matter what you do, whether its writing a special greeting card, or building a shelf for your wife When it come from your heart, it's you best Why is that? In a word - “passion.” Anything that you're passionate about is going to be your best And when it comes to creating your elevator speech and your introduction, if you don't create them from your heart, they'll just be empty words And if they're empty words, they won't work, because your audience has to feel your passion before they can become interested and excited about what you have to say There are two famous speeches that we hear about all the time One is the Martin Luther King Jr “I Have A Dream” speech and the other is President John F Kennedy's “Ask not what your country can for you, but what you can for your country.” Both are remembered because they came from the heart and were filled with passion Do you want your elevator speech to be an attention grabbing presentation that makes someone WANT to ask for more information, and for your business card? Do you want your introduction to be a powerful magnetic tool that makes your audience want to know more? Then you must create them from your heart so that the passion in your presentation will capture the heart of your audience What's the one thing you must include? Passion for your subject Because that passion will show and will touch hearts A Final Word Do you see how and why this simple, easy-to-use system for creating an attention grabbing elevator speech and a powerful magnetic introduction works? First, you'll be a stand out in a sea of people who don't have an elevator speech and have a very hard time just answering the question “what you do.” While others struggle with the question, your answer will be a very pleasant surprise that actually makes them want to know more And yes, you'll have people asking for your business card And when it's time for those introductions that put everyone to sleep, your powerful, magnetic introduction will make them sit up and take notice And they'll want to see you afterward - especially if you've offered something to the first five people who ask for your business card Now anytime someone asks you “what you do” you won't miss the golden opportunity to convert that person into a potential client or customer And when you're asked to introduce yourself, your introduction will open doors for potential new business And why? Because now you're a 30 Second SuperStar ### Book Michael R Dougherty As A Speaker Or Coach "Michael R Dougherty held the attention of our group better than any speaker we've ever had Michael speaks clearly, gears his presentation to the audience and does so with humor Almost all of the attendees came up to me after Michael's presentation and said he was the best speaker we've ever had." Charmaine Program Co-Chairperson "Mike's class may become one of the turning points of my life I am very grateful that he is a teacher who can influence not only with much more practical cutting-edge information, but also more importantly with his passion, inspiration, and genuineness I believe that more and more people will be touched by his effective and authentic teaching Thank you again, Mike." Jian Attendee Would you like to have me speak at your business, organization or group? Contact me Mike@Instant-Persuasive-Speaking.com www.Instant-Persuasive-Speaking.com Follow me on Linked In http://www.linkedin.com/in/instantpersuasivespeaking Follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/1publicspeaking Follow me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/InstantPersuasiveSpeaking ... an interesting and dynamic way - is critical to your success How to Become a Successful 30 Second Networking SuperStar reveals simple, easy-touse strategies that will supercharge your “elevator... how to craft an attention grabbing, magnetic introduction And in many cases, people just play follow the leader The person ahead of them says little more than “my name is Mary and at Better Business. .. really matter what the passport is because Mary is going to have some people come up and ask her about a passport after the gathering Curiosity is part of human nature, we''re all curious and want