You WILL have to Present Your Opportunity (Sooner or Later)

Regardless of what you were told, you WILL have to do a presentation soon or later. You will have to present your opportunity. It is your opportunity so it only makes sense that you not only know how to present it, but that you are presenting it. I recommend that you do it soon and not later. Your success depends on you being able to get your information in front of people, lots of people. What have you learned so far? You WILL HAVE TO PRESENT, so get over it; and get over it fast!

Now it is true that when you first begin, you will not have to present so you can breathe a brief sigh of relief. When you first launch your business, you will have “experts” that will present “your” opportunity to “your” prospects so that you can take time to learn “your” business. The key is that you are learning whenever you are hearing the presentation, so you should be listening as intently to each presentation as if you are hearing it for the first time. Remember you are new to the business so you must learn the business. If you belong to a progressive company, then new products and/or services may be introduced periodically; therefore, you may be learning something new during each presentation.

While the “experts” are presenting, you should not be distracted. You should be taking notes on a few things: company history, industry history and services and/or product information.

Note what is being said about your company and its history; remember you are new so you can’t possibly be able to know everything about the company. It is amazing that people view companies so differently because it is MLM. If you took a job at ABC Company and they paid you enough peanuts (wages) to keep you coming back; you typically wouldn’t know or care to know their entire history either. I have been a hiring or interviewing manager for many years and I can count on one hand how many people ask any questions about the company’s history. MLM prospects however want to know something about the company and/or its founders. Most presentation will cover this information because of this reality.

Take notes about what is said about the industry. Again because people are not educated about MLM in schools, there is a lot of misinformation about the industry. People typically have the same objections or concerns. These typically are addressed indirectly during most presentations. Listen for them.

And most importantly, pay attention to the information shared about your product or services. You don’t and shouldn’t be an expert on these, but you should be able to talk intelligently about them. Any remember, it is OK to not know everything. It is OK to say, “I don’t know, but I can find out”.

When you start your MLM or multi-level marketing business, you want to hear as many presentations from as many different presenters as is possible so that you learn this one simple thing. Everyone in your company says the same things. Learn those things that you can say them too. Pay attention to what they say at the beginning and what they say at the end of the presentation. You should find that the start and ending of the presentation is nearly where any and all major differences occur. The middle or meat of the presentation should cover things like income potentials through MLM, the compensation plan and timing of the opportunity. This information should not vary much regardless of the presenter.

The start of the presentation should enroll the listener into being open minded about this industry. It should tell a brief story of the presenter; covering briefly their past, present and future status in regards to doing the old way (working a job) to doing it an alternative way (your way). The story should relate to the listeners that the presenter is just like them; someone who was dissatisfied with one or more areas of their lives that could not be satisfied with the traditional paths.

The ending of the presentation should help move listeners to action: either to get involved, to want more information or to become a customer of the product or service.

People typically want to know the answers to the following:
• Is this opportunity legit?
• Can “I” make money with it?
• Can I do it?
• Will others do it with me or consume the product or service?
• Can I change “my” life with this?

I believe the most crucial question is the last one, “Can I change “my” life with this?” If this is answered then the others questions’ answers become less important. If a person believes that “they” can change their life, then the “How” they can change their life become a formality.

The key is to learn to present your opportunity as quickly as possible. You become better with time and practice. The first step is easier when you face the fact that you will and must do it. You learn it faster when you realize it is inevitable and that you are in training every time a presentation is being done in your home, a coffee shop, at a hotel break-out room, in a convention hall or arena.

I used the word "your" often for a reason. I want to drill into your mind that fact that "your" opportunity starts with you. Unless you do something, their is no guarantee that any thing will happen. Your sponsor may quit, the experts might be overbooked, and a host of things can affect your business. Take ownership of your business right away. You control what happens in your organization when you learn to present and teach your partners how to present.

I believe one of the best books to teach you about the presentation is The 45 Second Presentation That Will Change Your Life (2nd Edition) by Don Failla.

From the book...

MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING is one of the fastest growing, yet most misunderstood, methods of moving
products in use today. It has been termed by many as the Thing-of-the Nineties. Believe me, it will go far beyond that. By 2010, more than 200 BILLION DOLLARS worth of products and services will be moving annually through Multi-Level Marketing companies. WATCH OUT for MLM in the 21st century!

The purpose of this book is to convey to you the reader, through illustrations and examples, just what Multi-Level Marketing IS and what it IS NOT. We will also show you how you can effectively, I repeat EFFECTIVELY, explain Multi-Level Marketing to others.

This book should be treated as a TRAINING MANUAL. It is intended to be used as a tool to help you train the people in your organization. Include it in their initial "kit" of information about your program.

Don Failla developed the "Napkin Presentations," upon which this book is based, in 1973. I have been involved in Multi-Level Marketing to one degree or another since 1969. This book will cover the ten presentations developed thus far.



Also I recommend Presenting to Win: The Art of Telling Your Story, Updated and Expanded Edition. Named by FORTUNE Magazine as a "Must-Read" "Jerry Weissman makes the challenge of producing and delivering effective presentations delightfully simple. Read it and benefit!" Tim Koogle,Founding CEO, Yahoo! "A great read for all of us who have ever struggled with any aspect of our public speaking skills. Presenting to Win contains the same timeless techniques that helped me [18] years ago." Jeff Raikes, former President, Microsoft Business Division, Microsoft Corporation, and CEO, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation "Jerry is The Man when it comes to making great pitches.

If your pitch doesn't get a whole lot better after reading this book, something is wrong with you." Guy Kawasaki, Managing Director and Chairman, Garage Technology Ventures, and bestselling author of The Art of the Start "Presenting to Win is the shortest path to applause for any presenter. It will be your bible for the PowerPoint Age. It's loaded with easy actions and real examples that really work. I've used them. I know." Scott Cook, Founder, Intuit Thirty million presentations will be given today. Millions will fail. Millions more will be received with yawns. A rare few will establish the most profound connection, in which presenter and audience understand each other perfectly!discover common ground! and, together, decide to act. In this fully updated edition, Jerry Weissman, the world's #1 presentation consultant, shows how to connect with even the toughest, most high-level audiences...and move them to action!

He teaches presenters of all kinds how to dump those PowerPoint templates once and for all and tell compelling stories that focus on what's in it for the audience. Weissman's techniques have proven themselves with billions of dollars on the line. Thousands of his elite clients have already mastered them. Now it's your turn! / What you must do to tell your story Focus before Flow: identifying your real goals and message / The power of the WIIFY: What's In It For You Staying focused on what your audience really wants / Capture your audience in 90 seconds! and never let go! Opening Gambits and compelling linkages / Master the art of online Web conferencing Connecting with your invisible audience / From brainstorming through delivery Crafting the Power Presentation, one step at a time.