The Elite Blog

Private Speaker, your Speaker for money.

25 November 2009

By Paul White

Visitors' Day went well with this morning's meeting netting nineteen Referrals.
Instead of the usual ten minute presentation of an individual member's business, we were treated to another showing of the new BNI Chapter Trailer, with Mads of MacMillion Ltd and Adrian Nettleship, our Photographer, providing a Commentary on the Video. I hope that there will be a Director's Cut version of the Trailer on the Extras disc of the Collector's Edition DVD, when it goes into the shops in time for that all-important Christmas Market. Chapter "stars" like Alan Patient and Malcolm Forbes, among others, appear in person to explain how useful they find BNI to their business.
Elizabeth Hicks of Irwin Mitchell Solicitors (nice pens!) very endearingly suggested that the proposed competition to encourage people to watch the entire length of the video, rather than break off early, should be for shots where she does not wear an inane grin. She may call it such, but I would call that part of her warmth as a person and of her endless charisma.
Ever since Richard Loren, our Architect, spotted that he was in fact the Education Co-ordinator, rather than the Education Slot Speaker, our lives have not been the same since. Any battle plan disintegrates upon first contact with the enemy, life in this case, which required some swapping around. Shireen Smith of Azrights Solicitors was appointed to speak today about 1 to 1s, whereas I am holding forth on the 16th December about Visitors. Shireen still wished to speak on that subject, but I felt that "Visitors" was inappropriate on a Visitor's Day. I therefore swapped topics, but not dates, with Linky Trott of Irwin Coe Solicitors, so that I could dwell on the subject of the sixty second pitch. All clear? Good.
My contribution was to point out that we should immediately institute a COA programme, Cross Out Acronyms, on the basis that if anyone knows what it stands for, they probably have already dealt with it already and those who haven't, don't know what it stands for.
Sue Terpilowski of Imageline style gurus must have confused BNI with the Confessional, when she admitted that she was not a natural Public Speaker, but BNI has trained her to "deliver the goods", if called upon to address an audience at a moment's notice. If you accept the by-product argument that the Space Programme of the 1960s was worthwhile, because it gave us non-stick frying pans, then BNI membership is worth the fee, for it teaches us presentational skills.
In the same vein, I am not a natural Blogwriter either, as you can tell!
Mel Kenny of Radcliffe & Newlands Independent Financial Advisers has stepped back from the limelight, as he is no longer Chapter Director, but it was good to hear him describe my sixty second pitch as "jovial". Usually uttered through clenched teeth, it was good to hear this old friend again.
Talking of "old friends", I teased David Marks of VKA Life Coaches this week that he had not commented last week about how much he just lurves coming to this Chapter, on account of its bonhomie. This drew the surprising announcement that he intends to transfer to our Chapter. He did not mention how large would be the Transfer Fee, but we can have a whip-round next week.
Mads won the Silver Tongue Award for Best Sixty Seconds, which he can add to his already over-laden with trophies mantlepiece and Elizabeth won the Door Prize with her referral.
I'm delivering the ten minute speech on 13th January 2010, so start booking those holidays and organising your Substitutes now!
Vivat, Crescat, Floreat!

Permalink: http://www.bni-elite.co.uk/BNI25thNovember09 (copy'n'paste)

Comments (4)

At 01:04 PM on 25 Nov 2009 by Author: Mads

Wrote: Adrian and I have a special service that we are offering
Complain about this blog?

At 06:25 PM on 25 Nov 2009 by Author: Malcolm

Wrote: Not sure about a COA programme - how about a BDL programme - bury dead languages!!
Complain about this blog?

At 11:58 AM on 26 Nov 2009 by Author: Paul White

Wrote: Phew! I thought that Malcolm was making an assault on Latin, until I realised that he is referring to COMPUTER languages.
Complain about this blog?

At 01:38 PM on 27 Nov 2009 by Author: Malcolm

Wrote: Latin a mortuus lingua , nam non
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