Last week, I designed my BNI 60-seconds around estate agent website packages we had put together. I wanted to talk about our software which managed properties, sent automatic emails and synchronised with central portals like Primelocation, Right Move, and Property Finder.

Whilst picking up some spray-mount from my local crafts shop, I spotted some green cardboard boxes poking out of the bin. I instantly thought about those little green monopoly houses. I asked if I could take them, and I did.

I have an interest in magic effects, and have been looking for cunning ways to slip them into my 60 second presentations. I had finally found a way!

I designed a simple effect in which a large 3 dimensional house appears at my side during the presentation. I structured the content to fit this in with the maximum effect and had a fantastic model.

The house itself looked great, sloped roof, door, windows, exactly as a house should look. Apart from the fact it was made of cardboard, had opaque windows and a clever system of elastic bands inside to make it work.

During our BNI meeting, I managed to keep everything concealed until the big moment.

My time had come. I stood up, walked centre-stage and started my well practiced presentation… It was a disaster! In my nervousness and excitement, I raced through it, missed my own cue and stumbled over my words. The house popped out and very few people were even watching. I sat down and listened to the next 60 seconds… no-one said a word…

On the plus side, the house did work, it remained hidden and flat throughout the meeting and popped up nicely on the table exactly as I had planned.

Tags: bni, disaster, magic, Networking, presentation

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 12th, 2008 at 7:51 pm and is filed under Networking. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.