Why do we applaud our members?
I’ve been asked on a number occasions “Why do you applaud your members? Other meetings I’ve attended don’t bother”.
The root of the answer is simple: BNI is a SUPPORT network for businesses and business owners.
1 – Presentations:
It is really important to applaud someone who has delivered a presentation to the room, whether that presentation be a 10 minute spotlight on the benefits of their business; or an Education Slot about networking and referral marketing; or even (in some chapters) applauding everyone’s 60 seconds pitch.
Why? Because presenting is nerve-wrecking, even for the most seasoned presenters.
So to show your appreciation for someone’s efforts; a) makes them feel a lot better about themselves, and b) lifts your own spirits and emotionally it helps endear you to that person you are applauding.
2 – Energy:
This is a big point…
We meet at 6:30am. For 6 months of the year it’s dark, cold and wet at that time in the morning.
Regardless of who we are there will be meetings where we feel tired, and no matter how much coffee we drink we simply cannot come around quick enough.
This all impacts on how a meeting feels, and flat meetings can have a massively detrimental impact on individuals and on chapters as a whole, so they need to be avoided.
Lots of applauding and supporting of each other injects much-needed energy into the room and lifts the atmosphere.
It is the Chapter Director’s responsibility to ensure the meetings are run to the best they can be. If you’re experiencing more than your fair share of float meetings then maybe you should suggest applauding memberss 60s to your CD.
3 – It’s simply a really nice thing to do.
If you’re in the South Manchester / Stockport area and think you’d like to pop along to a BNI Chapter to help grow your business then please get in touch at creative@fopm.co.uk
We’d love to meet you and openly invite toy along to visit one of our meetings.
