I can explain what Lens Digital does perfectly well. After nearly a decade of running the business, I have had that conversation hundreds of times.
What BNI taught me is something different: how to explain it in a way that someone else can repeat to a contact five minutes later. That turns out to be a completely different skill and one that matters far more if you rely on word-of-mouth to win work.
The 60-Second Slot
Every BNI meeting follows a structure, and one of the fixed points in that structure is the weekly 60-second presentation. Every member gets a minute – no more – to tell the room who they are, what they do, and what a good referral looks like for them that week.
Sixty seconds sounds like nothing. It is nothing. Which is exactly the point.
You cannot waffle in 60 seconds. You cannot fall back on a long list of services and hope people pick out the bit that’s relevant. You have to choose, ruthlessly, what matters most, and say it clearly enough that someone across the room could repeat it to a contact later that day.
That constraint, as unfamiliar as it felt at first, turned out to be one of the most useful exercises I have done for my business communication in years.
Explaining It Versus Making It Repeatable
There is a meaningful difference between being able to explain what you do and packaging it in a way that travels.
My early BNI presentations were accurate but not particularly useful to the people in the room. I design WordPress websites. I do SEO. I help small businesses look more professional online. All true but none of it gave anyone a clear trigger to listen out for on my behalf.
In BNI, you are not just talking to the people in front of you. You are talking to everyone they know. The question is not whether they understand what you do – it is whether they can pass it on accurately when the moment arises.
That shift in thinking changes how you do your presentation entirely.
Leading With the Trigger, Not the Service
The most useful advice I received early on was to stop describing what I do and start describing the moment someone realises they need it.
Not “I build websites” that is too abstract. But the specific situations that make someone pick up the phone:
- They are embarrassed to share their website address
- They are getting visitors to their site but no enquiries
- They cannot find their own business on Google
- They are about to rebrand or relaunch and need everything to look the part
Those are things a BNI member can genuinely listen out for in conversation. They are specific enough to be recognisable, and specific enough to pass on. “I know someone who can help with that” is a much easier sentence to say than “I know a web designer, do you need one?”
What a Referable Presentation Actually Looks Like
After a few weeks of refining it, my presentation settled into something like this:
“If you hear anyone say they are embarrassed by their website, or that they cannot be found on Google – that is my referral. I am Andrew from Lens Digital. I build WordPress websites for small businesses in Berkshire that actually bring in enquiries.”
Someone could hear that, walk out of the meeting, and repeat it accurately to a contact the same afternoon. I will also include specific sectors in it as well so it is even more focused.
That is the standard a good BNI presentation needs to meet and it is a higher bar than most people expect.
Why This Matters Beyond BNI
The lesson here is not really about networking. It applies everywhere your message needs to travel without you in the room: your website homepage, your LinkedIn headline, the way a happy client describes you to a friend.
Word-of-mouth is only as good as the words you give people to use. If your message is vague or service-led rather than problem-led, you are making it harder for people to refer you even when they genuinely want to.
BNI gave me a weekly deadline and a room full of engaged local business owners to practise on. The 60-second constraint is not a limitation – it is the whole point. It forces a clarity that most of us are too close to our own work to find on our own.
Curious About BNI Bracknell?
If you are a local business owner who wins work through reputation and referrals, it is worth seeing what a structured referral network actually looks like from the inside. We meet every Tuesday at 9:30am in Bracknell and visitors are always welcome – no obligation, no hard sell.
Read about my own experience of joining here: I Was Wrong About BNI. Or click the button below and register as a visitor.
