Darren Jamieson:
One of the jokey things about entrepreneurs is that they are essentially unemployable. The world’s media flocked around him because there was basically this zombie-looking man. I’ve probably listened to that over a hundred times by the time I present. What we have here is a room full of Margarets.
On this week’s Engaging Marketeer and BNI Education Slots combined post, we are speaking to Greg Davies-Polaine. Greg is the Executive Director of a number of different regions of BNI in the UK. He is the host of the UK conference and the host of the global BNI conference. I had the privilege of watching Greg strut his stuff on the stage in Hawaii last year.
Greg is an incredible public speaker. He is an incredible BNI member and he is an exceptionally funny guy and a brilliant storyteller. So let’s find out from Greg how he does what he does, why he does what he does, and what advice he has for anyone else who wants to get themselves out there the way he has.
So Greg, you are obviously in BNI as a member and your category is a bit of a strange one because your business within BNI is The Story Fella, I believe, is what you call yourself. What exactly is The Story Fella and what do you do?
Greg Davies-Polaine:
Okay, so just to strive for clarity from the start, I’m not a member.
Darren:
You’re not actually a member? Not one of the most important people?
Greg:
No. I’m not a member. I’m a servant of members. I’m an Executive Director. I own a franchise for two regions, London Southeast Prom and Croydon. They were one region when I came in. I joined as a member twenty years ago this coming February, so in a matter of weeks. I had a signage company. I used to do vehicle graphics, banners, that kind of stuff.
The Story Fella is my public speaking persona
I like to use stories to illustrate points and drive people towards finding answers for themselves. Whenever we’re dealing with entrepreneurs, whenever we use examples rather than simply telling people they must do things in a certain way, it leads them to the correct answers and you get less friction.
One of the jokey things about entrepreneurs is that they are essentially unemployable. I know from my point of view I wouldn’t want to work for anyone again. If you give an entrepreneur a system, the first thing they try to do is shortcut that system. So in a training or presenting capacity, if you say “you have to do this” and you have an audience of entrepreneurs, you can guarantee most of them are thinking “how can I shortcut that?”
Whereas with storytelling, you can say: these people over here did this and had success. Using peer-to-peer examples leads an audience to decide to try something for themselves, rather than you pushing it on them.
The Story Fella came about from a one-to-one with a member. My region is Southeast London. Even though I am a bit of a mongrel in the UK, born in Lancashire and raised in Sussex, both my parents and grandparents came from my region. So it’s quite serendipitous I ended up back there. The Story Fella does sound a bit South London, a bit geezerish. That’s how the name came about.
Huge testimony to my first Executive Director when I joined, a gentleman called Andrew Hall. He was a brilliant storyteller. He could have a room hanging on his words. He was very tall, so he had a unique presence on stage. He used his arms a lot to illustrate points. Watching how audiences reacted to his stories, I knew that was how I wanted to present.
So that’s how The Story Fella came about. I weave stories wherever possible into education slots, feature presentations, training events and public speaking engagements. But I am under no illusion that everything I do outside BNI, like corporate training or writing or speaking, is only possible because of the success our members have in my region. Everything tracks back to being involved in BNI. At no point do I think I’m going to be the next Jim Rohn or Simon Sinek. I just feel honoured to do what I do.
Darren:
That’s great that you say that. I’ve got a bigger ego than that. I do it because I want to get in front of everyone. So what makes someone running a signage company decide they want to stand in front of hundreds or thousands of people to speak? The two biggest fears in the world are death and public speaking. Some people fear public speaking more than death. What made you want to do it?
Greg:
I use that example in my training too. The top five fears are fear of heights, fear of flying, fear of spiders, fear of death and fear of public speaking. Then I make a joke: next time you are at a funeral, most people would rather be in the box than delivering the eulogy.
We have to address this fear of public speaking because every week at a BNI meeting people have to speak publicly. But the reason BNI works is because after week one, you’re presenting in front of friends. In front of people you know, so it stops feeling like public speaking.
The skill comes from doing. The more you do something, the more comfortable it becomes
Public speaking is a learned ability and it needs to be practised. That is why you see accomplished speakers using anchoring, or moving to certain parts of the stage to illustrate timelines. Those are learned skills.
I saw the benefit of BNI early on both financially and personally. I naturally wanted to give back to my chapter, then my region, then BNI as a whole. I still feel I’m in massive deficit with what I owe to BNI. During the toughest moments of my life it has always been BNI members who rallied around me.
I have a theory on that. BNI members are close enough to you to support you but not so close that your challenges affect them personally. So when you lose someone, your family and close friends also have a relationship with that person. BNI members care about you but aren’t impacted the same way. They can focus entirely on supporting you. It is a beautiful thing.
I started doing ED slots, took leadership roles, helped chapters grow, launched new groups. The second group I ever launched, called Achievers, is still going fifteen years later and still has founding members. That kind of legacy is powerful.
Public speaking came as a development side effect of those roles. I remember once presenting at a chapter I was helping grow. I’d prepared a flip chart demonstration showing how many relationships exist in a room. It worked very well. When I returned months later, a member said, “You’re not doing that terrible flip chart thing again, are you?” Everyone else said I should have done it anyway, but I have imposter syndrome, so I said “of course not” and panicked because I had nothing prepared.
So I started thinking about what BNI is. I realised it is a formalisation of what communities did fifty or a hundred years ago. Tight-knit communities referred to people they trusted. So I told a story about growing up in Crawley. We moved there, knew no one, had no established network. I talked about playing football, losing the ball over the fence of our neighbour, Margaret, and how she was the matriarch of the street. She always threatened to give the ball to her dog, but I always got it back because she and my mum were best friends.
Margaret knew everyone. When our car broke down she told my mum which garage to use. When the boiler broke she recommended our plumbers, Roger and Brendan. They always looked after us. She even told my mum which insurance man to use. And what we have in a BNI room is a room full of Margarets. People who have relationships, who know who to recommend, and who just have gaps in their address book for your category.
That story had impact. I still tell it today. I encourage other directors to think back to their childhood and find their own Margaret story.
Darren:
I am thinking about that right now. It resonates.
Greg:
Exactly. Stories resonate. And that’s how I found the power of storytelling.
Darren:
It’s quite a rush, isn’t it? When people are hanging on every word. It’s almost like a drug. I’ve done stand-up comedy and when you come off stage the first thing you want to do is go back on.
Greg:
It can be really addictive. I was lucky enough to be MC at the Newcastle conference around 2015. Just after I became an Executive Director. I threw my hat in the ring. One of my top tips is if you want something, throw your hat in the ring. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
I asked how to become an MC, and they gave me an opportunity. At the end of the last keynote, I closed with a story. You’re not really supposed to do that as MC, but I didn’t know. I told the story of John McKenzie, a marathon runner from Tanzania at the Mexico Olympics. He fell early in the race, injured himself badly, strapped himself up and still finished. He entered the stadium an hour after the medal ceremony. The media surrounded him. A journalist asked, “Why didn’t you give up?” He said, “My country didn’t send me ten thousand miles to start a race. They sent me ten thousand miles to finish it.”
Halfway through telling that story, the room went silent. Every pair of eyes was on me. It landed perfectly. That reinforced the power of stories. A year later I presented solo at global in Dublin and won ED of the Year. That moment in Newcastle was where it began.
Darren:
You can’t just get on a stage like that and tell a story like that without training. You mentioned stage anchoring, alternate close, timeline movement. Surely you’ve had a lot of training?
Greg:
I’ve had no formal public speaking training. I’ve just done it a lot. But I have seen incredible speakers. When I’m in the car, I’m either listening to my band’s playlist or an audiobook. Ben Davis once said, “Everything you want in life is kept on the top shelf and you reach it by standing on the books you read.” I listen to audiobooks constantly. I prefer when the author narrates. You learn how they structure stories.
BNI produces amazing speakers because we rehearse public speaking every week. Many corporate speakers never practise, which is why their talks can be painful.
I’ve also seen speakers through network marketing events and coaching conferences like Darren Hardy, Chris Gardner, Matthew Syed, Michelle Mone. I’ve watched some brilliant BNI speakers. I practise a lot. I research stories heavily and adapt them to the message I want to deliver.
My presentations often include detailed stories, figures, stats. I can’t improvise around those. I print multiple copies of my notes with large bullet points and leave them on different parts of the stage. If I get stuck, I glance down and find my place. The only reason that works is because I rehearse obsessively.
I record myself on Zoom, reading the presentation verbatim. Then I listen to the audio hundreds of times. Then I re-record, improve, record again. Even after delivering live, I listen back before doing it again. Public speaking is a skill, and like any skill, you get rusty if you stop practising.
I always get nervous. Before a keynote, I’m awful to be around. You cannot talk to me for an hour beforehand. It’s not being a diva. It’s wanting to deliver exactly what the organisers asked for.
Darren:
That’s completely normal. In speaker training they call it “getting in state.” You avoid reading emails, avoid distractions and mentally prepare. I’m shocked you haven’t had training. You’re fantastic on stage.
Greg:
I’ve seen some very unpleasant speakers backstage. External speakers, not BNI. People who treat the sound staff badly, who snap at people. The first thing people remember is how you make them feel. I never want to be like that.
I remember one speaker whose mic wasn’t on as he walked up the steps. He glared at the sound desk with venom. Then he went full “big energy, hey everybody!” on stage. Anyone who saw him beforehand knew it was fake. It destroyed his credibility.
Darren:
I’ve seen you on stage and backstage. You’re exactly the same. So where do you go from hosting the global conference in Hawaii? What are your goals?
Greg:
It was an absolute honour. I didn’t expect to MC again after Madrid. Re had done Singapore and was brilliant. I definitely won’t be MC in Sydney. I know who it is and I’m thrilled for them.
I don’t really set public speaking goals. I’ve been lucky enough to do every slot on the main stage at nationals. I’ve delivered a breakout at global and been invited to chair a round table this year. But none of that happens unless you have results. Public speaking opportunities in BNI come because your members succeed.
My focus is always the success of my region. We just released our five-year vision, which is “scievable” meaning scary but achievable. When we achieve it on 9 May 2030, my 51st birthday, I’m sure more opportunities will come. But that’s not the goal.
The goal is supporting 25 local charities through 1,025 members
Anything else is a side effect. Public speaking is not a career for me. It is a beautiful side effect of the role I’m privileged to have.
I describe my role as the best job in the world. Every day is different because I’m dealing with people. The agenda is the same in 11,500 chapters worldwide but none of them feel the same. People make them different. And when members succeed, lives change. Some people wouldn’t still be on this planet without the support they’ve had from BNI.
Where do I go next? Wherever I’m asked. One day it will stop. I recognise I only have these opportunities because I support wonderful members in Southeast London.
Darren:
We’ve only got a few moments left. I want to ask about the 100 Point Club. You’ve done two podcasts with Ivan Meisner about it. What prompted you to set it up?
Greg:
I always say I don’t have any original thought. I stand on the shoulders of giants. I’m good at innovating. The 100 Point Club came from our first High-Class 100 Hero, Russell Frost. He asked what we were doing to recognise 100-point members. So I designed the 100-point pin, which I’m told is now the most popular pin Global produces.
When my chapter became number one in the UK and Ireland for the first time, I asked what they got. There was nothing. So I commissioned a trophy each time one of my chapters reached number one. Yes, it cost me over £100 each time. Some of my colleagues asked why. It’s because we should celebrate it. Recognition is a core value.
The 100 Point Club is a national online event. It is simply to recognise the amount members give. They give referrals, they bring visitors, they do one-to-ones, they upskill themselves. They are the ultimate givers. It doesn’t always mean they earn, but it gives them a better chance. Sometimes prolific givers are not receiving enough back.
I think of one 100-point member in particular who gives endlessly. They deserve recognition. And the best way to get on a prolific giver’s radar is to find them a referral.
That’s all the 100 Point Club is. A little thank you to amazing people.
Darren:
I’ve been on every one so far but haven’t qualified for the next. I need a lot of visitors in the next seven or eight weeks.
Greg:
I’m sure you’ll do it.
Darren:
And that’s it, Greg. We’re out of time. One final question. Anyone listening thinking “I love the sound of Greg” or wants a budget-priced Dale Winton to speak at their event, what’s the best way for them to get in touch?
Greg:
Drop me an email. You can pop it into the description so people can scroll down and click it. You can also find me on social media. It’s Greg Davies-Polaine. I look like me, so I’m easy to spot. LinkedIn, Facebook, I’m easy to find.
Darren:
Fantastic. Greg, thank you very much for being on the podcast. I’ve loved talking to you.
Greg:
Thank you, Darren.
About Greg Davies-Polaine:
Greg Davies-Polaine is the executive director for BNI in London South East and Croydon, a role he describes as “the best job in the world” because it allows him to help business owners grow through meaningful relationships.
A former signage company owner, he built his reputation inside BNI as a leader, trainer and storyteller, eventually creating his public speaking persona, The Story Fella. Greg has launched and grown multiple successful chapters, including long-standing groups such as Achievers in Sussex, and has gone on to host both the UK National Conference and the BNI Global Convention, including the main stage in Hawaii. Alongside co-authoring books such as Infinite Legacy with Dr Ivan Misner, he continues to champion the power of stories, structured networking and “givers gain” as tools to change lives, support local charities and create business communities that outlast the people who start them.
You can connect with Greg here:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregdavies1979/
Facebook: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregdavies1979/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gregdavies1979/
About your host:
Darren has worked within digital marketing since the last century, and was the first in-house web designer for video games retailer GAME in the UK, known as Electronics Boutique in the States. After co-founding his own agency, Engage Web, in 2009, Darren has worked with clients around the world, including Australia, Canada and the USA.
iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/engaging-marketeer/id1612454837
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenjamieson/
Engaging Marketeer: https://engagingmarketeer.com
Engage Web: https://www.engageweb.co.uk
