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You've just completed an engagement, and the event planner gives you a 5-star rating because you kicked butt! What next? What more can you do to maintain world class standards and service and elevate your game?
Using one of his very recent experiences, Mark talks with Darren about proven practices to help any presenter shine after a successful event and remain unforgettable.
SNIPPETS:
• Ask: how can I provide more value
• Ask: How can I multiply what I have provided
• Get testimonials
• Screenshot comments on social media, messaging services and e-mails
• Get LinkedIn with event attendees
• ALWAYS have a debrief call with the event planner
• Give the attendees a reason to share your value
• Share testimonials/surveys with the event planner and bureau (if applicable)
• Capitalize on the high of the moment
• Offer to provide more than a presentation
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Do your clients and prospects know how much you have to offer? Mark and Darren discuss more than a dozen additional ways that you can serve your clients, and techniques for making meeting planners aware.
SNIPPETS:
• Add value
• Let them know during your pitch
• Reinforce during pre-event call
• Remind them during your follow-up meeting
• Put additional offerings in the contract/agreement
• Seed additional services during your presentation
• No need to sell from the stage
• Use TalkaDot
• Have a verbal Linktree conversation
• Pass a clipboard to collect information
• Use your newsletter
• Give away your book during your presentation -
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Sometimes, life happens. It’s inevitable. Today, Darren opens up about a personal tragedy, as he and Mark explore ways to navigate life’s challenges and remain unforgettable.
SNIPPETS:
• Life will happen
• You are not alone
• Accept help
• Tap into your professional network and mastermind
• Ask for grace
• Take care of yourself
• Call, or send e-mail to your clients and associates
• How can your tragedy help others?
• What can you still do amidst your challenge…even from the road?
• Have a backup plan
• Who can you recommend as your replacement
• When life happens to your peers, would they call YOU? -
Change is constant and as presenters, we must stay relevant. Today Darren and Mark explore ways for us to stay current, stay relevant and become unforgettable.
SNIPPETS:
• Seek to serve your audience
• Update websites, slide decks, and demo videos regularly
• Stay aware of industry changes
• Be aware of what’s ‘top of mind’ in your area of expertise
• Constantly look for relevant stories and events
• Look for the ‘emotional juice.’
• Update your references, quotes, and content
• Get familiar with new and emerging technology
• Learn about current hot topics
• Explore new tools (TALKADOT etc.)
• Use your network and mastermind
• Use Google search ‘NEWS’ option for client organization updates -
What does it take to truly become the speaker everyone loves and a master of your craft? Mark and Darren offer a ‘mathematical formula’ and a process to not only become a master, but to be unforgettable as well.
SNIPPETS:
• It starts with a decision to master your craft
• Commit to the work
• Put in the EFFORT
• Multiply EFFORT by a PROVEN PROCESS
• Use the CORE 4 PROCESS
• Learn how to make each step better
• Add a QUALIFIED COACH
• Tweak your technique
• Learn what your audience needs from you
• Master your craft and create your process
• Give your audience your process and help them grow
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Emerging presenters often wonder, “Should I join the National Speakers Association? Toastmasters? Both?” Darren and Mark ask and answer these questions while sharing the benefits of both organizations.
SNIPPETS:
• Learn the art and business of speaking
• Both organizations are valuable
• Toastmasters is a wonderful place to make mistakes
• NSA provides business-building tools and expertise
• Toastmasters provides a friendly practice audience
• NSA helps build professional relationships
• Visit 3 Toastmasters clubs
• Attend an NSA meeting as a guest
• Find out how you can serve each organization
• Both provide mentorship
• Visit both NSA and Toastmasters for what you can get, and what you can give
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Jeff Rogers, a fairly new member of the National Speakers Association, is the winner of NSA’s LAST STORY STANDING storytelling competition. He and Mike Davis…one of his coaches…chat with Mark and Darren about his intent, his process, and the lessons he learned on his journey to the first-place trophy.
SNIPPETS:
• Seek to build relationships first
• Enter contests to learn
• Work with a coach to sharpen your story
• Step away from your ego
• Don’t just tell the story; enact it
• Show your characters’ perspective
• Don’t be the hero of your own story
• Your story’s hero can be a CONCEPT
• Stay in your style; don’t let anyone coach you out of it
• Go down with YOUR message
• Practice, then go play
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Rotary Speech Contest, Story SLAM, MOTH, Last Story Standing, World Championship of Public Speaking, and more. Speech competitions abound, and today Darren and Mark are joined by Stage Time University faculty member Mike Davis as they face the question: “Why compete?” Their answers provide the myriad benefits of competing.
SNIPPETS:
• Get better faster, grow, and improve quickly
• Breakthroughs come from experience, and experience comes from competing
• Transcend your comfort zone
• Get coaches - plural
• Competition pushes you to work harder
• Get a higher level of feedback
• Push to be your best at your competition’s level of excellence
• Build confidence
• Learn lasting techniques from the best
• Apply discipline and a process
• Work against a clock with deadlines
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Imagine being asked to deliver new material, on a subject you have never addressed, on short notice, under pressure, three times in 24 hours. Today, Mark and Darren talk with professional speaker and coach Sheree Cain-Jones, who found herself in that situation recently. Her insight from the lessons learned, and the principles she applied along the way, will help you navigate the ‘new content on short notice’ path, and deliver your unforgettable presentation.
SNIPPETS:
• Acknowledge the weight of responsibility when delivering new content
• Stop, think, take it in, then decide to accept an assignment on short notice
• We can find reasons to say ‘no;’ find reasons to say ‘yes’
• Be wary of your ‘echo chamber’ and lean on your support group
• Start with a PREGNANT PREMISE
• Adopt a research mindset and dig deep into your topic
• Put on your hat of humility
• Be vulnerable, even though it creates risk
• To internalize content, record, listen, re-record, listen again
• Don’t be perfect; be prepared
• Incorporate your strengths and skillset
• Your message isn’t in you; it IS you
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We ALL speak with an accent, and at times it’s easy to believe that we must ‘lose’ our accent to be accepted. Today, Mark and Darren have a frank conversation with speech and accent expert Dr. Leslie Gordon, as she gives advice on using your accent as an asset.
SNIPPETS:
• Honor the skill of owning more than one sound
• Treat the world as a playground for your eyes and ears
• The way we speak creates a picture of who we are
• Your accent is a tool in your toolkit
• Your accent can create a connection
• Your accent is a layer of your story
• We all have more than one accent
• Focus on being understood and prioritize clarity
• Language can be a social and political tool, causing some to feel ‘othered’
• Move away from self-judgment
• Code-Switching requires great skill and is governed by rules
• Don’t think ‘accent reduction;’ think ‘accent acquisition’
• Your accent can feel like home
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Script writing takes work and the practical, time-saving methods that Darren and Mark discuss today will make the process easier. Listen as they examine how to create your first script, edit with impact, and use your script as a presentation roadmap.
SNIPPETS:
• You can’t edit what you don’t create
• In Microsoft Word use DICTATE to generate a transcript
• Create your ‘sloppy first copy’
• Separate each line of your script
• Add LINE NUMBERS in Google Docs, MS Word, etc.
• Add WORD COUNT
• Insert PAGE NUMBERS
• Insert LINE NUMBERS
• Customize with pause cues, timing cues, emotion cues, and stage direction
• Color code notes as you wish
• Say it better with fewer words
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Quotations from famous speakers, authors, and celebrities can be very appealing and can support your message. The same can be said of oft-quoted statistics. Today Mark and Darren discuss the importance of accuracy when using quotes and statistics, share a few examples, and provide simple yet effective advice for ‘getting it right.’
SNIPPETS:
• Do due diligence
• Your reputation and credibility are at stake
• Verification sources abound…web searches, AI, etc. Use them
• “Stop quoting dead white men!” – Patricia Fripp
• Create your own quotes
• Quote the people who have influenced you…teachers, friends, family
• Your audience needs your perspective
• Verify EVERY quotation for accuracy
• Double check the context of every quote and statistic
• Name the source of each quote and statistic
• Your accuracy…and inaccuracy has a global reach
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Sometimes, even after your best pitch, the answer is “No.” But that need not be the end of the relationship. Darren and Mark offer some sage wisdom about taking advantage of every ‘no,’ and sometimes turning a “no” into “yes.”
SNIPPETS:
• No can mean several things
• “Not yet, not the right time, not the best fit”
• Be remembered
• Have CONTENT and INTENT
• Don’t take “no” personally
• Build relationships, regardless of the outcome
• Play the long game
• Record and replay each sales call to learn from every “no”
• Be a referral resource when you get a “no”
• Be a favorite
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In this follow-up to Episode 253 (What Do You Ask An Event Planner) Mark and Darren talk about questions to ask participants ahead of your speaking engagement. This episode will help you to unearth critical material and help you to customize your unforgettable presentation.
SNIPPETS:
• Discover the organization’s mentors, matriarchs, patriarchs, and legends
• Get permission to call event attendees
• Schedule a 10-minute call to weeks before the event
• Ask questions and listen carefully to answers
• Learn the organization’s language
• Find out why they attend these events
• Ask about taboo topics
• Find stories that connect to your content
• Invite them to seek you out at the event
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You’ve got the speaking engagement, now what? What can the event planner tell you to help you to deliver an unforgettable presentation? Darren and Mark discuss the pre-event questionnaire and offer insight into how you can set yourself up for presentation success.
SNIPPETS:
• Prepare an Event Planners Questionnaire
• Have a call and connect casually first (video is ideal)
• Ask questions and listen carefully to answers
• Your client is the event planner
• Identify the economic buyer
• Read the Zoom room
• Be a Planner-Pleaser
• Critical question: Ask about taboo topics
• Ask about recent company/organization changes
• Strive to be their favorite
• Ask permission to interview 10 event attendees
• Start your own questionnaire as an editable document
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“Why would I need TWO coaches?” you may ask. To answer that question, Mark and Darren have a conversation with Stage Time University coaches Chris McGuire and Mike Davis. They have coached together, as have Mark and Darren, and in today’s discussion they explain the benefits of having a duo coaching team.
SNIPPETS:
• Different coaching styles are complimentary
• Different perspectives create multiple options for clients
• Client gets twice the value in half the time
• Coaches learn from each other
• Coaches become better when they coach together
• Duo coaching is more engaging
• Duo coaching is more dynamic
• Duo coaches trigger each other’s thoughts
• Duo coaches must check their ego
• Duo coaches grow in each other’s strengths
• Duo coaches must be sponges
• Batman and Robin roles interchange
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Speakers make a common mistake when seeking audience participation. They ask “HOW MANY of you…” That question needs a NUMERICAL response. Today Darren and Mark explain how to ask BETTER questions, and how to use the audience’s non-verbal response to enhance their own experience.
SNIPPETS:
• How would you say it over coffee to one person
• Use the language of a conversation
• Respect the versatility of the word YOU’
• Ask you-focused questions
• Put the audience into your story
• Tap into their world, and transport them into yours
• Give the audience time to answer questions in their heads
• Read the audience
• Acknowledge their responses, even non-verbal
• Take inventory of the questions that you ask
• Ask yourself, “Is there a better way to ask that question?”
• Speaking is dialogue, not monologue
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Speakers sometimes ask for help making tweaks, adding humor, or finding more powerful stories…a few days before their presentation. All too often, it’s just too late. Today, Darren and Mark share their experience with speakers who have waited too long, explain the benefits of getting help early, and offer advice on how to avoid waiting until it’s too late.
SNIPPETS:
• Get a speaking coach sooner
• Speech contestants, don’t assume you will reach a certain level automatically
• Stop making changes several days before the presentation. Freeze the design
• Don’t expect last-minute miracles
• Get help perfecting your script before focusing on stagecraft
• Getting help early has several benefits
• You will be more confident
• You will have stronger content
• You will find your best stories
• You will uncover humor in time to perfect it
• You will present more effectively
• You will deliver a more unforgettable presentation
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You can’t teach everything you know in an hour. (At least we hope not!) So, if you are a speaker, consultant or coach are you allowing people to take more of your wisdom home?
Anyone can write a book, but do you have the right book? Do you offer it in your proposals? What if you could wave your speaking fee and still earn revenue. Darren sits down with his publisher, Henry Devires to get some insights from experience.
Why other experience does Henry offer? "The Agency Owner Book Guy" | Author of Marketing With A Book For Agency Owners | Agency Owner News | Agency owner TV show host | Professional Speaker | CEO of Indie Books | Ghostwriter & Writer for Forbes.com & Inc.com
SNIPPETS:
• Henry’s background
• Tapping into other budgets
• Why the right book matters
• What is an independent publisher?
• 3 Critical Mistakes author’s make
• It easier, faster and more affordable now than in the 1990’s
• The two biggest book revolutions publishing in the past 20 years
• Persistently helpful
• Success stories from Henry’s authors
• Write the Right Book Workshop
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Every time you introduce a character in your story, you have an opportunity for humor. Quirky characters are familiar, engaging, and create memorable moments in presentations. Darren is joined by Television Writer & Producer Chris McGuire to discuss the people in our stories and how to make them unforgettable.
SNIPPETS:
• Use quirky characters to create memorable moments that enhance speaker relatability with the audience.
• Character traits are the qualities that make a character memorable. (Brave, smart, loyal) Quirks are exaggerated, unusual or unexpected qualities that add humor or intrigue to stories.
• Base your characters in reality and avoid making logical jumps that lead the audience to “crazytown.”
• Use the following quirks to make your characters memorable: Distinctive habits, ususual interests, eccentric speech patterns, exaggerated fashion and physical traits.
• Good joke formats for explaining quirks include “They were so [QUALITY]m that BLANK.” Or, “They’re the type of person who [GIVE EXAMPLE OF QUIRK]
• Use comedic twists to introduce quirks
• Quirks usually involve something the characters in your stories don’t know about each other.
• When using twists, you set expectations and then subvert them.
• Use sparingly or risk the audience noticing the “magic trick.”
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