Co-hosts Darren & Mark encourage their clients to stretch and challenge themselves. Today Mark discusses his greatest speaking challenge…a 12-minute speech in French…and he is joined by his French-speaking coach Alexandre Matte. As they discuss this unique journey you will learn how and why accepting a challenge and following through can help you to be unforgettable.

SNIPPETS:

• NOT accepting a challenge deprives your audience of learning opportunities

• When faced with a challenge get a coach and an ally

• Be open to tools and techniques to help you overcome your challenge

• Use a challenge to upgrade your skills

• Be encouraged by past challenges you have overcome

• It’s never too late to grow

• Don’t let your ego get in the way

• Learn all you can about your audience

• Even if you reach a summit, keep climbing

• After the challenge, ask, “How did I grow?”

• Challenge yourself to serve, even if your execution isn’t perfect

AI is everywhere. How can presenters use AI as a tool, without diminishing their expertise? Today Darren and Mark offer THREE specific ways that presenters can use AI advantageously.

SNIPPETS:

• Think of AI as an intern

• Speakers who don’t use AI could be replaced by AI

• Use AI to create ‘sticky’ phrases

• Use prompts to get the options you need

• The more specific the prompts, the better the results

• Meeting planners respond to catchy presentation titles

• AI can help you to customize your speech to serve different demographics

• AI can give good feedback, but will never replace a qualified coach

You’ve just delivered your presentation, then someone gives you feedback, and it feels tough…even harsh. Now what? Mark and Darren have been there, and today they talk about how to receive critical feedback and use it to your advantage. They also examine how we as presenters can GIVE constructive feedback to benefit our fellow communicators and offer advice on how to maximize the feedback we receive.

SNIPPETS:

• There is a time and place for tough feedback

• Be willing to improve based on the feedback we receive

• Don’t let your ego get in the way of learning

• Don’t let tough feedback cause you to stop

• Crave feedback, not a pat on the back

• Don’t miss the golden opportunities to improve your speech

• Don’t deprive yourself of the opportunity to leave your message

• Don’t deprive future audience of the opportunity to learn from you

• Look for kernels of truth on all feedback

• When feedback hurts, it helps

• Let tough feedback be a rung on your ladder to being unforgettable

“I’ll just add a couple of stories, insert a few activities, and I’ll convert my keynote into a training. That should work, right?” It’s not that simple, and in this episode Darren and Mark find out why as they speak with fellow Certified Speaking Professional and trainer extraordinaire Ed Tate. Together they discuss the differences between speaking and training and offer specific techniques for being effective at both.

SNIPPETS:

• Keynote Speaking share a BIG IDEA

• Training teaches the execution of the idea

• Keynote speaking informs, entertains, and inspires

• Training changes behavior

• With keynote speaking, attendees are impressed with the speaker

• With training, attendees are impressed with themselves

• Keynote speaking includes minimal participant activity

• Training includes movement; kinesthetic learning is the stickiest

• Stories are to keynotes as instructions are to training

• Training takes attendees through a process

This question is based on the role of the lamplighter: a person employed to light and maintain gas streetlights. Today Mark and Darren explore ways that we, as presenters, can be lamplighters for our audiences.

• One of your jobs is to light the path of those who follow you

• Your experiences can illuminate their path and make their journey easier

• Your lamplight identifies the danger for those who come behind you

• Your lamplight shows the path that you have taken

• Your lamp lights the path of people you don’t even know

• Your lamplight can lead others to their destination

• Work on your skills and storytelling NOW

• Let your lamplight be a legacy of value

Work with Mark & Darren:

https://www.stagetimeuniversity.com/

“So many presenters mistake memorization for preparation” says Darren, as he and Mark reveal some powerful principles for preparing and delivering unforgettable presentations.

SNIPPETS:

• Don’t memorize; internalize

• Avoid rehearsing just to remember the words; rehearse to remember the idea

• Use STAGEOLOGY to anchor your ideas to specific places on stage

• Give your audience and idea, principle, technique, habit, tip or action item

• Deliberately rehearse with loud noises in the room

• It’s not ‘if’, but ‘when’ you will encounter unexpected distractions

• Learn from the ways that comedians handle hecklers

• Prepare your presentation in chunks and rehearse them out of sequence

As presenters we are often tempted to teach our audience everything we know. Mark and Darren drill down on the importance of, and methods for giving each audience one clear idea in every presentation.

SNIPPETS:

• Be completely clear on one specific idea

• Don’t depend on implication; rely on declaration

• Bring up your point; hold up your point

• Give your audience and idea, principle, technique, habit, tip or action item

• Use specific language like, “If you only absorb ONE IDEA, it’s this:”

• Your ‘one thing’ must be easy to remember

• Your ‘one thing’ must be immediately applicable

• State your ‘one thing’ early in your presentation and repeat it at the end

• Test your ‘one thing’ and get your audience’s response

The term ‘Selfish Presenter’ may seem harsh, but today Mark and Darren talk about one way we deny our audiences the full experience of our presentations. We give great value when we use the spaces between our words wisely.

SNIPPETS:

• Give your audience time to process your questions

• Without reflection there is no connection

• Place wisdom on the ‘Pause Pedestal’ and ‘put some air around it’

• Pause in HEARTBEATS, not SECONDS

• Your audience needs space to absorb you points

• Use the pause to acknowledge the audience or affirm eye contact

• Don’t step on your audience’s thoughts

• The most important part of the presentation is the thought process in the audience’s mind

It’s easy to focus on your next presentation based on the occasion, especially when you have customized it for a specific audience. Today Darren and Mark offer advice on thinking about the future value of your presentation. Speech contestants often prepare for a specific contest, then set the speech aside. Mark and Darren explore ways to extend your speech’s shelf life, modify the format, and reach broader audiences.

SNIPPETS:

• Think and act today for the future

• Ask: “What other audience needs to hear this message?”

• Make adjustments immediately when you think of them

• Resolve to evolve

• Expand your audience demographic

• Convert you message into a different format

• Look for additional messages in your content

• Think, “The NEXT time I give this speech, I will…”

No matter how pithy your point may be, you have to PROVE it to your audience. Today Darren and Mark offer nine ways to do so, while establishing a deeper connection to your audience. You need not use all nine at once, but when chosen selectively and used effectively, they will help to make your presentation unforgettable.

SNIPPETS:

• Personal stories help you to establish a relationship with your audience

• Connect to your audience’s world

• There are ways to keep your audience fully engaged

• It is important to SHOW your method or process

• Infuse your data with human characters

• Give your audience a representation of your expertise and experience

• Involve your audience with tools like Mentimeter