You may have more stories than you know, and for years, Darren and Mark have encouraged their students to ‘keep a story file.’ They have upgraded that concept and now encourage presenters to maintain a story FOLDER. In this episode they explain it, and share not only how we should use it, but WHY we should use it. This game changer will help you to uncover even more stories and provide you with more material to make your next presentation unforgettable.

• Upgrade your story file by converting it into a story folder
• Include infographics
• Add pdf files
• Add photos
• Upload video clips
• Insert song lyrics and audio files
• Make a new habit: test one new folder item every week
• Test at a Toastmasters club, with friends, and in conversation
• A family gathering is a great place to test stories…and to find new ones
• Develop the stories that resonate

You may one day be interviewed on television, and you may have only 3-5 minutes to deliver your message. How can you be effective in such a short time? Darren plays clips from one of his recent TV interviews as he and Mark discuss the importance of ‘soundbites’. They also provide tips on how to prepare for a television interview, and how to make the interview experience unforgettable…for the interviewer, for you, and for your audience.

• Prepare by timing your answers to interviewer questions
• Edit your content into sound bites
• Give short and succinct answers which include your soundbites
• Edify your interviewer
• Audiences will ‘vote’ for your best sound bites
• Use your soundbites at the ends of sentences, as ‘Punch Phrases’
• Prove your interviewer with ‘B Roll’ footage and other visuals
• Collaborate with your interviewer to tell a story together
• Be conversational
• Be entertaining

Does your life hold an untold story? Perhaps one you tried before that didn’t work well, so you abandoned it? Maybe you thought it wasn’t powerful enough. Mark and Darren have a discussion on stories that remain inside us…stories that need to be heard. They share how to find them and offer suggestions for resurrecting and honing them. They also explore why those stories can be meaningful and offer specific action steps for revealing what just might be the greatest story you have never told.

• You may not see the value in your own story because you are too close to it
• Our ‘tragic’ story can be meaningful but we fail to see its significance
• One man’s mundane is another man’s magnificent
• You can move your story from ‘meh’ to memorable
• Testing an old story with a new audience can bring surprising responses
• An old story with a new application can yield powerful results
• Your experience over time has made you a better presenter
• Your maturity has given you a new perspective on your story
• Revisit your story folder; you’ll find a story you have never told

In this follow-up to last week’s episode about preparing to be a panelist, Darren and Mark share how some of the DOs and DON’Ts in Ep 153 have helped them. They served on separate panels in recent weeks, and in the aftermath of their recent panelist appearances, they discuss additional lessons they learned during that process. Additionally, they offer advice which, when applied, will equip you with techniques to make your panelist experiences unforgettable.

• You can’t possibly share all you know on your subject. Be succinct.
• Serving with the right co-panelists is important
• Learn the moderator’s and co-panelists’ credentials before hand
• Establish rapport with the moderator and co-panelists before the event
• When possible, get a look at the moderator’s questions ahead of the event
• Authentically edify your co-panelists
• Convert stories to anecdotes; time is limited
• Be willing to defer to a co-panelist when appropriate

Your expertise can earn you a seat on the platform as a panelist. Today Darren and Mark and Darren unpack the DOs and DON’Ts of serving as a panelist, and examine some critical pre-event responsibilities which, when followed, will help you to be an unforgettable panelist.

• Ask organizers the objective and intent of the panel
• Speak with the moderator in advance by phone or in person
• Ask the moderator how you can best serve them, and the audience
• Check your ego at the door; you are one of many experts on the panel
• Be open to differing perspectives offered by the other panelists
• If some disagrees with you, don’t get huffy or make unkind faces
• Honor time limits set by the moderator; it shows respect to all
• You can’t possibly share all you know on your subject. Be succinct.
• Answer questions in sound bites. Moderators will allow 1-2 minutes
• HAVE FUN

You’ve been tasked with moderating a panel discussion. Where do you start? What do you do? Mark and Darren offer SIX suggestions that will help you to create an unforgettable experience for your panelists, and your audience. Snippets:

• Write your own introduction to give you credibility
• Contact panelists by phone or in person, not by text or e-mail
• Prepare questions for each panelist in advance
• Set panelist expectations well before the event
• Set up each panelist’s credibility, but don’t just read their resume
• Encourage panelists to share different perspectives
• Control the flow of the event, giving equal time to all panelists
• Govern Q&A wisely
• Ask panelists to prepare brief opening and closing remarks
• MAKE IT FUN

“I don’t live there any more.” That was the answer that 1999 World Champion speaker Craig Valentine gave to many who asked him to deliver his winning speech several months and years later. While there is nothing wrong with delivering the same speech for years, Darren and Mark explain why being unforgettable sometimes means examining where our hearts are NOW and giving our audiences something new. Snippets:

• What served you then, may not serve you now
• What served your audience then, may not serve your audience now
• You are in a different place in your life than you were years ago
• You and your audience have evolved
• You have learned more life lessons
• What more can you offer to your audience
• Ask close friends and loved ones what changes they see in you

Have you ever felt depressed or actually had depression and still had to give an inspiring presentation? Mark and Darren tackle this thorny question in an honest and vulnerable discussion. They share painful personal stories…some never told before in public…to reinforce the reality of one of the challenges of being unforgettable. The truths they share are proof that even in the midst of your own personal pain, you can be unforgettable.

Snippets:

• You are not alone
• It’s not if, but WHEN you will have to speak while in emotional pain
• Reach out to trusted friends and colleagues in your profession
• Volunteer, serve and help those who have nothing to offer in return
• Shut off TV and avoid depressing programs and bad news
• Someone in your audience is experiencing the same pain and hurt
• We are merchants of hope

Your presentation title can have a greater impact on your potential audience than you may think. A strategically written title can inspire prospective meeting planners and audience members to think, “I need to hear THAT!” Today Darren and Mark discuss the emotional impact of a speech title and provide 3 strategies for writing effective speech titles. Sharing their own experience with ineffective titles, they also explore how a sub-title can reinforce the value of your message and give your prospects reasons to listen to your unforgettable presentation.

Snippets:

• A well-written speech title can have a powerful emotional effect
• A good title generates curiosity
• Your title should provide clarity, not confusion
• Craft a title that shows how your talk can meet the audience’s desire
• An effective title can show how the audience can avoid pain
• Test your title and get feedback; change the title if necessary
• Listen to your target market and craft a title that speaks to their need
• Join industry groups and forums, and social media groups
• Athletes don’t start training the week before the season starts
• A coach provides inspiration and instills confidence

“Why do I even NEED a coach? I’m doing fine on my own and I’m getting better!” As true as that may be, Mark and Darren offer four reasons why getting a qualified speaking coach is essential to your exponential growth as a speaker. They share testimonial statements from a few of their clients, wisdom from other coaches, and their own experiences being coached, to prove that qualified coaching can make any presenter unforgettable.

Snippets:

• The problem with being self-taught: the teacher isn’t that good. Mike Rayburn
• You don’t know what you don’t know
• A coach will see in you that which you don’t even know exists
• Ask a successful coachee what qualified coaching has done for them
• Let (your coach’s) long road be your short cut. Craig Valentine
• Taking risks expands your boundaries
• A coach will shorten your learning curve and expedite your growth process
• Athletes don’t start training the week before the season starts
• A coach provides inspiration and instills confidence