Ep. 156 Speaking In Soundbites

Hey there, Marc Brown. What happens when you get interviewed on tv? It's part of your presentation. It's part of what you do. But speaking in sound bites.

Yeah, it's funny. Years ago, I was doing TV appearances. I had some media training, actually, and they told me you have to be succinct and to the point. And sound bites can provide something for the audience to remember to help you to become unforgettable.

Here we go.

Anyone can give a presentation. Few deliver unforgettable presentations. What's the difference? You're about to find out. Welcome to the unforgettable Presentations podcasts with your hosts, world champion speakers and coaches, Mark Brown. Mark Brown.

Your life tells a story, and there's someone out there who needs to hear it.

And Darren Lacroix. And Darren Lacroix.

Stage time. Stage time.

Stage time.

Ready for some power, powerful presentation. Ahas. Let's dive right in.

All right, Mark, we're gonna have to make this a super short segment.

Yeah.

Because we're discussing can't talk bites.

Yeah. You know, I was on TV here in Las Vegas on a local channel, and I realized, boom. I had to catch myself a couple times because I went on and on. And we mentioned this in a previous podcast, however, I thought it would be fascinating. So I went back and I studied the clip. The whole clip is only five minutes long, and there were five questions in five minutes. My answers were 17 seconds, 1 minute and 1 second, 32 seconds, 42 seconds and 45 seconds. I was shocked and impressed. I was like, wow. But that is the modality. But what we need to do is look at what we do on the platform and bring those sound bites, not the whole story. You don't have time for a whole story. I could see one time I started going into a story and I saw the interviewer take a breath and catch herself, and I was like, oops. So even though it wasn't perfect, I thought it'd be a great example of just taking what we do on stage, finding those sound bites, those foundational phrases, but the ones that get the. The listener, the anchor as well, to kind of lean in. Your initial thoughts, Mark?

Well, I need. I need to back up just for a second to clarify my opening remark. I was doing morning talk shows in a community before I went to the schools to give my talks, and very often it was three to five minute segment, and you had to know going in, I absolutely, positively want to leave this message with the audience watching on tv. So as you said, Darren, you have to take some of the key points you want to make, condense them down to sound bites that would be memorable to the audience. And for those of us who are accustomed to giving that 7, 10, 20, 30, 60 minute presentation, it's going to require some work, but it's work well worth doing because if you can master the art of delivering these sound bites, whenever you get interviewed, what happens is the audience remembers those sounds, sound bites. They remember you and they remember your message, or better yet, have a reason to come and see you and hear you when you present. But yeah, you got to keep it tight because you have to maximize the value of the time you have in that studio with that radio or TV host.

And it's their language, that's how they speak. That's what they need from you. I don't remember who it is, Mark, but I remember one of our gurus telling us about being interviewed on a big TV talk show and how there were four guests and one of them just would not talk in sound bites. And they went to a commercial break and that person was escorted out of the show. Really continued without. Because he just didn't get it. He didn't understand. He thought he was the profound one and he could get. And that is a different medium. When it's your stage, you do whatever you want, Mark. I'm realizing my whole clip on this TV show was five minutes long. Some speakers have an introduction that's five minutes long.

Ain't that the truth?

So I'm going to give you a couple quick examples from this. And I'm not saying I did it perfectly, but I am saying we've got to get our brain around it if we're going to be interviewed on TV or even just a panel session. We talked about panel sessions recently. You can't go on and on. You have to be able to speak in sound bites. That we get it, we go, ah. And then the next question pops up. Any other thoughts, Mark, before we dive in?

Yes. Also bear in mind, as a sidebar, when you're going to be interviewed on radio or television, it's a good idea for you to have your own talking points. When I say talking points, I mean I'm going to find a way to say this phrase in the presentation because it helps support my purpose, my mission, and the message I want the audience to hear. And sometimes if being interviewed, they may even ask you, can I ask you about this, this or this? At times I was asked, is there a particular message or two? Are there three or four tips you want parents to hear? Or the kids to hear. And I'd send those tips ahead beforehand. When I got to the studio, they had made a graphic for it. So you want to make sure the value you are there to give the audience gets. And it could be those graphics in conjunction or in addition to the sound bites. But. But it all boils down to how. How succinct you can be, how much you can say in few words. But to be impactful, the bonus is if you can do it with rhythm or with rhyme, with catchphrases, that's even more effective. Darren.

And they asked me, as they may ask you, if you're going to be in the media, what questions should we ask you? What could set you up? And you got to set yourself up for your own sound bite. And they may not use the exact words. You've got to have improv, improv, improv, improv. So this is the very opening of the segment. I'm going to play it on YouTube. Morning Blend Las Vegas. And Jeff Civilico, one of my friends, is also one of the anchors and interviews, and J.J. snyder. So I want to give them credit because you'll hear their voices. But I'm going to just play up until my first answer, which was 17 seconds and kind of. Mark, help me dissect this.

Over the past two and a half years, so many people have made major changes. I mean, like, shifted their life plans and maybe uncovered long neglected dreams. What about you?

Yeah, that's right.

And dreams, you know, they're not always convenient. Sometimes we have to change our thinking in order to really go after them. We have the great Darren Lacroix in studio today, folks. He is an author and renowned public speaker, and he joins us today to share why he thinks now is the perfect time to dream big. Darren, so great to have you here.

Hey, thanks for having me.

This is awesome.

So excited you're here.

You are funny.

Oh, thank you.

Wow, coming from you, that means a lot. Seriously.

Yeah.

So, Darren, just tell us, you know, why. Why do you think so many people don't go for it? They don't pursue their dreams well, honestly.

And the reason this is a good time is people are like stepping back from their lives and saying, what am I really trying to do? What am I really trying to live for? And I think when we're growing up, well meaning people trained the dream out of us.

Okay, pause right there. So two things that I noticed then. Mark, I'll open it to you. So my first answer was 17 seconds. Now there was a tiny little clip. I Said before that you two are funny. That was strategic. So, number one, I was trying to create the connection. And I learned from one of my mentors, Vinny, make it your job to make them laug to authentically edify the hosts because it's their show, but it's also going to be true and authentic. So I did think they were funny because we were laughing and joking beforehand. And then when they asked me the first question, why now, by the way, you want to know the hook that they love? What's the hook? Why are they going to be talking to you? How does your subject, in this case my book, connect to something that's going on? And it's about the timing. You know, the timing. What's going on in the world right now that we forget to dream? We don't take the time to dream. Why don't people dream? Well, meaning adults train the dream out of us. Now backing up. I have said that so many times on stage and I get the head nod, I get the agreement, I get that audiences will give you some of your best sound bites or they'll hold up the mirror saying, hey, that one right there, I vote for that one. That's a good one.

And.

And a lot of times they might grab their pen and write something down. When you start seeing that happen in unison, know that could be a soundbite mark.

Yeah, and I like the use of the word strategic there because you knew you wanted to get the phrase train the dream out of us into your interview, but you also found a way to do it up front so the first thing you say was memorable. And the bonus, I hope everybody caught this. The bonus is the way you edify the interview before you said a thing about yourself. I also checked the intro that was done by both of them really smoothly, was 40 seconds long, under a minute. They gave us so much information about you, which means you have a responsibility, as Darren said earlier, to set yourself up. So every introduction is not supposed to be a resume, a CV and a list of your credentials. When you are introduced, both in the interview and in a presentation, there has to be a set up for you to hit that running. And you want the audience to love you before you even say a word. So kudos to you, man. Well done.

Yeah, and part of the street cred is I'm there, I'm on the set with them, so I don't have to have as much credibility right there. However, the viewing audience who sees this all the time, it's no big deal to them. Okay, here's another person they're interviewing. So then I do need to have my credibility set up by the hosts. Now, if they love the host and they set me up now, I've been edified by them. And again, tying into that subject. So my answer that time was 17 seconds. Notice I ended on the sound bite.

That was your punch phrase.

Exactly.

You ended on the sound bite as a punch phrase. Use your sound bite as the punch phrase. If you're new to our podcast, the punch phrase or the punch word is the phrase or word that comes at the end of the sentence or paragraph for the audience to remember it. You put some air around it, right? They train the dream out of us. You stop. That's the last thing they hear. They're going to remember that. That's one way for you to be unforgettable. Use your punch phrase. Use your sound bite as a punch phrase.

Thank you, Mark. So now we're. Now we go to their next question.

Talk about your growing up because you. You were a shy kid, really. You wanted to be a comedian, but I heard you weren't very funny.

That's what I heard.

You were a shy kid.

I know you. So that's, like, so bizarre to you.

That was the pre1992. I was shy, quiet, naive.

It was.

I was the ultimate introvert. But I dreamed of making people laugh because my cousin was so funny. And I saw him change a room just by what he was saying and.

How he was saying it.

I just, oh, that'd be cool. And then I remember standing up at a holiday party, like, trying to join in the laughter because I have twin aunts that when they laugh, it's, like, in harmony. It's like waff, waff, wah. And you can't not laugh. And I stood up as this little.

Kid, and I threw out a punchline, and I hushed my whole family, and.

I slid back into my seat. I will never, ever try to be funny again because it was so painful. And then people. Well meaning people saying, look, that's just not your jam. That's not what you should be doing. And so I picked another path and then just went for business. That's my thing. And then I owned a Subway sandwich shop for a year and a half.

And that didn't go so well.

I'm learning a lot about.

I didn't know that.

No, he.

All right, we'll stop there. So that one was a minute and one second. And, Mark, what was also worth noting is they asked me for visuals ahead of time. So it's called B roll. So I knew here's the B roll, which means the video they show in the background. So showing the clip of me and the first time on stage, if you're listening to the podcast, people saw the visual of that with hair nervous. Looking at my notes as well as throughout the course of this interview. There are many visuals that I gave them and they said, just give us one or two. Well, I gave them like 13 and they end up using most of them, which was interesting. But again, remember, they're trying to tell a story, so notice I'm talking about my down, my conflict. The low point is where I'm trying to establish credibility to get people to relate to that mark.

Now question for you, Darren. I'm the interviewer right now, but are they telling the story or are you telling the story?

I would say we are telling the story.

That's exactly what you say. Exactly. It's a. It's collaborative. Okay. It's very easy for me as the interviewee to say yes, I know I do want to get certain, certain talking points in. But if I can do it in a conversational way where the interviewer, in this case interviewers and you, Darren, are having this conversation that seems so relaxed. It's like we as a viewing audience get to eavesd on three people having some coffee, literally in front of a coffee table having a good time. And the realism how you showed at your family's get together when your joke went flat and you sit back in your chair, the realism that also amplified their reaction because just as I know you, I didn't know that story. It seemed so comfortable. So in effect, you were telling the story together and the audience benefits. This is a key people, I'm telling you. I confess I hadn't thought of that when I was being interviewed years ago during my tour of USA with kids going to schools. But that's powerful. If you can collaborate with the interviewer to tell a story, it'll make it that much more memorable. And that's what this is all about. Being unforgettable on stage, online, and even.

In studio and making it conversational. There was research ahead of time. There are many questions ahead of time. Now when you get someone like JJ and Jeff in a room, it's going to be conversational. They're bringing their expertise, their experience to the table to make it conversational. But also keep in mind they're looking for someone to interview that they know will come to life. What's also interesting and good for me is they're a great audience. They're going to laugh when I tell funny stories. But it's sincere, it's genuine. But I still got to tell a good story or tell a funny joke or a funny idea. And I again practiced that so many times and told that story of my aunt laughing in harmony. Fwah, fwah, fwah. And I put both hands up and almost like their mouths are laughing. And that helps me tell the story, give a visual, and it always gets a reaction. So it's like a humor soundbite, if you will. While I'm setting up my story.

I hope no one feels, oh, my gosh, I gotta interview next week about my book. I gotta be funny. I gotta be down on the court. No, no. We don't want you to abandon your personal. But you have to understand that television is, by definition, entertainment. Think about it. Television is by definition entertainment in a morning talk show or a noontime talk show. Right. It has to be entertaining. We're not saying you must spin plates and bring a seal on stage, but at least be animated. Be upbeat, be friendly, Be conversational and engaging. Respond to them. If it's funny, laugh, you know, if they throw a different question at you, go with it. Have that conversation like you with friends or with new friends. Because the audience doesn't want us to sit there like a bump on a log and just point out stats. I wrote the book about this. Here's why we need it. That's data. We can read that. They want to know you as a personality. Here is your opportunity to be your best television personality you can be. Right. So think about that as well.

Mark, I didn't even think of bringing a seal. I'm going to bring a seal next time.

Never mind. I won't go there. I already did. Never mind. Forgive us, people. It's been a long day.

All right, Third, Third, little sound bite here.

Actually folded. Folded a Subway sandwich shop. It's part of your origin story. It's fascinating, but really the victory of your story is that you turned this all around. You won an amazing contest. Tell us what year that happened and how that came about.

Yeah, well, I bombed in 1992. My first time on stage at a Boston comedy club. Fast forward to 2001. I outspoke 25,000 contestants from 14 countries to become the world champion of public speaking.

Wow.

So, like, that little kid, like, had his moment.

Yeah.

And, like, making people laugh and just walking off stage, I was just like, bam. I didn't even know I had won. But I got that feeling that I dreamed of. And I think a lot of people, they have that dream, but then they let that little inner critic talk themselves out of it.

So, mark, that was 32 seconds.

32 seconds, yeah, right here on my watch, man. 32 seconds. Yeah.

And notice that now she asked for. She set me up for. Well, how did you turn that around? Like, you know that she knows storytelling. Also, she. She dropped the little. The little knowledge from origin story.

Origin story. I heard that. Yeah, she did that. Yeah.

Which people in business, storytelling in business, they know that, that phrase, the origin story.

Now, real quick, Darren, that part of the conversation, you hinted at this earlier, but maybe it needs to be revisited slightly. You said you met with the interviewers before you went on air. And I know some people will say, you know, I was told be it studio at 5:45. It was a 6:00 clock show. You know, you got to put you in makeup. But help us to understand the value and the power of that conversation with the interviewer before you even go on camera.

Yeah, a lot of makeup, by the way. Just kidding.

Get the shine off all the forehead.

By the way, note to self, make sure you have the right address for the news building. I ended up at the employee entrance and I was like, no. So they wouldn't let me in there. But just know that there's going to be secret entrances because there are people that they need.

Had to have security to keep out.

So obviously. But going back to your question, we had a phone conversation, a couple phone conversations. We had a few email exchanges. Showing the visual. So they showed the visual of me bombing. Showing the visual of me winning. Again, part of storytelling, the sound bite. I could tell you a lot about the contest, however, I only had 32 seconds. So what are you going to say? And I think a lot of speakers, a lot of presenters, you know, they have an hour. They have plenty of time when you can start thinking and editing and sound bites. You're going to know what are the key moments in your story that's going to help you tell your story. Those moments are sound bites. Those moments are sound bites.

And having that interview. Interview. But having the conversation with them beforehand. Also, you can almost tell where the segment is going. What's also interesting, Darren, is, you know, I didn't have a chance every time I went to a studio to sit down with the interviewer before. If it's a morning news show, they've got weather going on and they got a new story going on, human interest story. Then they come tell me, you Sit there and they mic up and you go. You are fortunate enough to have that conversation beforehand with them. And if you can, friends always have that conversation. Nothing different from preparing for a presentation with the meeting planner. You want to have that conversation. Sometimes you'll do a TV program or a radio program, and you don't have time to sit with them and go through it. But if you send in advance what your key talking points are, if you're going to use your 5 bullet point graphic beforehand and they'll ask for that, it gives you an advantage. But no matter what you do, you want to make sure the material you bring from all the wisdom you have needs to be condensed down to sound bites. Darren just said you got to think and edit in sound bites, which really becomes one of the most difficult parts of this. But if you do it well, you can be effective in three to five minutes and memorable on the platform known as a radio or TV interview set.

Yeah, thanks, Mark. I showed just one more clip. This isn't the whole thing, but one more clip. And again, just notice the brevity. So they ask a question. I answer in 42 seconds.

You've been able to overcome that inner voice, that inner critic, Right. And now you're inspiring so many others, right. With this system. 17 minutes to your dream. You kind of figured out a way to do it. Tell us about that.

Well, I think the thing that challenges most people is, number one, the inner critic. So they don't even start, and you can't get the dream without starting. But more importantly, they don't have momentum. And that's what I learned from my first dream, is that it's that consistency that all of a sudden a breakthrough happens and you don't see it coming. You don't see it coming. Bam, there it is. So it's not about, you know, you know, Vinny, when I walked off stage that first night, he's like, don't quit your day job. And in fact, that's what I'm saying is don't quit your day job. But this strategy is something that worked from my first big, crazy dream that I'm applying now, that if we could just put that 17 minutes a day in.

All right, Mark, your thoughts, man.

I tell you in 40 seconds, 42 seconds, you talked about how you started. You said, you have to have momentum, you have to have to have consistency, and eventually you'll get the breakthrough. In that 42 seconds, you had some key words. The start, momentum, breakthrough, consistency. And in a short period of time, you're Planting ideas, key ideas that are connected to your book and your message. In that brief answer, I don't know if you rehearsed saying all those four words, but the point is, because it was done so, so effectively, I found them memorable. And that's the idea, friends. If you want to be remembered, repeated, you want to be unforgettable, you got to choose the right words and the right sound bites are going to make the audience remember you and hopefully, more importantly, want to hear more from you and purchase your book, your service, whatever it is you provide to bring value to their existence.

Yeah, we'll show one more real quick. The last one. And this is me trying to say what the book's about. So I'm trying to get it across in 45 seconds when the host literally goes down the coffee table, picks up the book, and like, what are people gonna get from this? And for everyone, if you're watching this and you get on the media, you have to be able to say this succinctly. What's, you know, what's the benefit?

The book is called 17 Minutes to youo Dream. And so you, you have really kind of capsulated some of these, some of these lessons that you have learned that led you to win that contest and really gone on to, to have your career, like, blossom around it. What can people learn from this book?

Well, it's a simple, proven strategy that anyone can use whatever your dream is to get those breakthroughs. See, once you get a breakthrough, then all of a sudden you're different. You have a different self identity. That critic shuts up just a little bit more. He's still there. And then there's naysayers in your life who they may mean well or not. But if we can realize that that naysayer is just a test to see.

If you're serious, you know, if we.

Can reframe it as I got to pass this test. You know, the heck with the SATs, this is a life test. So if I can pass that. But it's that consistency that truly pays off. It worked in my first big crazy dream, and now I'm working on another big, crazy dream, and I'm using this strategy myself.

Yeah, Mark, if I could get rid of the nose, I could have done it in 43 seconds.

Well, you know what I found about this too? Excuse me. You mentioned proven strategy, breakthroughs, naysayers, life test, if you're serious, consistency. And twice towards the end, big crazy dream, which is a part of what you focus on in your book. 17 minutes to your Dream. So twice you said big crazy dream and you repeated the idea of breakthroughs and consistency. So in a very short period of time, you've laid the groundwork. Ideas, concepts. When you say life test, that resonates. Consistency, strategy. I mean, I hope you're hearing this, audience members and friends, I hope you're hearing how in a very short window of time, Darren applies key words in his sound bites to generate curiosity, interest and also provide some idea and guidance of the benefit and value of his book for those who are watching as well. So I think it was very well done, Darren, in terms of understanding the limitations of time, but being able to say the right words in sound bites, phrases and sentences and, you know, just the way you juxtapose, put the words together to get a message across. And the lesson for me and for everyone watching or listening is to really think about what Darren said at the beginning of the podcast. You take your massive content and how do you edit that down into small bites that have the impact to generate thought, conversation, interest and value? Because we can always go and do a half an hour, one hour speech. We have time, as Darren says, but to take the key ideas and condense them down. He says, always think in edit mode when you're going to deal with the medium known as the media, Darren.

Yeah, and the more I gave this presentation, I did it many webinars during COVID to almost figure it out, work out the sound bites. And it was what I heard back from people, even people who are toastmasters. Here's what they thought and felt as a listener. That's good information. What was sticky? So there was a lot of effort to be able to figure out what my sound bites were, to be able to. At the beginning of writing the book, it was big dream. It's been done before crazy. And so I wanted something that was stickier. So eventually I created big crazy ridiculous dream because people have heard of big hairy, audacious goals or whatever.

Yeah, the Bee hags.

Yeah, look, the Bhags. Okay, that became a thing. Why? Because it was sticky. So I needed to create my own thing, my own sound bites, but my own phrase. And it took a while, so it took a while to be able to put this together. And for you listening to this, here's my recommendation. Take some of these questions or what would an anchor ask you? And time yourself. See if you can't answer in 30 to 45 seconds. And 45 is a little bit long, by the way. If you can answer it in 30 seconds as well, it can be very helpful. It's a different kind of training. However, when you get on media, that's a different kind of platform. So. And by the way, it was cool that I could take this one clip and turn it into four or five TikToks because. Because of the sound bites.

Sound bites, exactly right, yeah.

So test yourself, answer and see, record your answer. But also watch the timer and see how you do. And it's going to take a few times but then you'll be media ready. And by the way, now those sound bites, now you can put them back in your speech as well and they'll probably stand out more. Understanding. What's your punch phrase that you need to land on? Mark Brown, take us home.

I do want to reinforce that. I had never thought that you could take a sound bite from the speech and use it in media. I mean, I would be looking for some bites for, you know, TikTok or a little clip on LinkedIn or Facebook or YouTube. But literally you, you strategically take the time to time yourself and it's key, friends, if you think media is in, is in anywhere in the near future for you, you want to time yourself. So you want to make sure you make the producers and the interviewers happy to say you were a great guests because you have done that kind of work. Think about this. What sound bites can I create? Not just my catchphrases or my foundational phrases, but what sound bites can I give that provide the best value from my presentation should I ever get to the media? So start to think about the best bits that you have and you can then bring to the table and share with your listening and viewing audience. You do that and chances are you will be unforgettable.

See you next week.

See you next week.

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