Ep. 157 What Do You Do with Your Story Folder?

Hey, Darren Lacroix. How are you, my friend?

I'm doing great. I have been shocked, shocked. One of our friends, one of our clients, we won't mention any names, missed the connection between the story file. Like, we've trained some people to build the story file. Build it, build it, build it, build it. But then we never really got super clear on what do you do with it. And we've changed our philosophy. It's no longer a story file.

We now teach a story folder.

Anyone can give a presentation. Few deliver unforgettable presentations. What's the difference? You're about to find out. Welcome to the Unforgettable Presentations podcast 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 powerful presentation. Ahas. Let's dive right in.

All right, Mark, first of all, let's define folders. So we used to say start a story file. Whether you're using that Ed tate uses, right? OneNote, Evernote. OneNote. I use old school. Word Document. It doesn't matter.

Paper and pencil, like me.

Paper and pencil. That's older school. I use Word Document. That's old school. But it doesn't matter. It matters. The tool that you use is the one that you use, the one that you used to open it up and searching. You know, we do want to make things searchable for sure, but. But we now teach create a story folder. Because sometimes a picture might happen and it strikes you and you're like, that's a story there. Throw it in your folder. Throw it in your folder. Throw it in your folder. Maybe it's a PDF, a infographic that you created or somebody else created and you can use with permission. Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe. Whatever your maybe is, make it the new habit to throw it in your folder. Throw it in your folder, Throw it in your folder. So it's not just word documents now. It's PDFs, it's JPEGs, a pic that you took. Or. Or if you do video. Yeah.

Short video.

Yeah, even better. That's like very Darren esque.

Yeah. No, I was actually surprised you didn't mention that, my friend.

Duh. Because I use them all the time, but not everyone does. And it's okay. We're not trying to tell you. Here's how to do it. What's your format? But even if you don't use the picture, if there's a Copyright issue, why you don't use it. It might remind you of a moment and, and you tell us about that moment. But make no mistake, it's no longer a story file, It's a story folder. And then, Mark, working with one of our clients, it dawned on me. We conditioned people to create the folder, but for this client, we neglected to bridge that gap. What do I do with it? Because this person was a Toastmaster and they weren't telling the stories from the folder. And our friend, our client said, I'm doing story. I said, what was the last story you did? You know, testing new material at Toastmasters. And she said it was about ketchup. And I was like, ketchup. Now, ketchup could be a great metaphor, don't get me wrong. However, in this case it was, hey, she was doing her stage time. She was getting up there. But what we are reminding you the reason for this episode. It reminded me that we've got to encourage you to go through on a regular basis that story folder and test, test new material. You want to be unforgettable. You don't know the value in some of your own stories. One of the things that I really like about the 77 day video challenge is, okay, you don't have an audience. You've got a phone, you've got an audience, pick up the phone, do a stage time live, do a Facebook live, Insta Live, a YouTube Live, and see what you get from reactions. If all of a sudden you're doing some videos and you get one or two of your friends that comment, and then there's a story you told that you didn't really know what the message was and boom, you get 32 comments. That should be an indicator. Ooh, I should go deeper on this. This could be unforgettable because the germ of it is already sticky, is already relatable. That was my favorite. Aha. I didn't see coming out of the challenges. People were forced to test more material because they just needed to test something else. They needed to talk about something else. So I think you'll discover if you make it a new habit, whether it's on stage, at a Toastmasters Club, on a live environment, on social media, a social media platform that you are going to discover, I guarantee you will discover some value in stories. And you didn't even see there.

Yeah. And you mentioned briefly a key point here. Garen, you dumb live video. I don't want to do live video. One of our clients, her first live, she forgot to shut it off. Properly. And she was saying, oh, it's going to be terrible. And she kept it in the video. But as Darren said, you may find 10, 15, 30, 40 comments. Our friend and fellow world champion Craig Valentine says your audience helps you write your speech. Those comments, as Darren indicated those, those comments telling you you are talking about something that is interesting to us. It's now becomes your responsibility and Darren loves this to go deeper. Maybe you talked a little bit about it. I got to fill in a time. I'll do a one minute video. There it is. And you told a story. You're getting all these comments. What your audience is tacitly silently saying to you is, who? What's that really about? We want to know more. And what you may not realize is by taking the story and going deeper, you're giving the audience a chance to get to know you a little better. Your life, your experience, how did you handle that? What was your response? And those answers, which you hopefully will provide later, are the tools your audience just may need to get through what they're going through. So a story told in that video format, or even something you write, when you get comments, it's important to look at the comments. Now, some may be negative comments, but those two can tell you something because it means you can adjust the dimensions of your story. I'm focused too much on this part of my story. And somebody may even ask you about a character in your story who was in passing and you say, wait, they want to know about that character. Oh my goodness, that character really could be a central character. One of our clients, Darren, who's actually competing in Toastmasters semifinals next Thursday, had come for a story dig one day in our Stage Time weekly webinar about Tori. And in our conversation she mentioned the character. And I said, well, tell me more about this person. And within two minutes she said, on the, on the call, you know what? It's really about her, isn't it? I said, yes, it is. But you've got to take the story and test it. Either in the post, as Darren said, or as he also said, go to your Toastmasters meeting now. If you're not a Toastmaster, I will tell you this. A Toastmasters Club is a wonderful learning laboratory and training ground. Now, other people have done this. They have taken their stories and during time with their co workers and their associates, they don't say, hey friends, I want to try out a story with you. Can you tell me what you think? But instead in conversation, oh, that reminds me of a time when I was like 17 years old. I was playing ball in high school. And here comes your story. And you look for their faces, reaction. You look for the aha. You look for the ooh. These are ways you can take your story, test them in unique ways, but get information from your potential audiences about what is working well, what may need tweaked to be tweaked, and what is absolutely must stay in that story every time you tell it. So it's key to do that not just with the video, but also with other stories that you tell.

Yeah, Mark, you said it. Take it and test it. Take it and test it. Take it and test it. I love the idea, Mark. I hadn't thought of this before we sat down. Is test it in a conversation. You remember the CEO that I coached, and he was testing his comedy in conversations, but test it in a conversation, and we're looking for that Scooby Doo factor where you're telling it. Somebody goes. And that is. Tell me more. Is telling you. It's compelling. Ooh, I want to know more. You've got me. What? Really? Those are the insights we're looking for. That's the testing. And like you said, Toastmasters is a great testing ground as well. So you got Toastmasters, you got Conversations, but the whole point is, you build your story file, they won't come. Dig into your computer to open your file. If you build the folder, they will not come. You need to bring the folder to the people.

Yeah. Darren, you mentioned that the idea of bringing what's on the folder to the people. Please be clear on this. We're not saying you must take up the paper, physically print out your story, and then go deliver it, but the story folder is really for your ideas. And in that story folder, there may be a photograph or a jpeg, as Darren says. Right. Or, Jeff, what do we call those files? Those file extensions? Yeah. But there may be one photograph, and that photograph triggers a story. You can then you really get to work on that story. I mentioned in a previous podcast a picture of my brother and me from 1971, black and white. And I don't even know why I showed Darren to do the stretch Awards. But through Darren's response to that picture, I can now use that photograph and the story the photograph represents because his response is telling me there is more to this than you realize. And I want to bring that back full circle to the client you mentioned. Did they have more than they realized but didn't even see it?

Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think you listening to this, you have more in your story folder than you realize you have gold in there. We've talked about this in the past, but I really want to emphasize we're talking about test it every week. Every week at least test one or two new stories. What we're looking for, we're not asking you to write it out. What we're looking for is for you to test it to see and discover what is worth developing.

What is worth developing. And sometimes that may come from your mobile device. I know we always talk about pictures, but sometimes it's a little video, right? It's a little video you recorded. And I have a story I'm gonna have to work on, Darren, because on Sunday I went to my old church for a friend's 80th birthday celebration and I saw my friend, I'll call him Jake. And Jake posts in the next door app, a neighborhood app every once in a while about, you know, physical health and mental health and emotional health and spiritual health and so on and the dynamic of being in a family and being husband and wife. We were talking about how Andrea and I, we share chores. You know, we don't call them chores, we just do what gotta get done. We're empty nesters if the washing machine goes off. I take care of laundry. And I was doing laundry yesterday and I just got my phone and I propped it up by the ironing board and I recorded myself pulling out laundry and I said, hey Jake, I told you I do laundry. Here's evidence. I got no problem doing that. It's a 20 second video but I am pretty sure that 20 second video is going to be used at least. The video is a trigger for a story I have in mind about. Honestly, I'm going to reveal some truth here. I'm considering doing a short series of videos just about what marriage is like after 40 years. It sounds funny to me when I'm collecting these little, these little sound bites, these little stories, little videos and I don't know when it's going to be ready but I know potentially it is material there that may be of interest. People say, hey mark, you're married 40 plus years. What's your secret? A video is a trigger that I can then use as part of the story to get to create a larger message. So a little video clip, it could be something in the yard you saw, but the video is a trigger for a lesson that the story provides. But you have to one, catalog them. Two, go back and review your story folder with some degree of frequency. And number three, as Darren says, test a new one at least once a week. And it doesn't have to be in a Toastmasters meeting. It could be with your coworkers at work. It could be in conversation with your family. I find a great way to test stories out, Darren. Test material is that family get togethers. It's summertime in some parts of North America now. School is starting. I mean, in Georgia, we began school August 1st. I think private schools start tomorrow, which are recording on August 9th right now. But this is the last family barbecue before you go. My family and I are going on vacation next week. We will, you know, we're going to be together for the first time in many, many months because my kids are in California, Virginia and Maryland. We're going to get together. You don't think we're going to have stories being told when we get together? Oh, yeah. And get this, if you think about it, friends, I know I'm babbling here, but please get this. Family get togethers are great opportunities to tell stories, but they're even greater opportunities to collect stories. Family get togethers are great ways to tell stories, but it's the optimal opportunity to collect stories. Think about it. Some of the funniest stories or where the stories you have are from your family get together at Thanksgiving, at Christmas, at holidays, at barbecues, on family trip vacations. Trust me, that's a. What's a gold miner stories. So bring your mobile device, get some candid video, get some photographs and sometimes just sit back and listen and laugh and say, oh, this is going to be a great story one day. Because anybody who knows me knows whenever I deliver a presentation, keynote, even corporate, there's always a story about my family. 99.9% of the time I tell a family story. So the materials is there for the taking. Catalog it, but you gotta use it. Don't go back and go, gotta dust this off. I haven't seen one in 19 years. They're abundant. Let us use them to inspire our audiences. Friends, your stories are out there, man.

You're out there until you test it. You don't truly know where the gold is. You don't. And when you look at your story file or in your story folder, each time you look, just make it your goal to just choose one story and go test it. And the one that resonates with you that day, don't overthink it. Just say, oh, that could be interesting. And by the way, Mark, you said using stories, testing it at family reunions and things like that could also be like a perfect, perfect strategy for an Introvert. What do I talk about?

Here you go.

Here's your material. And a server at a restaurant could also be somebody you could test material on. They're paid to listen to you.

The bartenders certainly seem to be too.

There you go. There you go. And we were going to make this episode even longer, but we figure if we make this short and sound bitey, that gives you another. Yeah, it gives you another 30 minutes to go look at your story folder.

Not only that, if the concept is brand new to you, we invite you to start building your story folder today. That is the stories that come to mind. And I'm going to invest an extra minute on this because if you're brand new, this is gold for you. If you're familiar with this, bear with me. Okay? But there are a couple of things that you can do to instantly find stories. One is to look at the seasons of your life. Your early childhood. What was that? What do you remember of your early childhood? If you know Darren Lacroix, you'll notice, particularly in the last year or so, he's using more photographs of when he was a child in those really cool flippers, sitting on the duck by the duck egg. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Keep going.

Okay. Right. Your early childhood.

Do.

What do you recall in your elementary school years? What about middle school for somebody was scary. Middle school was awful. But there may be value in your middle school experience or junior high experience. What was high school like? What was your college years like? Your first job. Right. These are all seasons of your life that all have stories with them. And one of my old concepts I'll share with you you can ever known you want after this, it's best and worst, last and first. Just working alone. My best boss, My worst boss. My last boss. My first boss. My best job. My worst job. My last job. My first job. Best and worst, last and first. Just those two concepts alone will reveal to you stories you can tell. Now you add to that, you may be, as Darren says, an image you have or you've seen on your phone. It could be a PDF that somebody wants to share with you. It could be an infographic you created or was shared with you by somebody who loves infographics. Like my friend Florian in Germany, loves infographics graphics in Barcelona. Okay, so PDF infographic image on your own mobile device. Your. Your photographs, your short video clips, all of these. And get this. I want to add something else to your story folder that we've never ever talked about. Think about this. Music clips. And here's why Music has significance to each of us. If I say Darren Lacroix unrehearsed. If I say A Rocky theme to you, what comes to mind?

Simply the Best by Tina Turner as well as the Getting Stronger, which is what I listened to just before I walked out into the world championship stage.

Exactly. So that music triggered for Darren a memory of what he experienced preparing for the day of his life on the stage of his life that transformed his life. So what does that music trigger for you? If someone says Lionel Richie, Endless Love, I remember that was my song at my wedding more than 40 years ago. So what music clip creates a memory in your mind of an experience that could be a lesson you share with your audience. That's how you build a story folder. And Darren, I gotta share that with our crew on Wednesday night, our next meeting, because it just occurred to me today that could be one piece, just a song title or the actual audio clip, however you compose your folder. But you've got to build it, you've got to go to it every single week, make it a habit. And that's how you're going to build unforgettable stories.

Amen. And Mark, who's going to take the videos of you guys napping after 40.

Years, we could do a timer timer and record.

There you go. Just kidding. I love naps. So I hope this has given you some insight. Fill it, test it and then develop the ones worth testing. If you do this, your story files is never going to grow old. It's just going to grow better and deeper. Also check out family albums when you go back and visit family and friends. And the cool part is you could just take a picture of the picture and then boom, you've got a memory, a story and you're one step closer to being unforgettable. See you next week.

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