Ep. 171 Seven Steps to an Engaging Introduction

Hey there, Mark. I noticed that there are a lot of professional speakers out there, even people who, let's say, been around for a while, as well as emerging speakers who kind of. They don't set up the listening and they neglect their introduction. I was super disappointed seeing somebody who's been around the industry longer than me and having a hearing, a conversation and he didn't really take the introduction seriously. I'm like, no. And you have a position of influence. It broke my heart. So I know we've talked about this. If you've listened to our podcast, we've done an episode about this before, but setting up the introduction, Mark, you have a seven step process and I thought that would be perfect for this. What are your thoughts?

Well, you know what? I believe we can set up our success if we write our own introduction.

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.

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Ready for some powerful presentation? Ahas, let's dive right in.

So, Mark, setting up the listening, we can't neglect this. It's so critical and so important. Yeah, you have bad introductions and you can overcome that with an amazing opening and great presentation. But Mark, what I love is that people just need a process to follow. They don't necessarily know how to write an engaging introduction. So I thought this would be so cool. You wrote an article about this. If you want to check out Mark's article, go to Mark brownspeaks.com we will put the link into the notes section by all means, but you can always just go to markbrownspeaks.com, set up your success with your introduction. Seven steps. Seven steps. Follow the process.

Yeah. Appreciate that, Darren. And please understand why this is important. Because very often we don't realize what we want to do is we want the people to like us, to know us, to love us, to be ready for us. And what we often do is drop in our, you know, what we call a CV in English based countries? You know, our resume. We want them to know all our credentials. And there is a place for your credentials in the introduction. But the intro need not be just a laundry list of where you went to school, how many degrees you got, when you got married in your favorite sport. You want to do when you go hiking in the middle of winter in Antarctica. That sounds like interesting, but for the purposes of serving your audience well, you want, as Darren says, to set up the listening. And I have a simple seven step process I'm going to go through real quickly. But you'll see what I do. You will see why I do it and why it has worked for me. All right, Darren, for me the first thing is the audience wants to know, know why you are there. It's like why am I getting Darren LACROIX Talk about 50, 70 minutes to your dream. Why am I getting him here to talk to me? First of all, you want to speak to the purpose. Speak to the purpose. Why are you there for that audience at that time on that day with that message? And once you set up the reason why you're there, you want the audience to be leaning in before you even say a word. Right. And you can't even, you can even tell that story through a video. But you're, but you're opening your, your introduction has to set up the listening. So number one, speak to the purpose of why you were there. And Darren, I know you have done various different kinds of audiences from corporate humor to franchises to everything in between. And some of them were humor, some of them were teaching, some of them were inspirational. And you had to make sure your introduction clue the audience in as to why we're going to get Darren Lacro Joy for this purpose. And we all can do that.

Yeah. And by the way, we're right on his website if you want to read it. He goes through it. He gives you an example as well. Now we're talking a sentence or two for each of these. We're not talking a paragraph for each of the steps to be clear, but novel. If you don't tell people or you gone into an organization, they ask you for your bio and they're really asking for an introduction as well. So the bio in their mind serves two purposes. One, put it on the conference convention thing and then that's how they're going to introduce you. Well, a bio is written for a different purpose and I have a different introduction for each of my keynotes. So if I'm there to inspire, that's one opening line in the introduction. If I'm there to teach them on the stage, that's another. If I'm there for better stories, better business, I talk about the importance and the purpose, purpose of story. So just know that it's each one of your presentations. If you have different needs, its own Introduction. So again, Mark, go back to number one, speak to the purpose. What do you mean by that?

Well, the thing is, you're there for an event, to fill a role, to fulfill a role. You could be an opening keynote, to get the audience bound up. You could be there to deliver an educational or to be informative. But if you know why you were there, and if they know why you are there, that gives them a reason to lean in and listen, right? Your intro should tell them why you are the right person at that time for that. For that purpose. So you have to speak to the purpose. Some call it naming the problem or the issue, but they have to know why you are there. After that, you can share your credentials. Okay. Okay. We're here to discuss an issue, a concern with our leadership or our communication, how to build our business. Okay, that's an issue. We know that what's going on. But then we want to know your credentials, because now we want to know why you are qualified to address the issue. So credentials come in second, not first. Number one is speak to the purpose. The number two is share your credentials, because now they know that you are imminently qualified to address the issue they're dealing with. So now again, another reason to lean in. That's where your credentials are helpful. And again, do not list your whole resume, but the important parts of your life and experience that uniquely qualify you to serve that audience in that way at that time.

Nice. All right, let's go to number three.

Number three. Now here comes showing the experience. So one, fix it. A purpose to share the credentials. Three, show the experience. Now, experience and credentials are not quite the same thing, right? I can give you a list of my qualifications that I've done. Yes, I've got these awards and I may have earned a credential, but the experience is what have you done in the field regarding that particular subject matter that qualifies you to share the experience you have? So you aren't just delivering concept, idea and principles. Here's a cool part. It gives you the room to share the stories in your presentation that verify your experience. And now your speech goes from just a speech delivered to an experience they have connected to your life, your stories, your anecdotes that gives them an experience. And your introduction by saying share, show your experience. It sets them up to receive all of that. They'll get the concept, they'll get the idea, they'll get the principles, but they'll get your experience as well. And we want to hear, oh, they did that. I want to know how they did it.

And Mark, in the article, you talk about what's the difference between credentials and experience? And you said so brilliantly and eloquently, credentials says I've learned it, experience says I've done it. Big difference.

That's it. That's it. That's the whole idea of showing the experience. Because let's be honest, friends, if we're really being honest, there have been times we have had found ourselves in an audience where a speaker was very highly qualified with credentials, and it could give you all the principles, the ideas, the concept, it's all there. But they didn't have experience to really back that up, to make it come alive to you as an audience member. And if you can remember that, I urge you, I beg you, don't be that person. Right? But whatever experience you have, show that experience as well. Because the audience, they do want to hear you, but they also want to get to know you. And your experience gives them another reason to lean in, listen, take notes, and receive what you work so hard to deliver to them. That's point number three. Show your experience.

All right, then number four, set the expectation.

Yes. You want the audience almost salivating. I know. Darren, I love your technique. With the expectation, you say in the next 59 minutes you're going to walk away with three ideas. So right away the audience knows in the next 59 minutes, we're going to have three insights, three keys, three ideas, three principles, three actionable strategies. So now I know what's coming. You have set my expectation and I am ready to receive it. That's simple, but it's key to know what's going to come. And the intro will say, Darren will share with us from his X number of years traveling the world, he'll share with us his ideas he has learned and put into practice, and it helped him become that idea. We know they're going to know we're going to hear his ideas, but they set the expectation. They know what to expect and the value they will receive from you when you deliver your presentation.

All right, so number four again, set the expectation. Number five, say the speech title.

I know that sounds kind of odd in some to some people, but see, what a speech title does is it reinforces exactly why you are there. It also has the introducer giving your speech title for you, basically boosting you in the minds of the audience before they even hear you speak. And the title is important because it should speak to, to the audience's need. So get this, they get the setup of value coming and the title reinforces, hey, that's exactly what my team needs. That's what our company is looking for. That's why we are here. So it's almost reinforces to them that, yes, I have invested the time to prepare a presentation that's going to serve your needs. I know many of us will say, well, look, I've got a canned presentation. I worked on it, it works. It's really, really good and I can use it for audiences. But if your title is designed to meet the needs of your audience, that's the key thing. I did a keynote recently, Darren, a virtual keynote for a couple of company in the Midwest. And their whole idea for their supervisor symposium was to emphasize leading with care. Any idea what my speech title was for that keynote, Darren? Take a wild guess. Leading with care. And I had the introducer weave that into the introduction so they know, hey, that's our topic. And it tells the audience something else you are willing and ready to customize to meet their need. It's their title, it's their conference theme, it's their topic, it's their theme for the year. Use that in the title to show them you care about them and customize your remarks to prove that you care about them. The idea of the title in the speech, in the, in the speech introduction is not a small thing. It's one more reinforcement of their message, but proof how much you care about their message.

All right, number six, Mark, seek the applause. What?

Yes. As an introducer, you're almost like an emcee. You are setting up the speaker who has come to your organization to present. So it's helpful for the introducer to invite the audience. Please help me welcome certified speaking professional accredited speaker, world champion of public speaking, Darren Lacroix. Please help me welcome that invites the audience into the experience, physically helps them get ready for what you have to say and they're now part of the whole experience. Isn't a gimmick what it does? The introduction is supposed to not only set you up to present, but prepare the audience to receive. And by asking them to help with the welcome, you're telling the audience, we want you to be a part of the experience of this presentation. A small but very helpful piece.

And then Mark, number seven, state the name.

Yes. And if you'd like to be called by a certain name, use that name. If your name is Robert and you want to be called Bob, use the name you want them to say so say, please help me welcome Darren Lacroix. Right? If you have a, if you have a Handle, so to speak. If your handle is the Umph Master, please help me welcome the Umph Master. Humphrey Dumfry. Right, I made that up on the fly, Darren. I can't help it. But if that is how you want the audience to remember you, have them say the name. The audience wants to know who is speaking. Yes, but here's the cool part. Your name being stated there is also your cue to take the platform in the way that you see fit. And sometimes that could be on your video. But you know, when you hear please help me welcome Mark Brown, that's when you hit the stage. And depending on your method of taking the stage, you could be simply coming on to speak. You could have a prepared activity that takes place or cue music. I'm not sure what it is, but that is your cue to take the stage and to give the audience everything you have worked so hard to prepare and deliver for them. So it's very simple having your name there. This is also the last thing in the introduction. They're going to remember the name. Hopefully you'll be unforgettable so they won't forget you.

Right, Darren Badum Bum. So Mark, you also in your article you say one more thing which I think is critical, especially if you're new or emerging. Or maybe you need the reminder. We always want to send the intro to the emcee to the event planner as a PDF. And Mark, why is a PDF?

Because you may, you may think, okay, I'll do a word doc, I'll send it over by email, no worries. Easy peasy. Word docs can be edited unless you password protect them and then you go through all the process of giving them a password or read. Only you can do that, but a PDF is safer. There's a less of a risk of someone editing it inadvertently or not so inadvertently. Now, I don't think anybody would want to do that, but why risk it? Just send the PDF over and it's wise to send that to your introducer and maybe to your meeting planner as well. Then also bring a printed copy with you when you get to the event in case something happens and somebody forgot to print something or got picked up with a bunch of papers on the lectern because somebody was nervous and they took everything off of lectern and your introducer goes, okay, well we got a guest here and I think it's Darren the Cray. No, Avoid the potential of mistakes and mishaps. So print a PDF, create a PDF and send it over to your meeting planner and to your Introducer. If you can even connect with the introducer before, have a conversation with them and make sure did you receive the PDF right? Everything clear. Great, excellent. I'll see you at the event and I'll meet with you before. Just make sure you have any questions. Communication. But oh, what a difference. Here's the cool part. It also shows to the meeting planner your professionalism that you take one more item off their plate. And Darren, I'm going to ask you to speak to this because you've been advocating being the favorite of the meeting planner. How does having that intro and that conversation help you in that relationship and ultimately the audience in your experience?

Well, it just, it gives them the guideline to go by to set up the listing. Now, they don't always read it right. And by the way, Mark, I put in yellow highlight in parentheses my cell phone number so that if the introducer has a question, they can call me. Mark, as you know, sometimes the person is more nervous about their two minute intro of you than you are of the whole speech. And so I've had people like literally read my cell phone number to the whole audience. Like, no, it's in parentheses. And Mark, I agree with and I often forget this and I shouldn't have a conversation about how to pronounce your name because you know, you don't want Mark Brown.

Lacroix. You got that right, Lacroix, haven't you?

When I'm in Montreal, I get Lacroix in Montreal. In Paris, you got Lacroix. Nothing wrong with that. To them, that's how they see it. In United States we say La Croix. And by the way, if you do have a challenging to pronounce name, put it in parentheses. Put the, you know, how do you pronounce it? Pronounced colon. And make it simple. If you want to be their favorite, you want to make them look like a rock star, not have to ask you any other questions. It's good for you to ask them questions. But is there anything else you need? What else can we do but just having it in? Mark, you had said brought a, bring a copy in your article. And I always say bring two copies because I've had it happen before where the introducer goes up there and they're practicing the emcee, they put their notes down on the lectern, they do their thing and then the CEO comes up and gives his presentations. He comes and puts his note down on the lectern, does his thing, then grabs all of the notes and walks off with the introduction. So I always, you know, and some of my presentations I do over and over again. So I'll recycle them, I'll use them again. Unless it's customized, of course, but it's just in the moment. I also have it on a thumb drive, the PDF on a thumb drive. Even though I sent it to them. You just got to realize that a lot of places, associations, they have volunteer people who work for them or somebody who's just overwhelmed and stressed and just be prepared. We know we do this all the time, they don't.

Yeah, sorry. Two more things I just said that story about the thumb drive. I was doing a full day program doing three talks in South Carolina some time ago and the introducer, I had sent intros by by email and I asked, do you have the intro I sent? And they said, oh, you know, they pulled out their tablet and said, hey, can you just email it to me again? And happily I had it on my phone. So I simply sent it to them by phone. It was on their tablet and they read from the tablet to introduce me. That was convenient. I don't want you to say, well, you know, I'm going to save paper and maybe you can. But in my article I do say get two copies. And there's one more thing. I don't want you to miss that. Darren just said sometimes the introducer is more worried and concerned or nervous about their one minute intro than you are about your one hour presentation. And I've had cases where I told the meeting planner who said, I got the introducer on the line with us. Let's talk about this. Well, listen, don't worry, I'm gonna send you both PDF copies of my introduction and I got this. Oh, great. Yeah. And I was thinking I had to go to the website and get to get all this stuff about you. I was gonna research and look on the Internet. And if you let someone go play on the Internet with what is out there about you and me, you never know what they're gonna find or they find some great tidbit that somebody wrote about, you know, article in India. I don't want to include that. No, you want to govern what happens. You want to guide the audience to an expectation and a setup that leaves them salivating. They can't wait to hear from you. So yes, bring two copies. Yes, communicate very clearly with the meeting planner and the introducer. Be available to answer their questions, become their favorite. Because when they say, you know what, oh, thank you, Mark. I didn't know what it's going to do. No worry I've got it covered. Oh, thank you. Great. I can almost hear them go, ah, that's a sigh of relief. One less thing for them to concern themselves with because, Darren, you can probably briefly address this. Sometimes inexperienced meeting planners, when they assign someone to present the introduction, that isn't the only concern they have there. I call them at times octopi. I think octopi is the right word. They've got eight different things on their minds, and sometimes the introducer is the mc and I got to go to everyone of show and. And they're new at this and they're kind of frazzled. And the last thing they want is one more complication because Mr. Or Ms. Or whatever you wish to call yourself, prima donna speaker comes up and just tells them, hey, introduce me. It's actually a sign of respect for them as well, to make their life as easy as possible. All right.

Yeah. And they have so many things coming out, even the experienced ones. They have people who are attendees and, let's just say, aren't as positive as most of the world. And then you get fire alarms. You got the food and the concerns from the food, the number of chairs. There's just so much. So it's our job, since we do this over and over again, to do whatever we can to simplify. And in the midst of all that chaos, we don't want to have to panic because they could tell you they have the introduction all set, and then you get there and now they lost it, they misplaced it. So have one with you that then the problem is solved. Be prepared.

I like that. Panic proof your introduction. I like that. Panic proof it.

Introduction. All right, so, Mark, let's give them an example from your article again, which I think is awesome. So you might be wondering exactly what this means. So let's go with so number one, which is speak to the purpose. And Mark, your introduction says, have you ever noticed.

Now, by the way, the topic here, the issue here is about platform mastery. I'm teaching skills to presenters on how to really shine on stage and online. So I begin. Have them begin with, have you ever noticed some presenters struggle on stage while others truly shine? Do you ever wish you knew their secrets? Well, here's some good news. Help has arrived. So, one, the purpose.

Number two, share the credentials.

In 1995, Mark Brown outspoke more than 20,000 international contestants to win the world championship of public speaking. Since then, he has dedicated himself to achieving excellence on the platform and to helping others do the same.

Number three, show the experience as a.

Professional speaker and executive speaking coach. He has mastered the simple yet powerful techniques that have served him and his fellow professional speakers for decades. The same techniques that he teaches to emerging speakers, corporate CEOs and experienced professionals. Number four, set the expectation during this highly interactive program. He'll pull back the curtain and reveal proven strategies that will help you to command the stage and master the platform.

Number five, say the speech title for.

His program entitled Platform Mastery.

6. Seek the applause.

Please help me welcome the 1995 World Champion of Public Speaking and Certified Speaking Professional.

7. State the name.

Mark Brown. And that's a very short intro, but it contains all seven steps clearly alienated, clearly delineated and clearly applied in a practical way for the audience to receive what I have to say. And Darren, I've used that introduction for National Speakers association meetings across North America as well and other events when I teach that particular program.

Yeah, and if you're new or emerging, don't be intimidated by the fact that, well, I'm not a world champion. It doesn't matter, the audience doesn't care. But if you're talking about speeches, what have you done? Where have you given them? What audiences have you addressed? If you're in a speech contest and that's a you're talking about speaking, you know, it doesn't matter. World championship, won the New England Speech Contest. Like what you have and then constantly improve it, don't worry about it. You don't have to be the ultimate expert. They just remember there's skeptics in your audience thinking why should I listen to them? Your experience, your learning is one thing, your experience is another. But we're trying to just get them to want to hear what you're going to say. So please follow this seven step process and make your next introduction an even better success. From now on and you know what.

I want, I will predict that using this technique, writing your introduction well and setting yourself up for your success will help you to be unforgettable.

See you next week.

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