Ep. 184 Your Testimonials Your Influence

Hey there, Mark Brown. What are we doing? This is. Yeah, I think you're awesome. You say other people are awesome. We say you're listening to this, you're awesome. However, are you missing some potential influence because you're not getting testimonials or you're not multiplying the purpose of a great testimonial?

Let's talk audit. Darren. 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 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. Hey there, Mark. We talked last week about what happens after you speak, and we started thinking about it. Maybe here's something that people might be missing out on. If you're a presenter, your number one marketing tool is how good you are on stage. I learned in my early days of NSA, the National Speakers association, that 80% of paid presentations come as a result of people who've seen you speak.

Referrals, referrals, referrals.

They've seen you do what you do. They know you're good and they refer you, whether it's to their own event or to someone they know who's booking an event or hosting an event. Well, how important is it if you can multiply that effect? So last week we talked about gathering testimonials and we touched upon it. But this is just so important, Mark. When we do events, we. We gather testimonials. When I do speeches, I gather testimonials, not just of the event planner, which some people miss that one because event planners listen to event planners, but also attendees, because attendees listen to attendees. We want to know the outcome that someone who experienced us, and we want to capture that in the moment. And last week we talked about a tool that I love, that I learned about from Ford sakes, called the Irig 2. The Irig 2 microphone. You can find it on Amazon.com I am not an affiliate, just recommended a resource that we use because what's beautiful is when you hold it in front of somebody. You can connect with your camera. You might need the right connector based on your camera, but adapter, adapter. You can literally get a great video and it takes the background sound, which is good. It adds to the ambiance and makes it feel full, yet you can clearly hear the person that it's pointed at because. Because that's what it's used for. And we've gathered many of them. We do it at all events. We gather as many testimonials as we can. We don't use them all because sometimes people's energy is low or they really. It's just superficial, blah, blah, blah. So we've trained the people who help us how to get more details, how to dig that out of them, but we really haven't sat and talked about the importance of that influence. So we got number one, the event planner, we got number two, the attendee, and we've got number three, like, say, your own event attendees. So the person who came to a convention, the person who came to your program, and then the event planner. And last week we played one that I just got at nsa, Georgia. Why? To help open the minds of other chapters around the country. Because they're going to listen to her say how good I was. Jeannie, for more so than me saying, here's how great I am, have me to your chapter.

Right.

So I've got a couple of them queued up. But, Mark, what are your initial thoughts?

I don't want to forget to add something important. We're talking so far. We have talked so far about the testimonials you get on site. Bear in mind, just hold this thought. Bear in mind you can do this effectively with virtual presentations as well. And I'll go into detail about that. I point that out to whet your appetite and keep you listening. But to answer Darren's question directly, yes, my thoughts are that the testimonials can be powerful and I have used them. And here's the thing, you may think you need to record someone for 1, 2, 3, 4 minutes. Many testimonials are effective in fewer than 30 seconds. If the speaker hits on the points that you'd like to have them deliver, I'm not saying you must force them to say anything in particular, but you ask for an honest assessment. And there are ways to get the attendee to get the meeting planner or to get the attendee at your event to say exactly how they feel, succinctly and clearly, right to the point, and give you more testimonials from which you can choose the best ones in any given situation.

And people who love you and want to help you and want to help you promote what you do, sometimes they're going to need a little nudge, they're going to need a little guidance, and they're enthusiastic, but they don't know what to say.

Right.

So we need to prompt them. We need to nudge them and ask them questions. If they're not nailing it, ask them questions. What was your challenge before you came to our event? Why did you come to our event? How has your perspective changed because of our event? What problem did we help you solve? So for what you do and how you do it, you may have your own list of questions. Encourage you to write them down. Because if you, as we talked about last week, if you deputize someone to help you, they might need a little card to prompt them on what to say because they're not you, they're not studying it. This isn't their whole world. So we've got to help help the people who are helping us. Whether it's the person given the testimonial or maybe the person we've deputized to collect the testimonial, please bear in mind.

When someone agrees to give you a testimonial, as Darren says, they want to help you. They love you. They think other people need to hear from you. So make sure that you ask them questions that will bring out from them their own experience in a way that will inspire others to engage with you, to learn from you, and to grow from what you have to provide. A little guidance can go a long way.

And when we're working with people, Mark, you mentioned virtual, I'm just looking up as we chat here, virtual presentations and virtual testimonials. When we can get people who do just experienced us in the moment. Now we do three day events. So usually ask in the second day, most likely the third day, what they got from it. But I don't usually, unless time constraints force us to. I don't usually wait until the end of the third day. I do lunch on the third day. So they still have their energy. It's still morning energy. Because I really want to capture that enthusiasm that may not come out. And if they're, let's say, a little tired or, you know, we've been doing a three day event, so it can be overwhelming. And one of the cool things if you're doing zoom or teams or one of the virtual trainings is you have people right there. We highlight them, we spotlight them and then we mute everyone else. And I just say, hey, if you could just give us 30 seconds. And I have an example of that as well. But what's cool is you, boom, you just hit record and you got it. Now, not everyone's going to have the greatest background. Well, it depends what you're offering and what you're selling, but capture it. And then here is the most critical part. Editing, editing, putting them together. Sometimes when I have people who say some good things but maybe their energy is low, we add a bed of royalty free music that is a bed of energy. So it feels. And what's cool is it ties all of them together. The music is what's tying them together and gets them to work as one purpose. Mark music bed.

On the topic of the virtual, you'll notice here what we're saying is you get them while they're available and ideally when energy is high as well. Ideally the energy is high as well. Use the music to generate the level of energy that you want depending upon the environment you're in, what product you're promoting and what emotion you want the audience to feel as a result. Generally, if you do really well, the individuals who are going to respond will be high energy themselves. But bear in mind, sometimes you do multi day programs either in person or virtual and energy may need to get picked up. So think of ways to get the honest answer in the most effective way.

Darren, we want to help you see how you can get unforgettable testimonials. I love. I think it was Ken Blanchard said, raving fans. Here's one that I have and I'm not going to play the whole thing, but just to get the flavor of it, I have one on my YouTube channel on Darren lacroix.com so this is for my speaking, but I have Planners love Darren and then I have people love Darren. So here's just a opening clip of Planners love Darren.

Can I tell you how awesome it.

Is to work with Darren Lacroix?

Darren Lacroix. Darren Lacroix. Darren. Darren Lacroix. Darren, Darren Lacroix. Darren is one of the best.

It's just great.

Darren was phenomenal. This guy was the hit of the event. He did an amazing job. Our therapist were just laughing. They really enjoyed the day. Record number of guests, record number of attendees. People have been raving about the experience.

He makes things that are complex sound so simple and he was just phenomenal.

You've got to see him. I've never seen a keynote speaker come into a company a day before and.

Spend a whole day doing homework and.

Asking questions and calling on the phone, making sure that he can relate to the audience. The, the part that I love the.

Most really in talking with individuals after.

The program was his ability to engage.

The audience with measurable, very specific Very strategic strategies on how to improve their game. So you got the point. You heard some examples. And remember, for event planners, event planners want to hear event planners. They want to hear attendees too, what they thought, but they want to hear. You heard some of the clips where he's easy to work with. We love working with him. I have one that's later on in the video where I spoke to a food and drug association and they said how he came in ahead of time, he did his homework. That helps separate me and shows caring. But when an event planner says you're easy to work with, that goes a long way.

Mark. Yeah, I had the feeling. I did a group called Case District 5 and they said they commented on how easy it was to work with me. I have it on video as well. I'm not going to play the video here. But please, friends, understand the purpose of the video is not to say how great Mark or Darren is, but to show you how a testimonial as a tool can go a far way to help you to get the bookings you deserve and the referrals you deserve by simply letting those who love you tell other people why they should love you. And there's no reason why you cannot get similar testimonials if you know when and how to capture them.

Thank you, Mark. So I'll just play again a short clip of this is the People of Darren. So one event planners. This is people who attended a keynote speech different from my own events. And you also heard in the first one, Darren, Darren, Darren, Darren, Darren. Trying to show a plethora of different event planners who brought me in. So this is about attendees at a keynote.

Long story short, Darren rocks. I've listened to Darren Lacroix in the car from previous CDs, but it's a whole other thing to see him in.

Person because he has so much passion, animation and authenticity.

He comes across so 3D. I was gripped from the beginning to the end. Everything that I got out of it was amazing. My only thing is I wish the Stuff session was longer.

All right, you got the point. Now notice that.

What?

That was kind of hard to hear. That was before I discovered the Irig 2. But they're just still great testimonials. Mark, your thoughts?

Yeah, and I mentioned this last week when we talked about a previous conversation about this where having the authenticity of the background noise tells you this happened right at the event. We didn't wait two days later into a studio somewhere and create this fake ambiance that's happening in the moment. Right there after the presentation. And I've been guilty at times of going, oh, I shouldn't have gotten a testimony. Number one, do not hit yourself on the forehead on a cool idea. But the other is, okay, you can start today with your next testimonial video when you get a chance to get it. And please note, Darren says he has two different kinds of one specific for the meeting planner and the other for those who will attend. And trust me, I have had attendees, I've had calls and emails about coming to a program for them because someone testified of what they had witnessed, experienced and passed it on. Let's not lose the opportunity and the value of our influence by leaving testimonials and referrals on the table when they can be easily captured right there. Now you may not always get a video testimonial, but sometimes an audio may work depending on how your site is configured. And sometimes a written testimonial can be helpful as well. What we're saying is do not miss the opportunity for different types of testimonials because all of them can be helpful as well.

And if you're using text testimonials, remember to bold or highlight the critical words was engaging. The audience loved him or her. So that for those people who are scanning like this might be on your website or on your one sheet who said it. I've seen so many people make this mistake unless it's a high level company or a CEO. We shouldn't be highlighting the person's name, we should be highlighting what they said. But you don't want to put all of what they said. You want to edit that. Remember, editing both text and video and audio is important. So we want to highlight the words that we want the scanners to be able to capture. And quite honestly, it's not going to be the whole reason your demo video people they talk to there's other aspects of why you should be booked. But if you and I are going to be booked more often to have more influence, we need great unforgettable testimonials. Mark.

You know Darren, having said that we haven't we not we did not discuss this before, before we went on air here but what are some of the simple key components of a video testimony? For example, when I ask for a testimonial, I ask that they give us, you know, the title. You know I'm John, I was a meeting planner here at ABC Corporation. We brought Mark Brown in and wow, what a presentation by people are still talking about him in the hallway right now. But I'm John. I'm the meeting planner for the association. Right away, you know who the person is. They give us an idea of who they are. Last week, Darren, you played a video of the testimonial that Jeannie gave at the NSA Georgia chapter, and she said, I'm Jeannie. I am the president elect of the National Speakers Association, Georgia. That's credential and that's credibility. So you might want to ask the person to explain who they are within the context, particularly if they're a meeting planner, an event coordinator, or a corporate leader. Your thoughts on that, Darren?

Yeah, I also one of the key things I do and I train Stephanie at our Game Changers event is to take a quick video or picture of the person's name tag so that way we can remember or if they have a title or depending on the event. And obviously make sure you're being appropriate about it, because if you're not paying attention, it's like, why are you going to my chest? Really very important. That's why we're doing a whole podcast about this to reference and give you some ideas. So, yes, definitely. If they're higher up, if they're an event planner, we want them to say, we brought Darren in, just like I did with Jeanne last week. Here's also this comes from our buddy Michael Hague. And Michael really talks about the testimonial transformation. So here. Thank you to Michael Hague, our friend and coach colleague in Stagetime. He asks, what problem or goal did you need help with? Ooh, I didn't even think of that. Second, what made our product or service or keynote stand out? Third question, what specifically did we do do that was helpful? Maybe it was a game we played, an exercise. Maybe it was a specific topic that we covered in a unique way. Question four, what was the outcome? What was the outcome? And then last question. How have things changed for you as a result of working with us? How have things changed for you as a result of working with us? Now, make it your own language. Make it work for you. But I highly recommend, because you're going to be even for yourself, you're going to be caught up in the speaker's high after your speech or presentation or training. So you might need that prompting yourself. So create four or five different questions that you can just prompt people with to get out of them what you need, Mark?

Yes and one. Yes. And of course, one of the cool things is, as Darren mentioned last week, when you deputize someone to work with you on this, if they're with you on a regular basis. It could be a partner, it could be a spouse, it could be a close friend, an associate or somebody on your team. After a while, they'll know what questions to ask the individuals. It becomes a simpler conversation for them. If they're helping you to get these responses from the individual who's giving a testimonial, you may find at times you are the one who is having a chance to have that conversation. You know, as Darren says, what questions work best for you. Be conversational, get the responses you want and then edit later on. But trust me, someone who agrees to give you a testimonial knows what they want to say and when. You can guide and prompt with these questions, it's easier for them to deliver the answer that you would like to hear. And it can serve you well to give you a chance, a better chance to be influential and thereby serve others with all the material, the wisdom and the expertise you work so hard to provide.

So Mark, one of the events you and I do, along with Ed Tate, is mastering virtual presentations. So I queued this up. This is a testimonial that we gathered and edited from the people who took our event. I think this was even the second time.

Yeah, I think so, yeah.

Here's an example. Check it out.

I have gained so much and now I feel much more confident with presenting on this platform because I learned how. One tip of how to change the view.

We've got a usable product I can.

Post tomorrow, but I wasn't really understanding how to do breakout rooms and how to do exercises, which is a big part of the way that I train in the Stage Time University's program. I learned how to do and I know I'll be able to use this in my next training. I was very challenged by a three day workshop that I'm supposed to give in two weeks and I've always done it live. And I have three days of material that I had to find a way to convert to virtual. Thank God I saw Darren and signed up for this course because it has answered every prayer I've had on surviving this and thriving. So I turned to Darren, Eddie and.

Mark and they show me the way.

How to make vibrant, unforgettable presentations virtually. These guys are the experts. Look to them for everything you need.

So you got the point. I love that. Mark, your thoughts.

It certainly sounds a bit self serving, but what we're saying to you is we have done this effectively and these are all honest, genuine testimonials of individuals who, who learned how to present more effectively even in a three day workshop, virtually. So do not discount the value of the virtual testimonial as well. We want you to provide all the value you have for your audience, be they on site or online.

That was virtual. So we were able to mute everyone else and record one at a time, put them together, editing and notice the music that went through.

And.

And one of the tools that we talk about, the IRIG II microphone. I want you to hear the difference and how it sounds once we started using that for our event. So this is an event we do once a year coming up in March called Game Changers.

Game Changers.

And love to have you join us. By the way, just go to if you want to see about any of our workshops. Stagetimeworkshops.com stagetimeworkshops.com, check it out. So here's a quick video and this will give you an example. So Stephanie is someone we deputized. Remember, you can always edit it later, but she's using the IRIG2 mic. So listen up.

This event really does inspire you to take massive action. And that's what I'm taking away is a lot of things that I can go and work on that are really going to propel my business and actually have pages and pages of takeaways from these three days. You know, I've got a stack of index cards about this high, each one with a great idea that I took away.

It's been totally worth my time and energy. The knowledge and power that's in this.

Room and the experience.

I don't think you can find it anywhere else.

It's been a phenomenal weekend.

I've gotten so much value from every.

Single coach that's here. In fact, after the first day, I learned so much that I went home and rewrote a full keynote that I'm working on. Stagetime University Stage Time Nation is the place to be. I was in the presence of three world champion. Champion speakers.

I mean three. Three speakers that are world champions.

Do you know what that's like to learn from these guys?

Another person was one of had a hit show here in Las Vegas and.

He was teaching us how to have.

Those moments, those pauses, all the things that you need to be a great speaker now. Yeah. And the music might have been a little loud, so that's editing. But I hope you could hear the murmur in the background as well as clearly hear the person who was talking. So mark your thoughts.

Yeah, that did generate the energy you saw. Honest, genuine enthusiasm. And it was kind of funny. I tend to be a little analytical. I'm watching Stephanie make sure the camera's in the right place. But it was definitely easier because part of the background murmur you could not see was Darren and Ed and me interacting with other individuals at the event. Having Stephanie deputized by the Step and repeat with a nice logo in the background gave us the flexibility to still get testimonials while we were serving other attendees as well. So the added value is, as we said last week, you can have someone deputized to get testimonial while you have one on one time with someone else. And depending on what you want to do, maybe you can have, I don't want to say a train going through or, you know, an assembly line, but there are others who will say, hey, I'm willing to give one when I'm done talking to you. Thank you so much for the opportunity to let people know how much I receive value from you. So use these techniques in the way that works for you, but above all, use them.

Yeah. A couple final thoughts that we didn't touch upon. Be aware of the background. If you're watching this on YouTube, you saw Stephanie was in front of our big banner. That's stage time live at the Las Vegas sign. So we have that as a step and repeat, even though it's not Step and repeat. That's what the kind of banner is where people are standing in front of it. And it's a photo op. People take selfies. Well, they take selfies and they're helping you promote your event. And lighting. Lighting is important. Look for natural lighting. Move around sometimes. Mark at NSA Georgia kind of, you know, moved around. How's this angle? No. How's this angle? No, it doesn't have to be perfect, but you want the facial expression and animation to come through and you don't want it to look dark. So just be aware. The best lighting, maybe it's just 5% angle, 10% angle, 20% angle. And with the one we showed last week, I made sure Jeannie from NSA Georgia was standing in front of this beautiful stage because it was a beautiful background. Looked really cool with the red curtains and the uplights. It was a great background. Even had the NSA Georgia logo up, which, for that testimonial, I want other NSA National Speakers association chapters to see that, because that testimonial is for a specific audience.

Mark, one more thought regarding location. It's okay. When you get to a venue, hopefully early enough with the confidence that you will serve the audience well, you might Identify a location on site beforehand should you want to meet with people in the same way, you pick a location for your product sales or to meet and greet. Similarly, find a location that's as conducive to recording video to make it easier for you and or your team members to edit later on. We do that legwork. We choose an optimal spot and for our product table, why not choose an optimal spot for video testimonial recordings as well?

Yeah, sometimes Mark, I think you and I, we take for granted what we know and what we've experienced over the years. So I love the idea of giving this podcast. See some of the small little ideas and insights from our experience that would help you as the listener. If you're listening to this and you want to join us, two days game changers go to stagetimelive.com coming up in March, stagetimelive.com actually you're listening to this. It is March, but who knows what year you're listening to this. But if you're listening as it goes up, please check us out. Join us two days with seven of the best speaker coaches in the world. I love putting together this team, Mark. We got Jennifer Lear, we got Ford Sakes, we got Patricia Fripp this year, Ed Tate, you, me, Mike Davis, we have another comedian who's got his own Amazon prime special as well as he's going to be in a movie about Ronald Reagan coming up this summer and he was in a scene with Dennis Quaid who plays Ronald Reagan. So super exciting event. Please join us. I learned so much myself, which is why I put this together. But just go to stagetimelive.com and since you're listening to this podcast, use the discount code event25 and you get 25% off. So, mark Brown, your testimonials, your influence, your raving fans, final thoughts.

My final thought is this. Please do not leave extra value on the table. Get testimonials on video, get them on virtual, get them written as well, but get them and give the world the opportunity to benefit from your influence. You do that, you will be unforgettable.

See you next week.

Next week, make sure you subscribe to our show. Remember to subscribe. Subscribe, because if you miss a week, you miss a lot. If you like this episode, please leave us a review. If you want to get more from Mark and Darren, check out stagetime University where they provide experienced presenters a proven path and world class feedback. To become the speaker everyone is talking about, go to stagetimeuniversity.com join us next week. If you're going to take the time to prepare a presentation, make it unforgettable.