Ep. 188 Your Unforgettable Speaker Demo Reel with Chris West

Hey there, Mark Brown. You know, we just had game changers. We just experienced some of the results of someone working with our guest, Chris West. So we saw a before and after with Maureen Zappala's demo, video, speaker reel, whatever you want to call it. Oh, my goodness, she's amazing. Former NASA engineer. She's an expert in the imposter syndrome. She's written a book on it. But her video was good and she got booked with it. But now this is like light years later, just light years ahead, such a different level. And so I said, well, hey, we gotta call Chris west, because he's the brains behind that transformation. And Chris, Mark and I are very close to Maureen, so we were with her through the process when she was working with you, and we know how hard. And you even changed her keynote, which is not easy to do. Mark, your thoughts?

Well, listen, I know it's good for our friends and our constituents to actually hear from the man himself. So, Darren, let's not waste any more time. Let's find out from the expert how to create your unforgettable speaker demo reel.

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 powerful presentation? Ahas. Let's dive right in.

I love his storytelling process. I love what he does. I actually create my demo videos based on it. So, Chris west, welcome. Thanks for being here to reveal how to create your own unforgettable speaker demo reel.

It's so good to be with you guys. I'm so honored, and it is such a blast. There is an art form to it, so to talk about it, it is something that. It's a joy to me as well. So I am all in on this conversation. Yeah.

And if you want to see some of Chris's work, you go to videonarrative.com and you can check it out. We'll say that again at the end if you want to reach out to him. But if you're serious and you want to get your message in front of event planners who literally can hire you, understanding his process, his thought process, what he goes through and does is just unforgettable. So, Chris west, how did you get started in all this? How did you become the video Storyteller.

It is a great question. I'd love to tell the story. And I will tell you the moral of the story before I tell you the story. And that is for everyone listening. And it's what you guys already talk about, Darren and Mark. But I tell everyone, you have to be in a category of one. You have to be in a category of one. And when I was in graduate school, I was studying narrative therapy. I was really interested in building large scale mentoring organizations with young people because I'd had an incredible mentor in my life who changed my life. And I, I was going to graduate school for narrative therapy, very interested in personal development, very interested in all those things. And I happened to have a person who did LinkedIn work asked me if I could create a video for him. And he said, I'm going to go to speaking, an event. Could you film it? And I said, sure. And he said, great, can you turn this into a speaker video? And I said, what is a speaker video? So I went online and I searched speaker videos, right? And what I did see was what traditionally is a speaker demo reel. Now if you think about a demo tape, this is how people would say, hey, I would love that producer to book me. Here's a demo of my tracks, right? Speaker demo reels through the history of the speaker industry have been essentially, here's a lineup of my best speaking clips, right? But this is still how people are thinking. And this is 20 years ago thinking, right? You're not, you're not just giving them a lineup of your best stuff. You want to be creating a narrative in their mind of a category of one, that you're in that distinction, that category of one. And there's a process for how you tell the story which we can dive into. But because I had been studying and it was studying narrative therapy, I knew how the brain process information into a story. I turned that video into a story. And that year it was reviewed at the Influence Conference and there was a panel of a breakout. They, they basically reviewed it as the best speaker video of that year. And so suddenly I started getting called by speakers and this two, two speakers in. I was, I just found myself so in love with the kinds of people who will dedicate their lives to the others and who have messages to share. And I'm very interested in personal development. So me getting to just work with one person after another who specialize in a different area, it was my dream. And I was wanting to build a large scale mentorship organization. I knew to do that, I was going to have to master business. And so I went all in and I found that nobody in the industry had truly specialized in this. So I wrote down, Darren, by 2018, I'll be the number one name for this in the industry. And that was 2013 at the time. And within five years, those, those, those exact things that I envisioned happen. And I'll just end this by saying, you know, for every person I work with, I want to know their vision. I want to know what, where they want to end up, because it's going to guide all your decisions today. And I truly believe we have to be in a category of one. Those two things definitely guided me in the journey.

Wow. Well, mission accomplished. Everyone knows the Chris west brand. It's upward level, the go to guy. And congratulations for achieving that. I didn't know that part of the story, Mark.

Yeah, now I'm learning it. And I do want to go backwards just a little bit because many of our viewers and listeners may be what we call inverting speakers. Chris, they're new to this and they're hearing, wait, speaker reel, demo reel, sizzle reel. Could you help us a little bit and differentiate if there is a differentiation between a sizzle reel, a speaker reel, a demo reel, Is it long, is it short? Just give us some background so we have context for those who are new to this process, please.

Yeah. Well, it's so important before you even think about your video that you understand the sales process in the speaker industry. Right. And I know that Darren and Mark talk about this on this show, but I will tell you that you have to think about it with the awareness that when someone is going to book a speaker, they have an event or they have something coming up. Most of the time there's an event planner or a bureau who's been tasked to find the right speakers. And they're not looking for the right speaker. They're looking for the list for the people who are going to make that final decision. How do they build that list? They build their short list by reviewing videos. They build their short list by going on people's websites or by hearing about the people that the bureau represented. And then they always say the number one thing. Can you send us a video? Right. So your speaker video is going to be your number one sales tool. It will have a sales conversation with someone ahead of you to get you on a short list. Then you'll have the actual sales conversation where you will then distinguish yourself and bring yourself to being the one that they choose. Your speaker video is never to sell you the Final number, your speaker video is to get you on the short list. And so to think about your speaker video in the right way, it is, what is a sales tool that will get me on the short list? And a lot of people are thinking, I want it to just show me speaking. No, you want it to distinguish you among other speakers and make them go, we should definitely put them on the short list. And one of the things you know with the Maureen video is Maureen's specialty is working in imposter syndrome. That is really just becoming finally something everyone wants to talk about. Maureen's been talking about the imposter syndrome for years, right? But she was talking about before, it was a cool thing. And now people are saying, I feel this all the time. And people are actually searching for it. But she needs to distinguish herself as one of the best in the world at imposter syndrome. So the video was not. Let me show you a bunch of clips that show me talking about imposter syndrome. The video was designed to answer this question. Why should you choose Maureen above anyone else? And so that is just, I would say that a speaker video as it is today is. It's a story that is to position you in a category of one and to get you on the short list. And one of the things that's so important to know is if you're not the ideal person for that event, your speaker video should get you not on that short list. And that's the power of it. You want to be polarizing, you want to say, this is what I stand for, this is what I'm known for, this is what I'm best at. And if someone goes to my portfolio and they want a branding video for their company, as a company, I will distinguish myself very clearly as I don't do branding videos, even though I have the capability to do it right. Like I build, I work with speakers and no one but speakers. And that's the difference is that your video should distinguish you and people should go, that's the one for us, right? Or that is not for us. And that's both a good answer.

And just to clarify a little bit more, give us a little more. Especially we, we have high level pros that listen. We also have, as Mark said, some emerging presenters. How do I figure out what's my category of one?

Well, that's such an easy question to answer or ask, right? Harder to answer.

That's why you're the guest.

That's true.

Your category of one is always at the intersection between what is the number one problem you solve? And on the other side of that intersection, what in your background makes you uniquely qualified to solve that?

So that's pretty good for a tough question. That's a great.

Those are the questions I'm trying to ask. I'm always saying, what is the number one problem you solve? And people always, to that question, give me the solution. The number one problem I'm best at solving is helping create engagement. Nope, that's the number one solution. Your help at creating what's the number one problem you're best at helping your clients solve it is what is their biggest pain point that you specialize in? And it should get down to single word. Right. So I'm obsessed with what is that? Right. So then what is the experience that you've had that uniquely qualifies you to help solve that? So with Maureen, the fact that she was one of the first women hired at NASA is the answer to that, which is why I designed the first. The entire opening around that idea. And I told Maureen, you know, we're going to create this video. I want every memorabilia, cutout, newspaper article, anything that says NASA on it, bring it. So she's like, okay. So she brought to Portland, where, where we do a lot of our filming, the entire suitcase of NAS memorabilia. Because that is going to be her category of one, her distinction. Separate her from other people.

Yeah. And I will say, too, in the demo video that you created, versus her first one, and by the way, a reminder, her first one worked. She got work from it. She was just leveling up. And one of the things that I noticed exactly what you're saying, that memorabilia, that just, to me, it was a. How would I say, the deep credibility. It wasn't just credibility. It was deep because it looked nostalgic. And because you highlighted the first female NASA engineer in her division like that, I was, boom. Everything else was gravy after that.

Yeah. The photo of her in that. In that room at the table, and she's the fourth woman with a seat at the table.

It was literally and figuratively.

Literally, Literally. She was the first woman in a seat at the table. And we know the cliche, but to see it visually there. And the photograph was older, it was color, but you could tell it wasn't taken last week and photoshopped. That was the real feeling. And having her looking at the planes and reminiscing what it was like. The story. The key was the story. And for so many of us. As you say, Chris, let us see your best. My. My demo. I will confess these Work because I was asked, give me your best clips when you were here, when you were there. We want to see what you have to offer. We want your message. We want to see you in different stages. That's only a part of what really is going to work. So I. We were very impressed with the story that you told and we really want to emphasize. And if I'm wrong, please correct me, Chris, but you really, we want to emphasize that you have said to us, you have proven to us the video should tell story not only about who you are, but why you are best qualified to do what you say you can do. So I thank you for opening my eyes to that simple truth, Darren.

Yeah, it's a powerful simple truth. And by the way, if you want to go check out the video we're talking about, go to Maureenz initialz.com and you can see her demo video that we're talking about right now. So Chris, what's the, what's the process? Help us out?

Yeah. Well, like Mark was saying, people will tell you, I want to see you on stages. So there are a lot of components to a speaker video that need to be there. Right. A lot of people say, can I just sit down and do an interview? I don't have any speaking engagements filmed. Can I just sit down and do an interview and talk about what I do? And I tell people you could. It's probably not going to get you booked as a speaker. Right. We're not, we're not looking to see a video of you talk about what you do. We want to actually see you do it. So there's some real important factors. So one of them is I always tell people, think about this in three stages. And this is what, when I was able to work with Darren and Mark invited me to their event that they hold each year, I told the audience, think about it in this way. Stage one, how am I going to film this sucker? Stage two, plan it. And then stage three, create it. Most people want to jump to stage three and say create it. No, you want to film this. Well, you, you know, you want to plan it and film it. So how do you film it? Well, if you don't have any engagements already filmed, you do what? What, what we'll tell you. You know what, Darren, Brooke, Mark, other people will coach you to do. Rent your. The church. You go to stage on a day that there's no one there. Rent a local theater. There are so many locations that I can, you know, you can go space.com or you can go to radio R A D I O S dot com. You can look up spaces, stages in your area. I filmed on the. Your local high school has a gym that they do their theater, right?

Yep.

Yeah, High school auditorium. This is. You can get your talk filmed. So one, you have to have speech, right? You have to have something to work with. So there's, there's that essential thing. But now we want to think about planning it, right? How do you plan it? An effective speaker video has five parts. And you're gonna have to listen through this. You can pause the episode, you can go back to it, but when I train our editors, we talk about these five parts. Number one, your opening. This is your 30 seconds to first minute of your video. It's speaking, speaking based, meaning it's you on stage talking about it. And the opening of your video needs to be showing the problem that you solve. It needs to be showing the problem you solve. And I always tell our editors, when you're going through a keynote you're looking for, when does a person at some point in their keynote ask a question that everybody is asking? There's no matter who you are, I promise you in your keynote, you have a part of your keynote where you say something like, we have to figure out why we have such a disengagement problem in our country. Right? Something like that. That is a question you're asking and they're asking that question. So when. And actually, you guys, I've literally taught an AI. Now you get. Everybody knows at the time, this recording, I had one of our editors be like, hey, I spent some time this weekend. I just basically plugged in all the questions you taught us to ask into the, to. Into chat GBT, chat GBT4. And it literally outlined the same stuff we said, to chat gbt. I outline where they ask questions that solve problems and tell us where there's stories. The opening should start out with you either telling a story that is the problem that you help solve, or it should be asking questions, why do we do this? Where did we get wrong? Do, do, do, do. The opening is there and it's showing that you know their problem. And then the second thing that we literally focus on is the insight. What is insight? Section two is insight. It's where do you define and describe things they don't currently know about their problem? So with Maureen, she defines what, what imposter syndrome is, right? So she's starting and she's saying, I, you know, I was in NASA and da, da, da. That's what imposter syndrome is. It's blank, blank and blank. And she defined what imposter syndrome is. That's the insight part. So you're defining something and teaching them something they don't know. And at that exact moment we go into stage three where then the video defines why you are the one who can tell them the best. Right. The answer to it. So we call section three credibility. So we have opening insight and then credibility. Your credibility is your bio broken into titles. Now in the 90s and early 2000s, a voiceover would come in. At this point, Darren Lacroix is da da da da da in a speaker video. When you see a speaker video with the, the long voiceover now it just immediately dates itself. In modern times, if you think about a commercial, there's no longer voiceovers. Think about Toyota commercial. Right now there's titles on the screen, right? You're reading as it's going along. And so this is where we break a bio into credibility. So with Maureen's video, it's got this opening insight about what it credibil, what imposter syndrome is. And then it goes. Maureen went on to blink and then it shows something really cool and she blank and it shows something really cool and blink. Today she does this blank and it shows her in all these stages. This is where you really utilize your book photos that have been taken. You can get one high school gymnasium keynote. Combine your photos and other things that have taken you on different stages and we're focused on the credibility. And then we're moving into the fourth section, which is teaching or what we call the plan. At that point in the video, you need to start teaching them tactical strategic things, right? And most people try to give the tactics and strategy upfront. You just wouldn't do that if you were on a consulting call. You would never be in a coaching call and start a coaching call off with here's what you got to do, right? You would first understand that person's problem and get a net sense of what they really want and where. The same thing is the true of a video. The opening is distinguishing you, helping them see the problem you solve. The inside is teaching them something about their problem they don't know. The credibility is showing why you're qualified to do it. Now your time to do some tactical strategy stuff. I'm looking for sound clips of here's something punchy, here's something good. And in Maureen's, you'll see right when this happens, she starts saying, I'm going to show you three ways that you can every time Imposter syndrome shows up, you do it. Now they're tactical. And every time that there's something tactical, boom, a testimonial comes in and has social proof that what she tactically taught us really worked. And then we're moving into the fifth part.

That's pretty cool. Hold for a second. You gotta absorb what he just said. So we see some of the tactical and right after that, the credibility. So that's almost saying, look, what you just heard, work worked. What you just heard, worked. What do you just heard worked? It worked for me. Like, you love that. Brilliant.

Not hooked on phonics. Worked for me. But, you know, I do want to reiterate in different words what Chris said about the process. I think it was Ed Tate, Darren, who says, don't prescribe before you diagnose. Don't prescribe before you diagnose a medical metaphor. And what Chris is saying, you can't walk in and say, here's what you need to do if you don't know what the problem is. And I don't believe, Chris, you would have said that unless somebody has already done that, and perhaps many of us have been doing that. We tell you our expert, we tell you what we know before we clearly delineate. Here's why we're telling you what we know so that you're right. This is gold in terms of just the process. And I really appreciate that, Chris.

Right? And there is one final part, right? Just to round it out for everyone. The final part is results, right? And this is where in the last 30 seconds, the music should be reaching a high crescendo. It should be inspiring, it should be about action. And you should be focusing on any of the parts of the keynote where you do have results oriented words. So at some point in your keynote, you will be saying things like when you get this right or what happened after they blank, is this right? It's after your stories is at the end of things. So at the end of every story or at the end of any lessons, speakers are always giving a results, right? And so I teach our editors, we have color codes for this. Every time you're saying something results oriented, it's this color. Every time you're saying something tactical, it's this color. Every time you're saying something with credibility, it's this color. Every time it's a problem. We're just talking about this. This is insight, this is opening. And so when you go about this, where a speaker video is all the speaking clips that they're looking for, but it's intentional. There's an opening that distinguishes you. There's an insight to them. Go, oh, I didn't realize that. Then cred, then a plan that's tactical, and then results that they can expect all within four minutes or less. Now you have a video that is a sales tool for you. It is literally telling a story about your brand. And like a good movie, you go and see a movie over and over and over. And that movie is following the same script formula because Darren writes scripts. He knows the formula. Right. There has to be something right after we meet our main character that the character does that makes us like them. And if you don't have something that makes the character like them, that video, that film will not be as strong. In the same way I found over the years that people are like, I don't know why this video works so well, but all I do is play it. And then people want to book me. It's because there's so much intention put behind it. When you know how to look for those right things, you can dissect your own keynote, put them in the right order with the right music, or teach an editor to do it. Just say, listen to this podcast and you can literally create an effective video from a high school gymnasium that starts getting you three $5000 $7000 gigs right away that you build up. And then as you get bigger, bigger stages, boom. You use the same formula, but with larger stages and bigger footage.

And in Hollywood scriptwriting, they call it the save the cat scene, which is the hero does one little thing and you like them and now you're rooting for them.

Sweet. Interesting, Chris, this five part formula, somehow you managed to bring it back to my first question you mentioned just now. Can we tell the story like a good movie in four minutes? So we've gone through the process to get back to my first question. Scissor reel speak, a real demo reel. How long? Because there are those who will ask these kinds of questions. What do you recommend we look for in terms of length and how we define a Sizzler versus a demo, if at all.

Yeah. Again, you just have to be thinking about it from a sales process. The first time that someone's watching videos, they're not going to be giving every video five to seven minutes. Right. They're going to be making big decisions on what, making their short list. So what they're trying to do, they really are trying to get. It's just like when you're hiring someone, they literally, you know, none of us love the process. Of hiring a new team member because you have to go through hundreds of new resumes when you go through. I've got a hundred of these to go through before my 9 o' clock meeting because I'm trying to bring new person on my staff. You're just trying to get people. No, no, no. You're trying to get your short list. They're trying to do the same thing. And therefore I always tell our team, look, they're like, it's so good. I'm like, no, it's not. Because I was bored. After a minute, they're like, yeah, but this part. And it's like, it's not an art piece, it's a sales tool, right? And so I have to break editors hearts all the time. But I'm thinking in these increments. 30 seconds, 1 minute, 90 seconds, that's all you got. And then from 2 minutes and 46 seconds on, I always tell people they're not watching after this. All of our analytics show that the longest people watch is 2 minutes and 46 seconds. So why people might say, well, why don't you make your video shorter? When they're on the committee and they're in that final decision stage, then they're about to drop $15,000 on you for a speaking engagement. You know they're going to spend more time on your video. We make your video for everything. But I, I make the video. Do they know who you are in 30 seconds? And are they interested in watching up to a minute? By a minute, do I have them enough to like do? And by 90 seconds, have they seen everything? Like I, I consider 90 seconds, the whole world, the whole thing's done right. And so I'm looking 30 seconds, 1 minute, 90 seconds, 2 minutes, 46 seconds. A lot of our videos end up around 4 minutes, 355, 357 kind of thing. It's like, I want to see it under four, but I have videos that are seven minutes. I have videos that are six. It depends on what we're looking for. But today it's the hardest thing ever is I'm just, we're just cutting, cutting, cutting. And I hate it. And I tell our clients and in the Hollywood industry, it's called kill your darlings. You have to kill the things that you. But this is so good. I gotta have it in. It's going to literally cost you the, the difference between them booking you or not. You got to let it go.

A question for you, Chris. It's a little bit off the wall, but Help me to understand in terms of what's happening. You mentioned 10, 20 years ago what worked and I had, I went to a session recently at our game changers about TikTok and it was for Darren and me very eye opening and we get the feeling. And again, I'm in my 60s now. I have to struggle with the fact that many people have a shorter attention span and everything is now quick cuts. Is this becoming.

So do you, Mark. So do you now you do.

Are the shorter cuts becoming what's accepted or almost required now we hear about on TikTok. Get us in two seconds. What? Yes, two seconds. So we must be thinking those terms now when we come to produce our videos as well. Shorter and is better or I think that what's the rationale behind that?

If there's, if, if, if you're just talking and it's something great and, and you know, you guys both teach this. When someone has a gravitas to their talk, when they're, when they're speaking with authority and, and you don't have music under. Trying to make someone believe something. And it's just strong people will watch that. They'll stay with the good story, right? They won't turn that off. So, so if there's a lot of meat and power behind something, I always tell our team, let it breathe, let that go for a minute. I want it to be long, but there's also just a lot of stuff where it's like this person's just trying to make a quick decision. It is not TikTok world. I will tell you when someone's trying to spend 5,000 or 7,500, but they do have a far. They know they're not on TikTok, but they have a far shorter attention span than they did before and they are trying to get you off the short list and you're trying to get on it. So you have to be very strategic with your video. It's just like it's, you just have to know that they're probably. And they, I, I ask event planners because I, you know, there are clients, right? And if you're in the speaker street, they're usually one of the people that are going to be your first person that'll say no. They can say no, but they can't say yes, which is the hard part, right? Because they say they can say no. They're going to be getting their shortlist on. Your job is to get them to watch one minute. And they tell me all the time if I don't see them on stage in less than a minute, I'm turning it off. I don't care what it is. Right. Because I want to see them talk. I don't want them to describe their talking. And so, yeah, so I will tell you, one minute or less is all I think I have with an event planner, and that's to get them on a short list. That's my whole goal.

And just to clarify, one of the things you said going from they're seeking, seek, and you shall find, they're looking at first for reasons to disqualify you. Nope, nope, nope. And then, oh, maybe then that goes on the short list. So it's not right, it's not nice, and it's reality. So please, please, please pay attention to Kris, whether you decide to invest with him and work with him, which would be awesome if you decide, look, I got to do this myself. You know, I'm on a tiny budget. Okay, but still, still, please follow the process and please thank Kris for it.

Hey, can I tell you guys something really good about that, though?

Yeah.

I. I have been working behind the scenes for months now, and my. My business coach gave me an assignment, and I was like, it's impossible. I can't do that assignment. And she was like, she's one of the most effective people I've ever met. She scales companies by literally hundreds of millions of dollars. She was like, chris, either you're going to be coachable or not. And what it is is she's like, I want you to train your. Your process to international editors that make it low cost for people. And I was like, I usually hire, go through four applicants before I even hire one editor on my team. How could I possibly find and train and vet and, like, make an international editor available for. For thought leaders? I just couldn't know how to do it. But I happened to find a founder of a company who had been doing travel videos. And for the last five years, he has been finding, training, and building a very, very structured process where incredible editors in Colombia and the Philippines that have a master's in video but just don't have access to us. They have project management. And he and I, behind the scenes, have been working for months and now for literally 3, 500 or less, you can upload your content, fill out some questions, put your bio, do, do to do, and get an amazing speaker video in less than two weeks at an extremely low cost. And it's. It's. They have been trained by me personally, and they're trained every Monday by me, and it Gets for as when this airs, you're going to have to actually talk to us about it. But. But in the next few months, what's going to happen is people are going to be able to just upload their stuff because I wanted a way for emerging speakers to be able to spend 3,500 or less, get an amazing video and get it ready to rock and roll and not have to. You know, when I work with a person one on one, there's only a limited amount of time I can do. But you can get something high quality out there. The main thing you need is an editor who's been trained in this. And we now have those editors who are master's level editors, but perhaps speak Columbia. English is their second language, but they're still good when they know how to put it together. You're getting the best quality, graphics, animation, all the stuff you want at an extremely low cost. Wow.

Who would have thought the world just changed?

Who would have thought a master in editing, video editing is a storyteller that just that combination of thoughts like, wait, wait, you mean they're doing video editing but you're actually telling a story? This to me, is revolutionary. And I would ask you this because you did say, Chris, you work with meeting tenors directly. What insight would you say you have learned from this process that would blow the mind of the average speaker who has no clue exactly what the meeting planner is looking, looking for?

Well, number one thing is they're a very sophisticated buyer. You kind of think, oh, I can pull one by them. They won't know this is green screen or that they won't know that there's no audience in here. I mean, this is a person who literally's entire life, some of them, their entire career, maybe sometimes are in the industry. For 10 years, all they've been doing is booking and hiring speakers. They know your industry far, far better than you. And so I will tell you, you're working with a very sophisticated buyer. Don't try to get one past them. They see too many videos, right? They, you know, and so this is where I have people all the time. They're like, yeah, I put this together in my spare time and I think it's going to work really well. But I don't know why it's not getting me booked. It's like, you know, either. Yeah, they are a very sophisticated buyer. Understand that. They know way more about this than.

You do, I think, Mark, it's an eye opener. You got one minute. Well, that's. That should be an eye Opener.

Here's why that answer is important, Chris. You know, I've been doing this for over 20 years as a presenter and a coach. But I've also been to events where the state association or the national association assigns someone to be the conference organizer.

This is true.

That much experience, right?

That's so true.

And it becomes you've been there where you have to really almost support them along.

Yeah.

You walk them through the process. So the idea of some of them being highly sophisticated with a trained eye to spot fake that honestly in all my years hasn't really crossed my mind that much because I've seen so much of the other side. But what you're telling me is at the highest levels, be aware they are now vigilant and with tech being what it has become the last 10 years, oh my goodness, they're that much more knowledgeable about what to expect. Especially with those who you say have experience and that's their main focus and function. That is good to know. Gold.

Jerry Gold. Any other insights? I want to honor your time, Chris. Any other insights that people should know about creating their unforgettable speaker demo?

Real.

I think the number one thing that you want to be focused on with your brand is how to tell a story. It really is. I mean again it's just, it's, it's just to, for everyone to remember that when you are giving a story in your keynote, that is when everyone stops moving, that you watch their body, they stop fidgeting, they stop moving. You can watch this hush come over the crowd when you're talking to them about some details or giving them some information, people start moving a little bit, they're not as engaged. If a story is the most effective way to make your keynote rememberable, memorable, why would your, why would you not make your video into a story? Right? And so our brain processes information and stories we all know. And you've got to make your entire brand a story. And in a story the character and the problem always come first. And I'm telling you that your website, 90% of every website I go on, it has the, the guide, it has the person who's the one to answer all the questions, all the stories about them. Right? And it's just, it's the number one thing in videos. It's the number one stuff. It's look at your keynote and notice in the first 10 minutes. And this is your guys's area, right. How many times the word is used that's I, I, I, I, I. It is just non stop. I count with our editors or clients. When I'm doing a keynote, let's compare used to eyes in this. And I will show them 90% eyes and 10% use. Right. So let's turn that around and you'll watch the engagement go up. So in the first part of your video, your goal is to show them that you understand their problems, their challenges, and you have insight for them before you're going to prove to them why you're so uniquely qualified. And that makes the difference. A story always has a character and a problem first. You are not the hero of the story. Right? You are the person that can help the hero be successful. That's your role. Make your video show that and they will love you for it.

Darren always preaches the I vs you ratio should not be upside down. And I do know you touched on this earlier, said 30 seconds, 60 seconds, 90 seconds, 2 minutes, 46 seconds to be precise. Yeah, Just as a point for those who are new at this point, and I know I asked before, I didn't ask properly. When they use the term sizzle, does that imply a shorter video as opposed to demo being a longer video? Just that one clarification. Am I wrong about that?

I think it's interchangeable at this point, people. But I will tell you that what they think about is like sizzle. They're really thinking about it from the standpoint of just give me something quick. Right? And, but I. But I will tell you that usually if you get just kind of a lot of the stuff up front and then for the last, like, you can do a five or seven minutes of speaking after. But, but what I will tell everyone is that you want to think about your. Your keynote as sections, and you want to isolate key stories, key points, key areas that you address problems. And you want to isolate all of those and have those regularly, you know, uploaded on LinkedIn and sharing those. And you want to follow up with people if you do make it to the shortlist. Hey, on our call, you talked about blank. Here's a section from my keynote where I talk about exactly that. Once people are chosen you for their short list, now is the time where they want to see longer clips of you. So there is a lot of room and space for long sections of speaking, just not in that first marketing material, right? And people, that's the difference today is that people are like, well, how long should I make it? It's like it should not be long clips of you speaking. It should be a tight, clean, quick story that gets them interested. And then your speaking should stand alone on its own. You should be listening to Darren and Mark. So powerful in your speaking that your speaking does the or speaking for you. And your speaker video should just get them enticed and excited to get you into a convers.

I suspect for some of our analytical thinkers they may be saying okay, a short video to get me on the short list. Must I then have something else once I'm on a short list that's going to be longer. Do I need to have two different videos and they may be obsessing over this. I'm trying to imagine them asking you the question Chris, do I need to then well no.

And that's what I'm saying is you want standalone speaking clips about about what your key problems are. So again it's like the longer sections. I want three to five minute sections of your keynote cut and ready to go. Oh right. And again where I tell people well what sections? The parts of your sections where you tell a great case study or story. You know I was working with an organization and blank, blank and blank. They you're telling a story about an organization or a person you worked with who has their same problems and you're saying in your keynote you've already got this right and what we learned during the process was blank, blank and blank. And once they do to do and the results were like that's a perfect story that you want isolated, cut apart and like it's longer section. You want to be able to have sections of your keynote that allow you to say this same this exact line in your email. It was so wonderful to speak with you. On our call you spoke about blank. Here's a section for my keynote where I talk about exactly that and you're giving them longer sections and they're going to watch that as committee and be like yeah, this is what we're looking for.

Great insight. I have a digital post it that I program that I can pop up and I have all my links ready to share. So for you if you're picking up what he's saying, we get the speaker demo reel and then we have clips specific and you think back to the conversation. What did they bring up? What were their concerns? And then in the follow up email you give them that section. And Chris, you will probably appreciate that in my with the going back to the IU ratio in my championship speech I had 34 you or your statements in seven minutes and I didn't even realize it till after but when we started teaching this I was like I wonder how many And I Looked, see.

And then you won. Right? That's the whole difference. These are like, so they're unconscious. We're not thinking about it. But I will tell you, if anyone on the, on the line there, there's two kinds of speakers that are, are the, when you look at your keynote, you're going to find that it's predominantly. There's four kinds of speakers, by the way, and, and two of them. You can't help it. You want to tell your story, you want to share what you've learned and there's going to be a lot of eyes, a lot of eyes in there and what you do. And Darren again and Mark, this is their specialty, so you work with them to do it, but you switch those around and change that. People are going to love you for it.

So subtle, but it pulls the person in subconsciously.

Mark Chris, a thought occurred to me when you mentioned the clips because I have a friend named Darren something who's notorious for posting short clips on Instagram and TikTok. So I'm going to be the new speaker. Hey, I've been posting short clips on social media for the last seven months. Could I use some of those as my meteor clips of content to share after I make the shortlist?

Chris yeah, absolutely. Especially if any of them have gotten some like long, some strong likes on them or views and impressions.

But it might be better that friends Darren does that either a little bit. But I'm going to revisit this. Catch that. Do you have those clips on Instagram, Tic tac, tick tack, tick tock that you've been using that could fit, could fit exactly what Chris is saying. You may have material you don't know already in place to support you as you put together your speaker demo reel.

Larry But I think what he's also saying is it would be even better if it was you on stage.

Yes, you are. I have clips of me on stage. I did an event for a good point of wisdom. But that clip I could then convert and use to support why the client should consider me because here is the proof I need to support the idea that I can solve their problem. I hadn't thought of that. So thank you, Chris. That's wisdom which I received.

All right, so Chris, as we wind down here, Mark, if you want to gather your notes, I know your new offer is coming for emerging speakers, but how would people reach out to you and find out more about you or talk to you if you, if they're, they're ready for the, the Krist west.

Treatment yeah, well, no matter where you are in the business, absolutely. Always just feel free to fill out our form on videonarative.com our team is amazing about responding right away. And one of the things that I truly believe in is, is service. Meaning sometimes people say, I, I had one call with you, I put 10% of every one of the speaking engagements. I got away for a year, and then I came back after 12 months and I started working with you. Right. My rates are not cheap, but it's because we tend to get very high results. Very high results. And where you're starting to see that 7,510k, 15k and up to 20,25k. A lot of our clients now, they started at 12 or they started at 7,500, and today they're 20,25 consistently. It's that kind of process. And I want you to think that way. Right. So though, for those emerging speakers, but a lot of times that first call or those first resources might be, here's a great video and here's an assignment, or here's an amazing editor. For example, I have editors now all over the country who, some of them are in Canada and amazing at it with the exchange rate. Right? Some of you guys listening to this are from Canada. But if you're from the U.S. like, the exchange rate is significant. And. And I have trained editors all over the country. So my goal has been to always have an answer available for whoever connects with me so that in one way or another, I can always be of service. That's the idea here. So the last thing here is just to say, and I think, Darren, and you're such a good proponent of this, take action before you're ready. You know, it's like, people are always like, well, maybe once I get blank, blank and blank, then I'll reach out. Well, when will that be? And not only that, but now you know the plan, right? Now you know the structure. You can have a conversation with someone and be like, great, so that's your rate. Okay, I'm gonna work up to that. Right? Or whatever it is. But reach out to the people you want, who you need help with before you're ready, and constantly reach out and take the next step before you're ready. And some of you are great at that, and some of you guys are overanalyzers, and you're thinking and thinking and thinking about being 100% ready. F that it's not going to work, jump on it. You know, be proactive. And again, seven habits, the first seven that is proactive. Be proactive. So that was a way too long of an answer, Darren, to your question. But I just will say that so often I have people, people be like, I was thinking about reaching out to you two years ago and I'm like, you lost those two years right? When we could have moved so fast.

Mark west wisdom.

Definitely.

So Mark, what do we got for keepers?

Well, first of all, you have to be in a category of 1. Create a narrative in your video, which means your video must must tell a story. Now Chris also said this not about video, but made me think dedicate your life in the service of others. With that thought in mind, you will give them your best video. Remember, meeting planners and bureaus will build their short list based on the content of your speaker video. Which means your speaker video is a sales tool to get you on the short list. It should make you stand out and you go answer the question why should I as a meeting planner choose you? It should make you become the one or not the one for the assignment. Your video should be like a good movie and times to consider 30 seconds, 60, 90 or maybe 2 minutes and 46 seconds. But be strategic with your video. Remember, the meeting planner once looks to disqualify you with with your video. So make sure you make your brand a story. Have the character and the problem revealed up front. Create standalone clips with more information in it but make sure above all take action before you are ready. You do this, chances are you will create your unforgettable speaker demo reel. How did I do?

Chris? Wow, that's incredible. What a gift. I'm like blown away. Wow, that was amazing. Incredible. Yeah, well, but I mean when he played all back that way we just.

Hold up a mirror. Chris to your wisdom. Chris west, thanks for being here. Check out videonarative.com Reach out to his team. Ask questions, ask. Maybe now is not the time, but ask, don't wait. Chris west, thanks for being here. Mark Brown as always and if you're listening to this, please pass this on to someone who you know who maybe needs some help in this area. We love what we get to do. Thanks for being a part. Join us at Get a Coach. Get a speakingcoach.com if you want to work with marker. We are now the duo option that work together with you or check out stagetimeuniversity.com or workshops. Thanks for being here. See you next week.

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