Ep. 207 Your Cutting Room Floor?

The cutting room floor. But Mark, my ideas are genius. I love them. I get a laugh and wait, they're talking about the joke at the end.

Darren, the cutting room floor is a film industry term that refers to footage shot that was not used in the end. And what does that have to do with you and your presentation? Let's find out.

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

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

And Darren Lacroix. And Darren Lacroix.

Stage time. Stage time. Stage time.

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

Hey, Darren. Before we even jump into this, it's funny. In 2019, in Macon, Georgia, I was an extra for the filming of a TV show on HBO called Watchmen with Louis Gossett Jr. And Regina King. I spent the whole day, I got costume in Atlanta, came down to Macon, my hometown. Got up early on the bus, went downtown. I got my part. I was delivering flowers in the city right across from where Louis Gossett Jr. Was sitting. Had a great car chase scene right by my delivery truck. It was awesome. And when the Watchman came out, the scene was not in the TV show. My scene ended up on the cutting room floor. So, Darren Lacroix, what in the round world does that have to do with our presentation? I know, I know. Failed actor.

Okay, well, no, Mark, I was actually in me, myself and Irene. I was an extra. And I too was in a scene that was cut. And I was in a civil Action, a John Travolta Law movie. And I didn't even make it to the set. So I wasn't even in the cutting room floor because I never even made it to the set. I sat in the tent for three days freezing my butt off while they filmed. So I didn't even get there. And some of your material, some of your content may not even get into the speech. However, if some of it, quote, unquote, gets into your speech, one of the things that we teach right out of our book, deliver unforgettable presentations, that the premise is the reason. Or let me say, better yet, Mike. Mark, you like this. The premise is the purpose. If it doesn't serve the purpose, it's gotta go. And I alluded to it earlier. And Mark, we talked about this at our workshop, own the stage, which we just did. A couple weeks ago, yeah, I had a joke that I loved. It was actually in line with the idea, but the joke about fun suckers was so strong that people were talking about that rather than the message. So even though it supported the premise, it actually overshadowed the premise. And so because of that, we had to put it on the cutting room floor. My initial reason for writing Ouch was this quote by Dr. Goddard that I loved and it inspired the writing. That was the reason I was like this. This is the speech. And I've heard Craig say it before, Craig Valentine, that sometimes it serves its purpose and its purpose isn't in the end result. It got him to do something. And that's what I think of when I realize it got me to write the speech. That was its only purpose because it just didn't resonate, even though I thought it was great. And we say this to you as you're listening, you're going to have some brilliant ideas that you love that don't serve your audience or your message.

Yeah. And if I were to categorize this particular point, Darren, I asked you all my friends, to examine the weightiness of the content. How weighty is it? As Darren says, audiences love the great fun sucker joke. Yeah. But my point was if the weight of something you say, your favorite story, your. It's a story, an experience you had, if it is so heavy it overshadows the point and the premise, then perhaps that's not the place for that particular reference. It's a hard call to make, Darren, but it's an. And we saw that also. You know, when we're coaching, we see that with our clients, we see that we have to examine what is more important if the mindset is how can I best serve my audience. It'll help you to make that decision.

Yeah. And we wanted to do this podcast to let you know you're not alone when you have those ideas that you love and you try and force them in there because you love them. Now, look, you've got to love your speech, but you've got to put your audience outcome above the love of your speech. So there are times. Now, we just did this on the stage workshop, a three day workshop and we saw some. Some amazing transformation. Mark. Sometimes we have three out of the five VIPs really transform. This was a definite five for five. And one of the VIPs and we'll call. It's not his real name. We'll call him Tommy. Tommy really struggled because he had some ideas that he want in there. And we talked about this. We talked about the example I just gave you, but we have those ideas that they have to go to the cutting room floor. So what can you do? So you're not crying. You may cry a little, but what we suggest is you put them back in your story file because they might serve a different premise purpose. So don't throw them away, because then you'll. If you just cut them from that version of the speech and you do another outline or another fripped speech model or another script, if you let them go and they're not in the next version, they may never see the light of day again. However, if you put them in their story file, you might be skimming through and they might serve. Let's just say it's a story of banking and going with your grandfather to get your very first checking account, and he helps set it up as this beautiful moment. And together the joy that he had and you had. Now, that might be a story that you love. So you put it in your story file. You. Now, if you have Wells Fargo as a client coming up, that story then may come off the, you know, be resurrected from the cutting room floor and serve that audience, even though it may not serve most audiences. So please save those brilliant ideas because they might have a different purpose.

And Darren, thank you for that. Because. Thank you for that because now you're touching on a second idea. We mentioned the weightiness before. Now it's the relevance. And here's a concern I have, and I've been guilty of this, so I teach all my clients this. You may have that story that you really love, and it's one of those that, oh, you love to tell. People ask you to tell the story when you go to parties and barbecues. It's great. However, is it the most relevant story for that particular audience in that particular presentation at that particular time? And sometimes we're guilty of trying to force our favorite story into our presentation because one, it's so good, two, people ask to hear it, and three, we love to tell it. These are all valid qualities. However, we must ask ourselves, is it the most relevant story or anecdote for this particular audience and this particular presentation at this particular time? And the hard. The answer is no. It's a hard no to hear, but the no is telling you it's not the right time. And Darren, you mentioned Tommy earlier. What was really impressive to me about Tommy over three days is one of the ideas he left on a cutting floor had been the primary idea in his present when he first came. It was a primary idea. And we went through a premise and worked through it for two or three days. He realized, you know what? That's gotta go. It's gotta go. And it was transformational for him to see that happen, even though that was originally the driver. And Darren, you also had. When we worked together 22 years ago, you mentioned the famous cherry tree. And that was really almost a linchpin in your presentation. When you let that go, it transformed your presentation, which has been replayed and repeat all over the world. People still talk about Aaron Lacroix falling on his face. Here we are 22 years later. That's how powerful that concept is when done appropriately.

Yes, when I work on, we talk about the World Championship a lot because that was a pivotal speech in my career. However, all of this is still relevant to what I'm doing today. I'm working on a new keynote called all in a different version of 17 minutes to your dream. Whenever I try new content, I like to go to Toastmasters and try it out and try it out and try it out and try it out and try it out. But here's the part at the end of the speech, I asked them, who are conditioned for feedback, what inspired you? What made you think? What was unclear? And then any other comments? What inspired you? What made you think? What was unclear? And any other comments? So those are four questions. So I give my audience specific feedback that I need and want because if it made them think, as we teach, the thought process in the listener's mind is critical and that's what most people miss. That's the ultimate editor. So if it's not affecting their thoughts, you know, I had back in the day, everyone mentioned my mom and dad story that that made them think. So that stayed now working on all in. In 17 minutes to your dream, I had things that you are the CEO of your dream that was resonating. I had a few other ideas that were commonalities. We're looking for commonalities, not just these one offs. Like one person said it, you got to be careful because sometimes, Mark, if it's going to go in that cutting room floor, we don't want to put it there. And that one person says it and we justify keeping it. Well, unless most people or a quorum are really loving it and commenting on it and thinking about it. One of my other moments after I tell the Jonah and the whale story and how it related to my story, I say, have you been swallowed by the whale of self doubt? And I either get a who or I Get people writing it down. Well, that also helps me build my hand out, knowing which are the moments that bam. That elicit emotion and get them to think that's what I want them to write down. So I'm looking for that. So I'm actually building my handout based on what's resonating as well as what points do I include and what points don't I. So we did an episode a couple weeks ago about your audience writes your speech. This is part of what we're talking about. It ties into that. Highly recommend going back to that episode. I think it was 2000, 2000, 205. But your audience writes your speech. Go check if this idea, you like this, you want to explore it more, go and check that out. But that helps us determine what goes on the cutting room floor for this audience and this delivery. But capture it.

And we always tell you, you know, test your content. We mentioned Toastmasters, which is a great laboratory for testing content. You may have other means of doing so, a mastermind you work with if you're part of the National Speakers association or your chapter, the pieces of it. But test your content, because your audience will tell you, hey, that's got to stay in. Or they'll say, oh, you know what? That's a nice story, but it really doesn't serve your purpose. I know you love it. I've heard it before. But right now, for this audience, you really don't need it. And it's a very hard and difficult decision to make. However, with your audience's benefit in mind, it becomes easier. If you know your audience, your test, or just telling you, that's nice, but it's not relevant. It's a difficult pill to swallow. And this is the kind of work that people who are serious will do because they'll put aside their personal preference, knowing that at this point, this particular piece will not serve my audience well. How can I best serve them? Here's a plus. In my opinion, when you serve audiences well, chances are you'll be given a second opportunity to serve them. And that's when a different message may be more appropriate and that story can come out and they get the benefit of more of your wisdom, more of your expertise, more of your experience, a better opportunity to get to know you as a presenter as well. Serve the audience first, and the results will be outstanding.

Hmm. And Mark, if you remember, you talked about the cherry tree had to go in my speech went on the cutting room floor. But to make our point, when I created my first keynote from Chump to champ. In 2001, when I started speaking at Toastmasters around the world, I brought that back because I had more time. But I was teaching a different subject. It wasn't to inspire willing to fail. It was to teach how to write a speech. So when I revisited that and created the keynote with a different premise. So for that premise, it worked. And we've talked about this before in structure that originally I put it in the middle, but it was so strong it had to go to the end. So even though it was on the cutting room floor for my out speech, it became the closer for my chump to Champ speech.

And you just said you were working on a keynote and I had more time. Those three words are key. Had more time. Fix. For a third concept, we mentioned the weightiness upfront, how heavy this content is. We mentioned her relevance for the audience. And the third idea I want to share is based upon the length of time we have. When we have a 45 minute keynote or a 60 minute keynote, we have time to insert some of our favorite material. We can really massage it. But there are other times when we are restricted by the length of time we have to deliver a presentation. We may have three really strong stories and you want to use all of them. One of them and sometimes two will have to go to the cutting room floor. Which one? It might not be your favorite, but in terms of the best way to serve, it might be your favorite. But time can be a constraint. We teach Darren. We do our keynote program about the Frick model. If we have time, we cut off one of our points, one of our examples. As a quarter point of wisdom, those who know our program and our book will see this. And that means sometimes letting go of a piece of your favorite content. And as you grow, as you build your content, you'll find very often you'll have several bits of favorite content. It's all good. People want to hear it. But when time constraints abound, you have to let go. I love what Craig Valentine said about one of his first keynotes, the four R's. For remarkable results. I go to a program, he's got his four Rs, I'm going to share them and someone says, oh, our time is short. Oh, great. I have a new program, it's called the three Rs, for remarkable results. And it comes down to that one R. At times we have to cut something and if we love our whole presentation, sometimes our best bits will end up on the cutting room floor because of time constraints.

Yeah, and I love the metaphor of the cutting room floor. Because I don't know about you, Mark, but I can visualize these clips of film on a floor and someone just with dirty work boots stepping on them. And that's the part that breaks our heart. But instead of putting them in the cutting room floor, we're encouraging you to put them in your story file because they are gold. They're just not gold for this premise, on this day, for this audience.

And sometimes, on a more humorous note, you may get some cool outtakes. The movies over, they got the outtakes that was cut, but you leave it in for amusement. And who knows? I had just Darren, I just thought of this and sometimes what gets cut could end up being a bit of humor in a subsequent presentation. I don't know. But the idea is the difference between the film cutting room floor, darren said, and our cutting room floors. And look, feel free to call it your cutting room folder if you want, but the idea is we will not discard it to be trodden on forever. We're not discarding it at all. We're simply reassigning it and storing it for later use. Who knows, one day you'll come up with a talk, the last episode of Darren lacroix presentations. I don't know. But the idea is don't discard it. Find other ways to use it down the road. Because even though everything won't make your favorite presentation, maybe a favorite story will end up on the cutting room floor. It'll still have value for you somewhere down the road.

And Mark, as we wind this down, I just want to do a quick shout out to our friends who are Toastmasters, those of you who competed this year and make the semifinals. That doesn't mean it's done. It doesn't mean it's over. It just means it didn't work for you this year. And as Steven Tyler said, and we talked about this before when he was on the American Idol, he said, when I cast somebody home and say, you're not the American Idol, what I'm really saying is you're not the American Idol today. You just have to go back and learn a few more lessons in the club. Now he's talking about nightclub playing bands. For us, it's maybe Toastmasters or wherever you're speaking or presenting. So please do not give up. It just means there's a few more things you need to learn. We'd love to have you join us at one of our workshops, stagetownworkshops.com or check out our weekly call stagetimeuniversity.com and for those of you who have made the semifinals, congratulations. Remember to serve your audience. It's very easy to start getting mesmerized by the trophies and the big trophy. Guilty. But please serve your audience and remember, the trophy is the side effect. Mark Brown, take us home.

One more thought for you. Your. Your talk, your speech may not serve in the way you want right now, but you never know what you could do with it later on down the down the road. So listen, there's always value in everything you say and even what you leave on the cutting room floor. Take care of yourself. See you next week.

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