Ep. 22 Patricia Fripp Get Higher Reviews Than More Famous Speakers

Hey, Mark Brown, are you pumped or what? For our guest today, literally a legend in the speaking world, the first female president of the National Speakers Association. Oh, my goodness. Mark.

Oh, man. Truly amazing. I recall going to a conference several years ago with a few other world champions, including you, and we saw Patricia Fripp in the hallway, and all of us were on our knees basically adoring her. And it was wonderful because for several years, for over 10 years, we had the privilege of sharing with her the platform at lady and the Champs. I can't wait for everyone to meet the lady behind lady and the Champs, who in her first career was paid for the words that came out of her mouth. And since then, she has transitioned, and now she gets paid to help people get words out of their mouths. Darren, I can't wait.

I am not the person. I am the business person. I am the speaker that I am. If it was not for. For our guest. Oh, my gosh. Ladies and gentlemen, Patricia Fripp.

Nobody can be that good. However, I will do my best.

Yeah. She warned Mark and me beforehand that we are not to tell people she walks on water. Just let them see that I do so. All right, let's go.

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.

So, Patricia Fripp, thank you for joining us. Welcome.

My pleasure.

We have been trying to get her on since we started in August, but I'm glad because we had to work out the kinks before we had the privilege of her presence.

Well, I was always told I should play hard to get.

Well, down. It's been five months, but well worth the wait because it's gonna be difficult to Pac everything Patricia has, everything she does and everything she is in this short time span. But let's do our best to let the people know just how wonderful she truly is. Patricia, I'm so thrilled you're joining us today for this podcast episode.

All right, what's my first question?

SHE winces. No words. Patricia, for those of you listening who don't know her background, how did you get started in the speaking business?

I was a very successful men's hairstylist in my 20s and I started traveling nationwide for a hair product company developing seminars for hairstylists. And because my clientele were movers and shakers in the financial district of San Francisco. And you always talk to your hairstylist about what you were doing. They said, well, come speak at my staff meeting, on my team meeting. And from that I realized people who heard me speak came in my salon. And then, because with my friends at the Dale Carnegie class, we went to every seminar we ever heard about, and I heard about the National Speakers Association, I joined, went to my first convention thinking no one's going to want to talk to me. I only talked to Rotary clubs and hairstylists and I got discovered by a big time promoter who booked me to speak to 2,000 people on the same program with Dr. Robert Schuller, the minister from Garden Grove. And although I knew it would be a long term goal, I realized this is a profession I could have in the future.

And you did many presentations at Rotary clubs and Kiwanis clubs talking about men's hairstyle and, and that led people to you men, to you, to.

Yes, I talked about funny stories that happened in my salon. However, what I really started developing, which was my first area of speaking, was what I was doing in my salon. How to get, keep and deserve customers. And most speakers, when they begin, they want some lofty presentation. But really you get paid for what you know. And that's what I knew superbly well.

And because when you entered the speaking world, it was a very male dominated world, how did it happen that you became the first female president?

That was really the idea of Bill Johnson, who was the executive director at the time, because he said this would be our 10th year and it would be a great time to have a woman president. And as it happened, I was the first woman president. Jeanne Robertson, the next year, top humorist was the second. And since then, of course, there've been many women presidents and there are probably now at least 50, 50 male, female members of the National Speakers Association. And I'm sure as you look at your audience, come learn from you, it's 50, 50.

And what advice would you have for women who are trying to, let's say, make it a male dominated industry? What insights could you give them?

Some of the advice that I have given women speakers on their way up is it's okay to talk about your family. People like Mark Sanborn talk about their family. However, you are invited to speak about business. And therefore at least the first one third of your presentation has to be business content before you Introduce a story about your family. And I know several women I've heard and coached. They started with an opening story with their children. Don't do it. And this is a business. When I first joined the National Speakers association, it was people like Mike Frank, who was a great speaker, a great supporter and promoter of newer speaker and women speakers. Would you consider a woman? Fast forward very few years and industries realized even if they were male dominated, they had to show they were modern thinking. So at that point they were looking for women. Still had to be a business message. And then it got to the point and I can't tell you what year, but I believe it is more now it's more the personality and the content rather than is it a man or a woman?

Patricia, question for you quickly. Was there some degree of evolution in your talk from the funny stores? In your salon, you mentioned the business was important. Did your subject matter, your material undergo some kind of evolution or metamorphosis into something that was more business related? Or did you have one particular talk that was your strength that took you great distances?

All speakers need to develop their first classic speech. What I was lucky enough to learn to do by watching George Morrissey as the person I give the most credit to for teaching me this was expanding your talking points. So if you say we say three talking points, three major ideas around a theme in your keynote, your first stories are always going to be those that are your classic stories on the subject. However, then you look at how did these principles that I might say got me customers from behind the chair? How do you expand them to other industries? And then as I talk to my clients who were hiring me, I would ask them specifically, how does this idea work in your business? So you might not have more talking points. However, you have a breadth of content around each point from different industries. And then as you know, and one area I believed you wanted me to talk about, how do you expand that to look like an industry expert? We, which is pretend to be a customer or a potential customer. And then for a couple of my clients, when it was a repeat engagement, I went to work for them for a day, which of course you have to have photos to show in the presentation. And if you want an unforgettable presentation. Now as speech coaches and speakers, we look at unforgettable presentations probably a different way than our paying customers. And an unforgettable presentation for a customer, which is more important now, which makes a big difference rather than 30 years ago. It has to be customized. It has to sound as if wow, he or she wrote that for us. Now, we know in putting together a speech structure that the structure might be the same for every presentation. Our core stories and examples might be the same. But the personalization from the industry, from their customers, from interviewing their leaders, looking for heroes within their organizations, we can talk about that, reinforce our message.

And while we're on that subject, I know you tell some classic stories about the tree company that you customized for. And one you actually hired them and another one you went on site, location, as an employee. Tell us about, first of all, why did you do that? And then tell us the story of how that wowed the audience.

Very often, especially earlier in my career, I was on the stage with speakers who were a lot better known and a lot better paid. For example, one of my classic engagements, this was in 1996. Zig Ziglar was the first speaker. I think his fee was 25 or 35,000. Mark Victor Hanson was the second. In the days when Chicken Soup for the Soul was at the. And he was one of the hottest speakers and then there was me. So I think Mark was 20,000, Zig was 35 and I was about 5. I don't know. And the meeting planner wrote, it's still on my website. You sure showed Zig Ziglar and Mark Victor Hanson how to give a speech. I have never seen anyone that takes their job as a speaker so seriously. So the lesson from the tree company really came earlier on. And in those days you got booked, unlike, oh, are you available next month, Darren, to keynote 2000 people? No, now it was booked 16 months in advance. Wow. Wow. And I was sponsored by a company called SCI Service Corporation International, which was a big company in the funeral industry. And they said, would you sponsor a speaker? And they said, yes, but only if it's Patricia Fripper. Because I'd spoken for them and obviously they liked me. And for 16 months now, you might have to do it in three. I got all the magazines from the American Cemetery Association. I got all the newsletters from sci. And when I look through a magazine now, you might be looking at a website to do it. You look at their articles and you're always coming for a point of view of what does that remind me of? What does that remind me of? So, for example, one of my ideas was always how everybody represents the company. I don't care if it's the janitor, if the New York Times or the Wall street journal calls at 10:00 clock at night for a quote, if the janitor picks it up they need to know what the talking are for a new tech company, for example. And so I'm looking through, I've got my core speech, but I'm looking for examples. And there's a great story in the American Cemetery magazine about how a grounds person left what he was doing and raced over and made an area look really wonderful, helped made a sale. So I would. And these were the days before PowerPoint. But I had a table which was the narrow side was towards the audience. And all the magazines and newsletters that I picked up to quote, were in order of my presentation. And my opening was a story that I told about when my mother died. And my closing was my. So my opening, I knew 16 months in advance my dead mother's story, which is a happy story. She had a wonderful life. And you can only tell these stories if they really had wonderful lives. And the closing story I got three weeks before and it was my brother had a new album, Blessing of Angels. And I said, well, I like your new cd. He said, have you read the liner notes? Which he dedicated to my mother and several other important women in his life. And my brother, as you know, having had him at lady and the Champs, was very articulate and he closed in a perfect way. So my opening of my presentation was my dead mother story. And then my next line was quoting the chairman of sci. And my closing story with my brother, life is what we're given. Living is what we do with it. And he has this wonderful story. And may my living honor my parents, may my living honor my family and friends. May my living pay the debt of my existence. And I said, then I stepped forward as we teach out of the speech. And I said, may my performance honor your profession and my corporate sponsor, sci. Because what we have to remember is that we have multiple audiences. We have the audience who hires us, which is the association, the audience who pays for us, the corporate sponsor, and the audience who is sitting in front of us. So one, if you look at a success, one was the convention chair said, you sure showed Zig Ziglar and Mark fit. Don't have to give a speech. Two, you have the corporate sponsor who was very happy. And they were built within two important parts of my presentation, as well as a couple of examples from the newsletters I'd read. But third, I got a letter from the audience, someone in the audience, and he said, my wife was always too embarrassed to tell her friends what I do for a living selling cemetery plots until she heard your presentation and she realized it's people like Me, who help people like you in a time of grief and pain. What an important job I had.

Wow, man. That's a powerful story. And what blows my mind is the experience comes from someone who was telling funny stories about doing hair. And the growth. The transformation that you underwent and the diligence you took to make sure to customize everything for the client is a wonderful and powerful example to all of us. We want to be unforgettable. We have to realize, and it's deep. Now, you mentioned not just one audience in front of us, but three audiences. We always talk about keepers, Patricia. And for us today, that certainly is a keeper. You don't have just one audience. Thanks for that.

Well, maybe we should then transition. How do you be considered an industry expert? Because usually you work for state associations and you might work yourself up to national. I started at the national association, by the way. There was another area beyond that. I'll tell you all the secrets in those days. And sometimes now they record all the presentations. They had them on those days in cassettes. And I carried a cassette player with me, and they gave me Zig Ziglar speech and Mark Victor Hanson speech. So while I was unpacking and getting ready, I listened to their presentations. So when I summed up my key points, I summed up their key points as well. And everyone says, you know, it was so nice you could be here for the entire conference. Well, I couldn't. Often I would try and be there, but when you're busy and I couldn't, but it seemed like I was. So then when I got invited to speak at state conferences, what most speakers do is speak and leave. I speak and stay. And another technique, if you can go early and stay late, you not only get a wealth of information, you build good rapport with the audience as well as the meeting planners and all the executives and directors you might meet.

It's a great way to stand out. And they notice.

Oh, I know they do notice. And I was sitting in the other sessions and they were saying, wow, it was so nice that you would come and see our sessions. Well, one of the sessions, the first time I spoke at a state conference, it was in New York. I listened to a speaker called Joe Dispenza. Joe Dispenza was the most incredible, amazing man. Well, still is. And in his cemetery, he had very creative marketing ways to get, keep and deserve customers. For example, they had in the summer, a dead resident tour. And he had actors who were acting out the lives of people. And they had famous people in this Cemetery as well as everyday people. But these were so popular, they had little tours around, they had walking tours. There was so much demand for a tour in the cemetery. And this was incredible example. And I wrote an article, death Takes a Holiday, based on this. And I used to use that example. You go to a shopping center or different industry, I say, look, if they can use their creativity to get hundreds of people to tour a cemetery, don't tell me you can't use the same principle to get them in a shopping center or your store. Now extend beyond that. Joe Dispenza called me one day and said, as you know, we've been trying to have a baby because I developed a friendship and my wife has to go in hospital and it's going to be tricky. I need to be there. And I am booked to speak at one of the other chapters, the other state conferences. What would you charge me to go in and give my speech? And I said one, all speakers would go in and fill in to help each other out. I even cashed in frequent flyer miles. He booked for a limo to meet me and had to fly all night. So I said, said, just let them know I am, I won't be there at 8 o' clock in the morning. I'm asleep in. But I said, what were you going to talk about? And I'd heard his speech, but I got his talking points. I said, what would your opening be? And I wrote down what his opening was. So when I got up, I said, I know you're expecting Joe Dispenza, and if he were here, he would tell you, bullet, bullet, bullet, bullet, bullet, bullet, his opening intro. And I said, these are his talking points. So I'm obviously not Joe. However, I have had the pleasure of speaking in your industry and this is my point of view about his talking points. Now, the fact that I had flown in almost at the last minute to help him out again endeared me. He would find any opportunity possible to book me again, which he has several times, and recommended me to anyone who would listen. So you become an industry expert by listening and then interviewing their industry experts. And then again while you're interviewing, you said you would ask them questions about your talking points to see their point of view. Then this was earlier on in my career, but then when you come to the Bartlett Tree Company, so I was just in the habit of looking at what was I willing to do that most people wouldn't. So I became a customer and my opening story made a hero of the woman who picked up the phone when I said, I need someone to look at my trees, but I promise you, I'm not going to be a very big customer. I only have two trees. To which Marilyn, who'd worked in the San Francisco office for a month, said, oh, madam, we don't have any little customers. Everyone's equally important to us. And then, I wish you could have been this the day my very own Bartlett tree expert came to call. The air was electric on Hugo Street. He called and said, I'm going to be two minutes late. And when he arrived, I said, are you living out your car? He said, no, I'm on the way to my honeymoon. I just wanted to look at your trees first. I was the fourth speaker, and I know they forgot the first three, and I know that because when I booked them again, I knew who the other speakers were. They couldn't remember. I didn't remind them.

Because you're a classy woman. I remember early on in my career, I met you at NSA back in New England in the 90s, and you inspired me by stories like the Bartlett Tree Company when you shopped them. Yes, and I have since at the very beginning. I had a big convention for Sheraton for all of their employees at Portsmouth Sheraton, Portsmouth, N.H. and I went in as a customer, and I actually stayed overnight. I put on a outfit of some kind, a cowboy hat, and I put on a Southern accent. I was Richard Wade. I hate to wait. I hate to wait. Don't make me wait. And then I called room service, I complained about everything, and then I reported back. And it's inspired by what you've done, the trail that you've blazed for us. Any other examples of when you went and worked for that company and then how did you use it? So love the Bartlett Tree example. Perfect. Was there another example that you had shopped the company?

Well, another one that made me an industry expert for at least three or four years. And this was in manufactured housing, which is like fancy mobile homes. And when they first called me, they said, we've seen your classic presentation. We don't need you to customize. We just want the speech that we've seen. We've got an industry expert, Tom Winninger. Well, just because they said they don't need it doesn't mean they're not going to be impressed when you are. So what I did, I took a different day in my life. And most of these places were outside Sacramento and in Sacramento, which is 100 miles, and I found them on the Yellow Pages and little search and Found a list and I called them all to see if I needed an appointment. I went to 7 or 8. Only one needed an appointment. And this was a very classy leader in the industry in Sacramento. And I said, my parents are coming over from England and next year and it has been recommended to me that perhaps manufactured housing would be an option. In other words, I am a potential client in the future, but not now. So don't give me a heavy sell now because the time isn't right. The only person, the very classy company when I called now, you understand, my parents were both dead at this point, so they were not coming from England. And this one company, they said, oh, Patricia Fripp, the motivational speaker. 15 of our salespeople came to hear you in Sacramento when you're the opening act for a much more famous speaker and they thought you were much better than the famous speaker. Now I'm caught in my lie, however. So I went to all the others and just as you did, I reported and some ash trays overflowing. But what they all did, except for the fancy company, nobody asked for my information. So this is, I was a long term prospect. That was my acting role. And nobody asked for my information except the really good company. So that pleasantly surprised them. My speech was more customized than Tom, who had probably done what I did years ago, but mine was more customized than him and they hired him to be customized because he was an industry expert. But that led to a lot of work, including the fancy company. They hired me probably eight to ten times in the next couple of years. And then what I also did, this was a company who was really committed to, to quality and customer service. So beyond interviewing salespeople, interviewing the leadership, I went to one of the factories where they were making them and I talked to the gentleman and I know his name. Of course I didn't know I was going to tell you the story, so I can't think of it. And I said, I, I understand when you're in marketing, when you're in sales, it's really easy to say we're committed to quality and excellence and service. How do you get that idea across to the blue collar guys who work with hard hats and earplugs who are doing the dirty work. And he said, if anybody is not living up to the quality we expect. I sit him down and say, are our customers as good as your mother? If your mother spent her life savings as a down payment for one of our homes and one third of her Social Security every month to make the Payments. Would your work be good enough for your mother? And that's what I call is it good enough for your mother technique. Now this was great for them. You understand anytime you are speaking in an industry that has to manage and motivate a blue collar workforce, that perhaps is union, that is a great example to use. So these customized examples not only expand your repertoire, but they go within industries.

It's a way to. It's almost the best marketing as well. Not only for impact on that audience, but when you're unforgettable, it leads to more work.

Yes.

And it allows you to out present the competition when you are willing to do that work. I know also one of the most famous Patricia Fripp speeches I've ever heard of was when you first started, you did a. I think it was a main stage at NSA where you actually had your hair clippers out.

Oh, yes.

And you were actually cutting hair while you delivered your keynote. Tell us about that.

All right, well, I'll give you the backstory, please. The backstory. I believe that was 1998 or 9. I delivered a presentation on movie techniques that you need to know to help your presentation. The convention was in San Antonio and this was a casual convention. However, I'm a great believer. What is the show before the show? Darren and I, we live in Vegas. You know, you go to see a lot of acts, but there's some type of entertainment or video clips of the stars that you're about to see earlier in their career. So it's the show, show before the show. So we had movie posters all over the walls. We were playing music that were the theme songs from movies. And as people came in, we had tacky tourists running over asking for their autograph. And then John Cantu in a tux with a gentleman called Charles Jenkins who came to our conventions from Korea. In those days, the cameras were a lot bigger on your shoulder. And Cantu was interviewing. John Cantu, our deed departed friend, was a comedy legend. He started the Holy City Zoo, which was the first comedy club in San Francisco where a lot of the famous comedians, Dana Carvey, Robin Williams got their first, really their first engagements. But he was saying, the limos are three deep, the helicopter is circling. Steven Spielberg will be here soon. And I had different NSA members dress up in evening clothes and they were the famous, they were the famous actresses on the red carpet and actress Cantu was interviewing. So there was all this before it came in. And then we. Yeah, so very successful. Now afterwards, Dan Maddox, who, as you know, is my longtime Client first hired me three years into my full time career. This year will be the 24th consecutive convention I've spoken at, coached their leaders on their presentations, delivered a speaking school for their speakers. Anyway, he said, that was really good, the movies. What you should do is give a haircut while you're giving a speech. Then I ran it by brother, my brother. And he said, sister, that's a brilliant idea because there's two areas you've been really good at speaking. Cutting hair makes perfect sense to put them together. So again, it's beyond the haircut and the speech. This was at a winter workshop and I happened to be speaking at the chapter there three or four months ahead of time. And I met one of the gentlemen there and I said, would you do me a favor? You have good hair. Will you promise to not have your hair cut? Forget what your wife says or you're concerned about your clients. Do not have your hair cut for at least 10 weeks. And then now again, we went with the theme, just as we had with the movies. So I had a chair. They gave me a new person involved. I said, no, no, no. I need Nancy Diaz from Columbus. I need a longtime NSA member to be my room monitor chairperson. And I had her go out and recruit 10 hot babes. Now the hot babes. Now my yellow page ad. Because when I went into business, the best marketing, you had to have the best yellow page ad, which was me with my short blonde hair, with my big shears in front of my face with one of my friends Jufro around it, very distinctive. So I had that put on T shirts. So they had T shirts tied at the waist with short black skirts, black hose and high heels. Now all the marketing was hear her razor sharp wit, learn her cutting edge strategies. So the whole marketing, I Even had Al McRee write me a jingle. Don't get clipped, get fripped. I had big, big, you know, the clippies, frippy clippies with don't get clipped, get fripped. I had. The set was like a barbershop. We had three chairs and, and I had drapes with don't get clipped, get fripped embroidered, really large. So you could see at the back of the room, one of the clients in his chair was Ken Braley, who had been one of my hairstyling clients. And as people came in the room, the hot babes, one was buffing nails, the other one was polishing shoes on stage. And everyone was saying, do you have an appointment? So they were totally in character. And then I got the hot babes for the men, but for the women, Dan Maddox, who was one of the customers, but he was also the introducer. So Dan is very handsome. In 1999 or 2000, he was gorgeous. So we put a small T shirt on him. So it really showed his muscles equal opportunity appealing to the audience. And he gave a great introduction. Now, I was cutting hair because, believe it or not, especially when you use big shears, you have to pay attention. You have to look at what you're doing so the audience could see I was really cutting a lot of hair off because it was coming off on the floor, it was on the drape. And then the customers were supposedly reading magazines, as often they do. And I had their lines printed inside the magazines. So once the introduction was, I was finishing up the haircut so they could see I had cut it. Real haircut, not a pretend. And the opening lines was repartee with the customers. And then I stepped from behind the chair. And I believe my opening line after the repartee with the customers was, if you had a multimillionaire all to yourself for 45 minutes, what would you ask? How about a top salesperson who made $200,000 a year in commissions in 1972? Or a trial lawyer who would explain his strategies for winning unprecedented awards? That was an average day for me before 10 o' clock in the morning when I had my hair styling salon in the San Francisco financial district. And then I went from there. What was in my speech? I cannot remember. I just remember all the setup and the fact I paid $1,500 on jingles and props and T shirts for a speech I gave once, one time.

And do you remember unforgettable? Yeah.

Do you remember any of the feedback you got or comments at all?

I know it was positive and interesting. What I remember even more than that, one of the hot babes, it was her first conference and people said you have to volunteer was Kristen Arnold, who went on to be president. Wow.

So, Patricia, switching gears just a little bit, you've been a speaker coach for decades. You've taught Mark and I and the champs. Not everything you know, but everything we know.

Well, that's usually my line.

As a coach, what do you think makes, or from a coach's perspective, what do you think makes a presentation Unforgettable?

Well, we have to look at two different audiences. There are those who are professional speakers and those in the corporate world.

And part of our audience is also pastors.

Ah, pastors. Good. I've also one of my most Fun assignments was speaking to 357th Day Adventist pastors. That was great. I did several.

And your opening line for them was.

Now, what was it?

365, 65 times in the Bible it.

Said it came to pass. It did not say it came to stay. And unless your sermon is well constructed, artfully crafted and charismatically delivered, it will not come to stay in the hearts, minds and lives of your congregation.

Bam.

I'm glad you remembered that.

Unforgettable, right?

Unforgettable.

Well, so what makes a presentation unforgettable from your perspective?

Well, one, is it unforgettable for the audience? Unforgettable for the sponsor and the customer? There has to be a segment that the audience thinks, wow, it was written for me. So you put that aside.

Relatable. Gotcha.

I would say let's, let's begin with pastors. Pastors have a lot in common with corporate leaders. And one of the biggest issues that I have with corporate leaders is that I will ask them questions to find out. I don't know if Michael Haig would call it the origin story, but at what moment was it in your life earlier on that made you destined for what you're now doing, leading this company, bringing out the personal stories. So for example, with one, he was a 14 year old ball boy before the French Open. That's when he started understanding strategy. And it was very important. His message was, our strategy is sound. Then for another who just went to work at Oracle, when was it the moment you knew technology in this area? And it turned out to be when he was taking his PhD, his professor, this was his first class since the professor got his PhD and he was so excited. And that was really when his future was set in stone. And he said to me after, you know, it never occurred to me to not only talk about that, but never even realized that was the moment that his destiny was set.

And I bet they light up too when they tell those stories.

Yes, delivery. Exactly. So bringing the essence. And I remember in one of our coaching camps we did together and we had some of the pastors from Verve and I asked one of the wonderful young men there, what's your sermon going to be on Sunday? And he didn't know, I haven't written it yet. But I was asking him questions about the moment that he knew he was going to be a pastor and the moment that he had a certain relationship with Jesus, that this was obvious. And I asked him some questions ago, when was the moment? And he came up with that moment. I said, that should be the opening of your sermon. So that's where it's taking the message that you're talking about the passage or the focus. And then how does that. It might be that's how Jesus interpreted it, or that was the story, the biblical story. But how is that in your life? Because for some of our congregation, it's easier to see the message when they hear it through the life stories of the pastor. Now, where I go to church, Jeff Gaines, our minister, is a wonderful speaker. The three of us always tell our students and our audiences about the importance of the opening. And a couple of openings that I've never forgotten from Jeff once was, if you had one chance to say one thing to one person about the nature of God, what would that be? And then he went on to say, obviously I spend a lot of time thinking about that, and to me, I think God wants us whole. Now, as an exercise, you could say to any of your students, fill in the blanks. If you had one chance to say one thing to one person about the importance of presentations or whatever your subject is, what would that be? Just as a creative exercise, Another of Jeff Gaines sermons began with, when was the last time joy leapt out and bit you on the butt? Now and then he told a story about there was a time in his life where he used to dance. And he said, there was one time he was in church and this spirit just got him. He just had to climb out and just dance in the aisles because he got the feeling that we would like our congregations to get so 1. Personal stories as it ties into the scripture or the conference or the message the executive has. And as we tell every speaker, the purpose of the opening is to arouse interest in the subject. Ladies and gentlemen. Yeah. Oh, good. I always like it when Darren writes down and then Mark Brown writes down what I say. The purpose of an opening is to arouse interest in the subject. And you might want to say thank you to the corporate sponsor. We're glad you're all here, but I was telling that's fine, but you need to say something that grabs them first. If you have to introduce yourself, it doesn't need to be the first couple of lines out of your mouth. Sell the subject long before you.

And in terms of mistakes that you see a lot of presenters make that block them from being unforgettable, what are some of the mistakes? Classic mistakes. You see.

See, I would see with speakers, it would be that although it's important the audience knows who we are, I would not build an entire speech Unless you have a very dramatic story about your life. A story about your life, but it goes back to you get paid for what you know. What do you know that people would get benefit from? And this is very important because Brian Palmer, president of National Speakers Bureau, he says it is a lot more difficult now for us to sell speakers because the bean counters are in making the decisions. And there are a lot more people that have input to who do we hire? And the bean counters always want to know how. By investing in this 15 or 20 or 25 or 40,000 keynote, how are we going to get the feedback? So that's one for speakers for corporate executives. It would be tied to PowerPoint, not starting early enough and not getting help. There are people like all of us who are in business. There are plenty of speech coaches. And beyond that, because a lot of my clients have speech writers. They have corporate communication department that can research, that can build their PowerPoint. What they need is someone who doesn't get a paycheck from them on a regular basis to be able to tell them the truth.

The truth, yes.

So very often, you know, I say, is well left to your own resources. How would you open that presentation? I say, that is great if you are the president of the Rotary Club, but you're the president of a $2 billion software company. I think we can do better than that. Why don't you say this?

I always think of the advice you gave Craig Valentine when you had the first phone call with him and you said, tell me how you would open. And he said it, and he said, I'm going to suggest that you never do that again.

I know.

Boom. You had a client.

Yeah. Now then the next one was for ministers. Now, ministers have a unique challenge is because they have to write a new.

Speech every day for the same audience. Yes.

And so what I would say is, you're going to have notes, however, you might even write out a whole script, but you don't have to read it. As we teach our students that I learned from Ron Arden, it's better to be personable than perfect. And as long as you've got your opening, your clothes, you've got your talking points, you know how this fits into. You can read the scriptures, but the rest of it, your personal story, it doesn't matter if it's not word perfect. Look at your congregation when you're telling the stories.

So Mark, as we come into wrapping it up here. So Mark keeps our keepers for the whole podcast, we would like to have you reflect on what was one bit of advice, the most important advice you have for presenters to become unforgettable. But, Mark, do you have any questions? Because I've been rattling off all the questions here.

Well, I have one because I hear from Fripp, a thread of creativity in her career, and she places great emphasis on opening. Well, and I have to ask you, Fripp, I heard you over 20 years ago discussing an opening you did. That not just got the audience interested, but it had them leaning forward. Where you depict this encounter with a man at a hotel. And it was delightful, but also deceptive and powerfully effective. How did the idea first come to you and why did you choose to use a risque opening that suggested some kind of liaison and rendezvous with a man?

Oh, yes. I was gonna say, what on earth was that? I told you. Oh, I know what it was. I looked into his eyes and said, I know you don't know me, but you have to trust me. We don't have very much time, so you need to do exactly what I tell you. I know you're not experienced, but don't worry. I've been doing this for years. And for the next four hours we spent locked in the room, I said, that's good. Now do it again. That's even better. Let's do it standing up. And as he staggered out of the room, he said, I'm exhausted. I've been frit natized and I can't wait to do it again. And as my friends in my men's breakfast club, the golden gate breakfast club, they never get tired of me saying, I just came back from Las Vegas where I was locked in a room with a man I'd never met. We both left smiling and I had a big check.

And that's the way to describe a coaching session, Fripp. Delightful. I do want to respond to Darren's request regarding keepers, and you gave us some wonderful gems today.

Ready for those, Darren, before we go to the keepers. So, Patricia, Fripp, how would people get in touch with you if they want to learn more? Because you have taught Mark and I and the champ so much. We just adore you and love your heart. On how you really want to help all speakers. Like, we have the privilege of just being around you to sponge and learn from you. But how would people get in touch with you? I know you have frippvt as well as do you work still with people one on one?

Yes, I do. They would email me@pfrippripp.com and said, heard you on unforgettable podcast. So we put it in the context pfrippripp.com Excellent.

And where would they go for your Fripp VT? If they wanted to learn more, they.

Would go to FRIP vt, which stands for FRIPP Virtual training and take a trial. Click on take a trial.

Nice. Nice. All right.

Mark Brown, her first keeper was early. He says you get paid for what you know. That told me, don't try to fake it till you make it. Use what you know, don't be spectacular and get paid for what you know. A great lesson is this. Look for heroes within the company and elevate them. Go early, stay late. It says you don't have just one audience, you may have two or more. Be willing to do what most will not ask a key question. If you had one chance to say one thing to one person, what would it be? Last two is this. The purpose of the opening is to arouse interest in the subject and remember it is better to be personable than to be perfect.

And Mark, remember what FRIPP stands for.

Frequently reinforce ideas that are productive and profitable.

I just love that as the close to remember your own name like that's just. That's brilliant. Any last bit of advice for people who give presentations who truly want to be unforgettable?

Repetition and reinforcement. Learning is not something you did, it is something you do.

Learn more from FRIPP Be a sponge. Patricia Fripp, it was truly an honor to have you here. One of my favorite people on the planet. Someone who's done something for not just speakers, presenters, but industry experts. Man, you changed an industry. Thanks for being you. You're amazing. If you haven't figured out I'm one of your biggest fans. Mark Closing thoughts As am I. I.

Am so thankful today Darren. You and I and our audience have been totally fritmatized. Join us next week for our next Unforgettable Presentations podcast.

See you then.

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