Ep. 223 Critical Corridor Conversations

Hey there, Marc Brown. It's not often I come up with a new insight that I say, oh my gosh, I got to do this every time. A powerful insight that I just had at a keynote that I did, and it just came up. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized we have to do a podcast on this because this is something simple everyone can do, yet it's more powerful than you think.

Well, I can't wait to hear what that is. Darren, let's talk about this, shall we?

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.

All right, Mark, think about this. You're an event planner. You hire a speaker and. And you invest a lot of money to bring them in to rock your world, to make the convention amazing right off the bat and have people think, wow, I'm so glad I came. And then after their presentation, you're walking through the hallway and you notice the conversations in the corridor. Are people talking about the content or the speaker or how they'll use what they just learned or what they will do differently? Think of it from the event planner standpoint and they may not even be aware of it, but they will be aware of it if you incite conversations in the corridors. And we hope to do this. And Mark, we talk about this foundational phrase. We talk about Denny Ja when he got everyone to say, I see something in you, which is great, but I'm actually talking about one more step. Now, it's one thing when you do a seven minute speech, we're talking about doing a keynote. But if you're delivering a keynote speech, I thought about this and I was teaching at the Golden Nugget this past week and I was teaching Better stories, Better Business, the program that you and I do in a keynote format. And I was thinking, what I need to get the, let's say the conversation going in the hallway. And then it dawned on me. This simple, powerful technique that I'm going to start using every time, no matter.

What my topic, I'm going to steal it.

Okay, just so you know, I want you to. I want you to, because whether it's the event planner Overhears it or not. But if you in fact incite conversations in the corridor, you're continuing the learning that is not over. When you walked off stage, that now it's got new legs. And so in the middle of my presentation, about three quarters of the way through, I asked, all right, who are the introverts? Because being an introvert, I get it. You're think about this though. You're an introvert. This is your first time at this kind of convention or conference. You're a first timer. You don't maybe have a ton of confidence and maybe you do. If you're an extrovert, maybe you have no problem with this. But I gear it towards the introverts. But I want everyone to hear it.

Sure.

And so I say, raise your hand if you're an introvert, just halfway. And that usually gets a chuckle. And what I want them to do is I was speaking to a consumer reporting association and I wanted them to use stories to help them solve problems. So in their communication, how do we use a story to solve a problem? So I suggested here's the conversation in the hallway starter. Here's the conversation in the corridor. Say jumpstart.

Yeah.

You know, so whether you tell it or whether you ask someone you run into, it becomes that networking icebreaker. What stories do you use and when do you use them? Or what's the problem you solve or what's the problem you have and what story do you tell to help communicate your message? So however we phrase it, it was just an in the moment thing. But now I'm going to be very strategic that my job is to incite conversations in the corridor that takes my message, whatever it is, if it's inspirational, motivational, If I'm talking 17 minutes to your dream, it's to look at each other, remind each other you are the CEO of your dream, or every minute matters or you don't know which minutes will matter or momentum matters. Whatever I feel for that group is going to be the conversation in the corridor that they can continue that. Keep in mind, most conventions or associations, you have people who are brand new, people who may be new to the industry, people who may not be new to the industry, but they're new to the association. And you have veterans, people have been around, people have seen it and done that. How cool as a mentor, as a veteran, that someone new comes up and asks you a simple question. Well, I need to, and I believe it's my job to incite that conversation. So I need to spoon feed them a very simple question to ask or statement to make in order to continue my content in the hallway.

And part of the beauty of that process, Darren, is yes, the audience continues to mull over and revisit your content. But you said earlier it's also a networking opportunity, which I believe can then be extended in some cases into a collaboration. So I come to an event, I hear a speaker with good content. By going into the corridor having these conversations, I may learn someone's best practices. I get to share mine. I have the opportunity to add somebody to my network. But then there may be an opportunity also in addition to collaborate with them, do something together, build a joint venture, maybe a partnership. These are all great possibilities. And I go back to what you mentioned earlier about the meeting planner, who's hopefully very vigilant and is observing this, many of whom will have a questionnaire or a survey they handout after the event. And hopefully not only the event, sorry, the presentation survey in the moment, but at the end of the event when they reflect upon this activity, that's one more indication of the value that you, the presenter, has brought to that event and to that meeting planner. That gives them another reason to consider you for a future program and also to pass your name on to their associates who want a speaker who will impact their audience. Because let's be really honest here, sometimes presenters at conventions are good at best, but are they unforgettable? And that's one way to extend the impact of your unforgettability, if you wish. Because that way you've gone beyond the 45 minutes, you're in their heads for the entire event and beyond. And that, my friend, is powerful. And that's the impact of critical corridor conversations.

Yeah. In this situation, they were dealing with lobbyists, they're dealing with fraud, they're dealing with erroneous data. So they're working with all these things. Well, you have new people who. There's a veteran. Oh, when I have that situation, here's a story I tell and they tell them that story and I remind them that it's. It doesn't even have to be their story. It has to be a relevant story. And if they already have tried and true stories that are in there, let's just say we're walking around with gun belts, we're Clint Eastwood, We've got these stories that always work well, why not share them now? You give a new person a powerful story that's already tried and true and now they know where to use it. They know where it comes in. I just, I Had to share that because I think this could be a powerful concept. Now you got to think of your content. It may be different for each specific audience. If I'm talking to a group of speakers, it may be a different situation. If I'm talking to a group of entrepreneurs, it may be different. So you've got to think you're the expert in your area. What do they need? How can you get the critical conversations in the corridors helping them even more? It just extends your reach. I love the idea. If I haven't been clear about that.

Well, you have been clear. You love the idea. And you know, as I think about for a second, Darren, I was visualizing corridor conversations based upon your content, the trigger. What stories can you tell? Now I'm telling my story to a fellow event attendee. If I'm impactful enough, they may actually pass my story on to somebody else. You know, I talked to Mark Brown at convention last week and he told me this really cool story. Mark, I think I heard of him before. Who is that? You never know what you're creating for your audience. And I go back to the meeting planner one more time as they observe the impact you have. I know, talking about how you can be unforgettable, when you are unforgettable, people will pass your name on. However, it may also provide opportunities for the organization to use your service again. What else do you offer? You provide a workshop that they can do in addition to the presentation, might there be opportunities to enter into a relationship with different companies that are part of the association and become a coach for them, become a resource for them or a consultant for them? Because what you have is so valuable, it should transcend the 45 minutes on the platform. And many of us as presenters, many of us as emerging presenters, Darren, we cannot focus on getting our keynote right. I want to live with this keynote. I want it to be so good they will remember me. Yes, but what happens beyond for you and for your attendees? I believe this concept, the critical corridor conversation concept, can be very vital for us as presenters and even for us as audience members as well. The question becomes, what questions can you include in your keynote presentation that will incite and trigger critical corridor conversations? It means putting some work in to understand the industry, to understand the problems they're facing, to understand the concerns that they have. And the more you personalize your remarks and to make those critical questions incisive and inciting, the more they'll respect the effort you have put in to create a program that speaks to their need, provides them with solutions, but allows them to continue the conversation going forward. To me, that's powerful and I will confess I am going to use this technique. I believe there's so much value in it. I know we don't want to beat, you know, the story to death here, but just thinking about the possibilities, Darren, gets me very, very excited. And I would invite you listeners and view, think about this idea, this concept of critical corridor conversations, what questions to ask, what statements to lead them. Invest some time and ask yourself, what are the different ways they could use my content themselves as a follow up to what I deliver? So they're putting some more work in to gain additional benefit. Look at the client, look at the scope of their business and ask yourself what are the best questions I could include in my message to trigger those kinds of conversations in the corridor?

I've added a slide to my different slide decks. I added it to that one. Now I'm going to multiply it to the other ones just as my reminder. And I'm going to add it to my revenue checklist that I believe over the long term I will earn more revenue because I've created more of an experience. So, Mark, you always say don't deliver a presentation, deliver an experience. Well, this multiplies the experience once we get outside that door. Now they're in the hallway, it's another world. So if we can get our content to be spoken about, to be conversed about in the hallway, I just think it's a whole new level that we've never taught. And honestly, I've never done, not to this level. I might have accidentally done it, I might have done it on occasion, but now I'm going to be strategic.

It'll be fun to find out how can we track the impact of something like this? You know, here we are on this podcast having a conversation not rehearsed, not pre planned on this topic. And I do find myself wondering, how can we track this? Is it in our relationship with the meeting planner? Maybe, but if we make sure our attendees have access to contact us. And Darren, you're using a tool now where you can actually insert a question in your presentation to get results from your, your audience and I don't know what you want. The tool myself, I think it's called Talk a Dot.

We're going to have to do an episode about that for sure.

And we should. But here's my, here's my initial thought, Aaron. We could use tools like Talk a Dot and invite the audience members to stay in contact with us to let us know the impact of not only our content but, but the, the idea of the critical Carter conversations. And if we can find ourselves interacting with our audience more, we can then track the value of what we have to offer. And who knows, as I said before, maybe individuals who do contact us may say, hey listen, can you come and do some training for a company? Will you consult with us? We like what you've got here. You've really got us thinking some more. Can you kind of facilitate that with us as we take as next steps? Again, I'm, I'm spitballing here, but I can see that happening. If we use this concept carefully and effectively.

Yeah, I think it's going to be challenging to track. But let me drop this idea that six months from now, three months from now, if someone comes back to you, if the event planner comes back to you, and maybe even within a week or two, if the event planner comes back to you after the event, you could even plant the seed, say, hey, let me know how the conversations in the hallway work and just see if they even reply or shoot them an email, hey, how'd that work? And then of course you and I can walk in the hallway and just listen and see if those conversations are happening. And we may have to adjust. Every audience is a little different, but we may not hear about it for months. However, if you hear one person get back to you, that means many were impacted. So I just think it's almost a no brainer. I think it's our responsibility from now on to at least strategically attempt this.

Two thoughts very quickly, Darren. One, you mentioned talking with the meeting panel afterwards. We have always advocated having a post event call with the meeting planner. When you use that sort of approach, I strongly recommend in your post event conversation with the meeting planner bring that question up however you wish to raise it. But by the way, did you ever hear anything in the hallway or talk in the hallway? We'd love to know what you're hearing, if anything at all, and at least open the door to get the meeting planner thinking about that. And also say, look, I know you're going to send an event survey afterwards and my conference program survey if anything pops up on the event survey. That said, we like the idea of the hallway or corridor conversations. Could you let me know? I really want to expand that and I want to serve my audience as well and serve you well also. So now you've got the meeting planner potentially as an ally, helping you to kind of follow through and see what impact you have. And the second thought, I Have is when you can, particularly if you're opening keynote for an event or a conference convention. When you can. Don't leave too early. I know we say come in early, at least a day early, meet people, talk to people, have conversations. That's great. Now I get to know you before you even speak. If you can hang around even for the whole day before, or fly back in the evening after a morning keynote and keep your ear to the ground. What's happening in the, in the corridors after the, after the presentation? What do you hear over lunch or during the break? And that may sound kind of gross, but what do you hear when you go to the facility? Is somebody saying, oh man, that dude, Darren Lacroix, he was funny. Yeah. But the question he asked about what stories I tell, it made me think of the time when. And all of a sudden you're overhearing a conversation in the corridor that you didn't know about. At least by staying around and paying attention, you will get to know one, if people are having those conversations, which you ask them to, and two, you'll get a taste of what they're talking about. And why is that important? Because the more we learn from experiences like that, the better we can craft our presentations, we can tweak them, we can adjust them and make them more impactful going forward. So one suggestion, strong recommendation. Do not leave too quickly after your keynote. Serve the audience well and allow them to help you. Because audiences will help you by their comments. The reaction and response is just stick around, pay attention, involve yourself, listen in, have learned a table with people. Interact and learn from them because they will tell you how effective and hopefully never tell you how ineffective you have been by their responses. That's my suggestion.

Yeah. And if you do hang around later on in the day, ask, hey, do you hear any conversations? Did anyone pass on a story in that situation? Like whatever your conversation starter was, do a follow up, hey, did you hear any? And just because you'll tweak. And just like anything else, you get better at it. You'll get better at it. You'll know what to say, when to say it, how to say it, who to say it to. I just started with the introverts, but because now I'm not demeaning the people who can easily have conversations in the hallway, I'm just talking to those who may have a challenge now. I'm hoping everybody listens and everybody hears and implements it, but I just think it's a simple, powerful concept. I hope you see the application of this in Your world and in your industry. Make a slide. If you use slides to prompt you or make a note, until this becomes a new habit and constantly tweak and Mark, brilliant. Like you said, set up a debrief meeting with the event planner and just ask, hey, did you hear any conversations in the corridor? I'd be curious. And boom, if they did, now you're looking even more valuable to the event planner because you made it more of an experience.

Yeah. And if you're the extrovert who wants to have conversations, you might feel bold enough or comfortable enough to. Or if you met individuals the night before, you could ask, hey, Darren, did you by any chance have a corridor conversation? How did that go? And all of a sudden you're hearing about what happened. You might even hear a story you could add to your repertoire. And that alone to me would be exciting enough or inspirational enough for me to say, hey, how else could I use this technique going forward? So think about asking the right questions to create critical corridor conversations. That's a mouthful.

Thanks for being here. Please listen, please pass this on. Please pass this on. If you liked it and you thought, oh, this is kind of cool or a new idea, please pass this on to one of your favorite presenters. We love what we get to do, but we want to most importantly help you be unforgettable so you can hand your message over in an unforgettable way to impact more people in less time. Mark Brown, thanks for hanging out.

Pleasure. See you next week.

Make sure you subscribe to our show.

Remember to subscribe because if you miss a week, you miss a lot.

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