Ep. 259 NEW CONTENT ON SHORT NOTICE WITH SHEREE CAIN-JONES

Hey there, Mark Brown. Can you remember a time when you had to do a completely new presentation and you had a very short time span to prepare?

Yes, I can. I won't go into it today, but definitely yes.

So we're sitting down with our friend, our colleague, Sheree Cain Jones, and we're gonna go deep and had a great conversation. Mark, just a few minutes ago, I was like, you gotta come over. We gotta do a podcast. So let's do it.

Anyone can give a present. 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. Stage time.

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

Hey, Mark, you know the story. When I was at a TEDx event here in Vegas, Sheree was the MC and I was there seeing one of my coaching clients and Mark Camp, and she came over to me and said, I listen to your podcast. So. And here you are. Now you're on it.

There you go. Welcome, Sheree.

It was just a few weeks ago, Mark. Sheree had invited me. She was delivering a sermon at her church. Now she's not a pastor. It's not her normal thing. She's a speaker. And we were just having a conversation over at the coffee shop and I was like, ooh, you know what? New content, short notice. I bet some other people would relate to this. Now she was going from giving a secular presentation that she does all the time to a sermon. Mark, we talk about this sometimes. We have some pastors on here, and it's a different ninja skill set when you literally have to do a brand new presentation every week. Now a pastor builds up that muscle and has that ability to do it every single week. But when you put on the spot and then all of a sudden, okay, showtime. I just thought it was a great conversation. And since you just lived it, we figured we'd dive into that with you. So welcome.

Thank you. Thank you so much. And first, I just want to thank you, Darren, and you, Mark Brown, for having me on this podcast. Because this podcast has been going on for several years now, and I've actually reaped so many benefits just from listening. So thank you. It's an honor. High privilege. I'm excited.

Thanks.

And I love that she had the opening memorized so she was mouthing it.

I couldn't help myself.

Nice, nice. Wonderful. So give us a situation. So what's your normal topic that you speak about?

Confidence, self development, vision. And so what ended up happening is my pastor's wife, she sent me a text and said, hey, can you preach? And I said, I looked at it and I looked at the time limit and I thought, oh, holy hot dog.

Gonna need some holy spirit on this one.

And I just looked at it and I thought, you know what, let's do it. I'm gonna put myself up against the wall and let's see what comes out. It's gonna force me to create a new skill.

You know, it's interesting, Darren, William Sri says I speak on confidence. Self development. Confidence. And envisioning success under that kind of pressure is really interesting because, you know, we're not trying to cater to anybody or to proselytize, but when you find yourself and Darren, you and I are having in the same place where we are called upon to fill someone's pulpit within a church environment. That's a very serious, awe inspiring responsibility.

Mark. When the meeting planner is God, there's some more pressure.

Just saying, well, I don't want to minimize those who may not share our faith. Don't think I'm minimizing any assignment. But with the mindset that we have, we are hold that in such high regard. We mean, okay, we want to plan for the long term for this. So I'm really curious, Sheree, how short was short notice for you?

It was maybe about nine days or so. So I was pretty sure. I don't think it was quite 14. I'd have to look back. It was like two weeks. Yeah, yeah, it was, it was a. It was a short enough time for me to wonder, you know, how am I going to do this?

I guess you called back on your confidence envisioning. I envision success. I can do this. But you said your first thought was to balk. Do I really want to do this? And the point I want to make from that is, look, all of us at some point in time may find ourselves in a place where, ooh, can I really do this? Do I have the chops? Do I have what it takes? And I'm very curious to hear how that thought process developed, what it led to and how you were able to find new content in that short notice. And, and of course everyone wants to know eventually, don't tell us yet how it all turned out. So you get this assignment, you got nine days notice. Now what goes through your mind in that moment?

Yes. So it. I have. I'm not sure if it's exactly nine days. It might have been a little bit more. But what went through my was first I clicked unread and I said, you know, I am, let me just come back to it. So that was the very first thing this. Then I went back and I read it and I just tried to take it in and let it sit. And initially it felt heavy.

Okay, pressure already. Already. I'm making a note here because I'm seeing a simple process when faced with this daunting task. Stop, breathe. I had to stop. I had to think. I had to take it in before I do anything else. And the caution I received from you, Sheree, and we pass on to our listeners. Thank you for this is just initially when facing the overwhelm pause. Think it through, take some time. If you're a person of faith, pray on it. But I really admire the fact you said stop, think about it and take it all in before you make a decision. That's wisdom. Please continue.

The second thing was, is that it was an inconvenient time. It happened to be my anniversary weekend. Oh my.

And the plot thickens. Hey, Darren, do you hear the whole storyline here? We always say escalate the conflict in the story.

Wait, I gotta, I gotta get the dun dun, dun dun sound effect.

You get to escalate the conflict on that. So it's your anniversary weekend. Pastor's wife asks you to will you fill in and do this for me? So now how was the thought process progressing, Sheree?

Yes, my thought process was progressing. How do I ask my husband? This is our 23rd anniversary.

Wow.

Congratulations, by the way.

Thank you so much. Thank you. And now I'm weighing. Now this opportunity is not only is it inconvenient, there's a time compression and there's also pressure about the people I'm going to be serving because I'm not just there to speak, I'm there to serve. And whether or not I have the capacity to produce something that will serve them.

If you're listening to this, it's one thing to be put on the spot to give a Toastmasters presentation when there's no pressure at all and it's five minutes or 10 minutes, this is 35 minute sermon in front of a church that you attend. So these are your peers, but there's also brand new people coming in for the first time who, how well your sermon goes may or may not encourage them to come again, which is the Whole reason we're there. And so again, it doesn't matter the stage, what we're trying to focus on here. We're just using a specific example, but trying to focus on, hey, you got to Deliver new content 35 minutes. This isn't a five minute thing. And in front of an audience that you care about. So even if you're doing something in front of your peers, say in your own presentation association, so your own association, whatever association you belong to, like that's the stakes are there. So 35 minutes. Now you gotta deliver. And you have nine days to write and internalize it.

All of the things. And not only that, this confidence, powerful, dynamic woman is wondering, am I gonna fall flat on my face? Am I gonna embarrass myself?

I suspect that's a question many of us have asked and sometimes still ask.

Yet again, it could be a story about confidence down the road.

Could be, could be like.

But back to the story right here.

This is a great story. It's wonderful. Yeah. So you want to. Okay, pressure is here. I don't, I want, don't want to fall on my face. But he haven't responded to the email yet, have you?

I have not. I have not. So I just, I just asked my husband, I said, hey, look, this is what happened. Because at first I was gonna say, no way can I do this? I, it's not enough time. There's too much pressure. But then I said, no, wait a minute, what have the greats done? What if I remember Les Brown saying that he would put himself up against the wall and it would flip, force him to develop and be another person. So I had a conversation with my husband and I said, hey, this is what it is. And after I took some time to breathe and it wasn't five minutes, it was a little while. And I just said it might have been overnight. I'm trying to remember because it was all so fast. But I just, I said, no, I think I can do it. I think I can do it. I think if I do this, then I will prove something to myself that I can do something under pressure. At least that was my initial thought. And I'm up against the wall, man. Maybe I'll be like Darren and Mark.

So the self talk took over and you began to give us some confidence.

Were you a specific passage to talk about or what was the assignment? Or. Well, let's go back to. Did you accept?

I did, yeah.

How did that go?

I said, yes, let's go. That was my response. I was like, let's do it, come on. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna, you know, but, but I'm saying this and all the while I'm going, how is this gonna happen? I don't know.

It sounds. Darren, like what I've heard some people say, say yes and figure out how to do it.

Figure it out, because you have to.

Figure out how to do it.

Yeah. Burn the.

I have a question though, real quickly about that because the factor of the anniversary and your husband, you consulted with him, had a heart to heart conversation. Can we assume that he was supportive or he was tentative? What was his response?

Yeah, thank you for asking. I think that's a great question, mark. He was very supportive. And I would say that anybody who is doing this, who is in my position, you have to have support because you have those times where you're just so unsure that you. All you have is your own voice. And I, I believe in the, the concept of the echo chamber. Sometimes we're in an echo chamber and our worst thoughts become our best thoughts. So it's important to have incredibly supportive people in your life, whoever it is, spouse, friends, neighbor.

Dog, like Zoe. I don't know.

I was just thinking that.

All right, so what's you committed now? What's step one? Did she tell. Did she give you a subject or.

Yes, she gave me the subject. She gave me the passages and the scriptures, which is so different because usually I pick my own subject if I'm going to speak on something, my own passages, like whatever it is I'm going to do. So this is very different. It's like your teacher saying, hey, here's the subject, Write a paper, I'll see you.

And when you saw that, were you familiar enough with the subject matter? Say I got this. Or what was the, the process to prepare it, to make it as good as it would become?

Wow, that's such a great question. I was familiar with the passage, very familiar with it. But I had never taught on that passage before. Maybe in a generalized way.

Okay.

But not so specific specific, where I'm pulling out principles, pulling out examples and pulling out my own story now that I had not done. So that was a challenge of having to take. Just knowing that I was going to take something and create something. That was 35 minutes. It was a little bit intimidating to be quite honest with you.

And did you. I would use a model, a structure to use a frip model or I'm.

Crazy if I didn't. That's crazy sauce. The comedian with no hope, just going up there no, absolutely not. I pulled out that Fred model. I said, okay, now I need to. We gotta get it together. I pulled that thing out and began with the premise that was. It didn't begin with the premise, but brainstorming. But I was looking for. What is that? I call it the pregnant premise.

And what does that mean by pregnant premise?

The pregnant premise is, what is that overriding idea that I want to now deliver? So the premise is like the. I mean, I've had four kids, so maybe I think in terms of your pregnant. No, but to me, the premise is pregnant. And what you want to do is, is take your points and facilitate the delivery of it. That's the way I look at the pregnancy model.

Pregnancy delivery. That makes sense. Now we're going to study some obstetrics next in our next podcast. No, I'm friends. I'm kidding. Friends don't tell us any nasty emails. Yeah, but I like the idea of the pregnant premise, meaning everything is being. There's a gestation period, short though it may be, where everything kind of comes together and then the delivery of what comes out is the newness, the richness. And you touched on something without elaborating on it. And I want to ask you about this, Sheree. I had seen it before. I was very familiar with it, but I'd never gone that deep to find all the value and the. I'm paraphrasing your own words. What that speaks to me of putting in the work to do the research, to go deeper, as Darren says, go deeper in the topic. So it matters. So therefore you can deliver that with wisdom, with clarity, and give the audience value and friends, viewers, listeners. How that hit me was, it need not be a sermon or based upon faith or religion, but we are required as presenters to do that work, to dig deep, to find perhaps what nobody else has found, to invest the effort to provide our audiences the value that they should derive from everything that we say. So I really appreciate you saying, I knew it, but I had to almost know it more. It's a principle for all of us. You may know your subject matter, but how deep are you willing to go to give value to your audience? And that was powerful. I'm learning already. I'm taking my notes right here. I'm doing well. You can all keep talking. I just make more notes. This is good.

So what was next? You got the structure, you started filling it in. Tell us more.

Research. Research. Because. Because looking at a scripture. So I. I come at it from who I am. So I'm working on my doctorate. And so I approach things with a research mindset first because I want to be curious and not assume that I have the answers, of course, to. Especially to something like the Scriptures. So I had to be willing to be a learner of the material that was given to me and be a student again. Be a student. Yeah. Almost like put on my hat of humility and say, okay, what is it that I could learn? What is it? And ask. I had to ask the text questions. So I said, who am I in this text? Where are the people? What do they do now? What is stopping them? Why is it stopping them? And I'm looking at that text, trying to answer the questions that anyone would have regarding that text, to investigate it and not just look at it and be willing to put away my ideas of what I thought.

And I want to jump in real quick if you're listening to this, Mark, if you notice, too, those questions that she asked herself based on the content, doesn't matter what the subject is.

Exactly.

That could go to any subject. Like, who's my audience? Where are they at now? What are their challenges? Even though we're talking about a sermon here, it's the same, like, we've got to understand, why are we there? Why do we have this privilege? And how can I serve them? So just wanted to hold up the mirror. Brilliant. Excellent principle to point out your wicked smile.

Oh, wicked smart. Yeah, wicked smart.

And the other things I did was to. I'm a lover of etymology, so I love words and understanding the meaning. I know.

Rhymer.com word word nerd. Here we go. Word nerds unite. All right. Yeah, I love it.

And so I had a dictionary in one hand, my thesaurus, and I really wanted to capture what do these words mean and what would it mean to them?

That's powerful. And as an aside here, for those who may not be familiar with how many biblical scholars operate, they'll use a Bible with seven different translations, and they'll go to the Greek and the Hebrew text word by word. They look for, you know, G105, what that word means, what the context was in order to give the their audience the deepest value they can. And this is a principle.

It asks.

It begs the question, how deep are you willing to go to serve your audience? How deep are you willing to go to serve your audience? And to find out the etymology, the background, the context of each word, what's the deep, deepest meaning of the particular text? If we all approached our preparation for our programs that deeply, I think we'd Be pretty much unforgettable. What did that process do for you and for your congregation as a result of all that in depth research and that humility that you approached it with.

Any other steps in the process?

So yeah, that's a great question. I think also capturing stories, just like to be honest with you, with the frit model looking at stories. But now when you're speaking in a congregation or with any group of people there, because you're on stage and the stage is elevated, there is almost this power distance that can be created. And sometimes people can come off very sanctimonious, like they're high and better and greater than you. And so my heart was to be very close to them. So I had to make a decision to give a very vulnerable story of mistakes that I've made just in my life. And one of them being road rage.

Mark, it was a great story. I was like, what you? But you're so. You're Cherie, come on. It was super transparent. And that's one of the things I wanted to get to too is finding those stories from your life that connect to the topic, the wisdom that you're trying to get out there. But if you come off as holier than thou, they're going to think, well, it's easy for you and it's going to distance the person listening to you and then takes away from your purpose. So I really admired that you were. And I was literally sitting there because Mark, she invited me to come see that. I don't know if you regret it after you I said yes, but I was like, whoa. I mean it was powerful. It drew me in.

And what I find interesting there also, Darren, you use a term, a well used term, holier than thou, which I know is. Speaks to one's perhaps arrogance. And because it's a sermon base, the holier than thou isn't so much about being involved in a sermon. The idea is, are we seen as the authority and the expert, but do we show that we are the expert in a sense where the audience may feel we are so full of ourselves, we are so overly confident. We didn't see us as cocky because the line between confidence and arrogance is paper thin. And we can exude confidence, confidence, self development and visioning. We can exude confidence without being arrogant. And I love the fact you said I had to put on my hat of humility. To position yourself with vulnerability and transparency to tell this kind of story so the audience can see the human in you, not just the person elevated on a platform who's in that holy place in the church. It's a spot where you speak from. But when you speak from your heart and deliver your message with your own story and your own experience. What did you learn in terms of the impact of you. Of using that particular technique with a congregation?

One of the things I learned is. Is really. I'm a fan of Renee Brown. Vulnerability is that people enjoy vulnerability. The thing about vulnerability is it doesn't always feel comfortable because there's risk. There is a risk for the speaker, and I. I think that's. In any situation, there's a risk for the speaker that they. They believe that they're going to be viewed a certain way because it's. You only want to show your best foot forward because let's just be honest, you go out on a date, man, if you don't shower, you're showering that day. You're gonna pull yourself together.

There's my problem, you know, Single guy.

Okay, Darren.

There's a risk in being vulnerable. And so I remember the. The author of a great storytelling. I'm trying to remember her name. She's been on the show, but one of the things that she said is just to make sure that you can tell that story. Story.

Kendra Hall.

What's her name?

Kendra Hall. Kendra Hall.

Kendra Hall. And she really does talk about the power of story, but making sure it's. It's not a story that you're maybe still struggling with. You're far away from it. There's been some transformation, but even then, even if you've been transformed, you're a different person. There is a risk that you're going to be perceived a certain way, but I just think that where there's no risk, there's no reward. No risk, no reward.

How many iterations do you think you did of if you had to look at them as separate scripts?

Oh, my goodness.

How many versions? Just ballpark. I just want people to know that great speeches aren't written, they're rewritten. And this is just getting us to version 1.0 live.

Wow. So the way I did, I did it like mashed potatoes, where I work on the intro, then work on the middle, work on the beginning and the end. Several. I mean, maybe nine.

Okay.

Wow.

I was reiterating the day before, to be quite honest. The day of. I mean, I had it in me. It's in me. It is me. It is not a message that I'm speaking. It is me.

Part of you.

It's a part. It's that internalization that Patricia Fripp talks about and that you talk about as well, but so many iterations that you're nearly shocked at how much it can change.

But a lot of people like just get something down and then they go internalize it. So I wanted them to hear that you don't internalize it until you've done it a few times. You've worked it out, you've read it over, you've caused it and tweaked it and blah, blah, blah. So let's talk about your internalization. What do you do to try and once you get it to version nine now you're like, what, a couple days away? How far out did you start internalizing it?

Oh, geez, Darren. It took me a while to get it out. I call it digging for the miracle.

You're funny.

That's what I. I'm digging. Like, just because I'm speaking on behalf of of heaven, it doesn't mean I didn't have to work. Like I was looking for that miracle that with the shove it with a shovel the size of a spoon. But to internalize it, I did what you say. I recorded myself. Because the very first time I did it, garbage, garbage, garbage, garbage. It was terrible. So I went through those emotions of oh my goodness. But once I finally got the flow, I recorded myself and then I re recorded myself, and then I re recorded myself and then I listened and I said, oh, I could say that better. Oh, that sounds a little odd. And I re recorded myself and I listened to it when I was driving, when I was working out the day before. I always listen before when I'm working out because it has to be me or it's going to come off inauthentic.

Yeah. When you. We. Mark always says, you know, we write for the ear, but we also have to write for our own voice. And so I love what you're doing here, that you had a version, you recorded it, and then you go back and listen. And for everyone, this is the lesson here. When you step back as an outsider, an audience member, then you listen to. You're going to hear things that you didn't hear while you were saying it. Now there'll be some moments that you want to fix because you heard it while you're saying it. You're like, oh, that's awkward. I'll fix that later. But there's be other moments that you read it sounds fine, but then you listen and you're like, I would never say that, or I would never say it that way. So I just want Everyone to understand the process of getting there.

There's no way I would do it without recording it.

But some people don't know that. And that's why.

Yeah, there's. Well, maybe because I've been listening to this podcast. Maybe that's why, because that's where I got the idea to record myself, appreciate that, and then take notes. And then I also would say it to my husband, hey, how does this sound? And just ask again, putting on that hat of humility and being willing to take in the fact that, I don't know, I'm not perfect. Wow, look at there.

Yeah, well, limited time you had. You did wonderful audio recording. I like the fact you would listen on the treadmill when you're running or you're listening in the car. You know, that's wonderful. Did you have a chance to. To do one video recording before you delivered it, or it was all audio rehearsals.

All audio. It was all audio.

Look good anyway.

Right. When I look good. The reason I ask is your time window was narrow and you took advantage of every opportunity you had to not only record yourself, but to listen to it with the intention of what?

Refining it.

Refining. Okay. It's interesting you say that a client said to me today, I want to refine my speech. I can engage and work with them to refine their speech. But you were trying to make it better, to refine it, to sharpen it. Because here's a risk, that risk that we can run as presenters. And I can be. I can confess being guilty of this. It's good. That'll work. That'll be fine. But going back to the objective, you want to do the best you can. How can I refine it? And now here's a question for you. When did you determine. Okay, I'm not going to make any more changes. I'm going to lock this in. Is it going to be it. I'm good to go, or were you. Were you tempted to go? Well, I could change that. Should I move this around? Did you go through that sort of process in your mind of wondering, do I freeze it here or do I keep refining it as time drew closer?

Well, as time drew closer, it was going to be what it was going to be.

There was a deadline.

There was a deadline. And, and, and. But I knew the structure, and I felt comfortable with what I had, with what I've been given. I didn't have 30 days or, you know, 40, 45 days or six months to refine it. And so I think it comes to a point where you have Where I have to give. I'm not a perfectionist, but I realize it is not going to be perfect.

Okay.

They weren't going to change the service times because you weren't ready.

Yeah, you're never ready. I don't believe in being ready. I believe in being prepared. Because readiness, when I say ready, I mean, like, you have all the feels and you, you feel like you can go out and chase the world. I felt very prepared. I knew I had put in the work.

Confident.

I felt confident. There you go. And I had let it marinate. Slow cooking. Well, slow cooking in the preaching world, but letting it marinate and then letting it just kind of speak to me personally, that adds a different flavor. And now it's not just cherise. That's not just a message. This is my message to serve you. Not to just speak to you. I'm here to. I want to serve you. That helped as well.

Now, you were delivering this on Saturday night and then twice on Sunday morning. So I came mark on Saturday night to see you. So tell us about how you were feeling, like just before you went up there or the day before, like, tell us about that, how you dealt with it.

Yes. So the day before, I felt good. Like, is this okay? It's gonna have to be a lot of positive self talk because this is my first time doing this in a general assembly. And so there is a weight of pressure as far as the honor and privilege. It's different than anything I had experienced before. And then the day of, I felt fine, but then I had the jitters before I did. And I, I, I just respect it for what it is and know that my body's getting ready to speak. I still felt prepared, but I did feel. It's not like I felt great. Like, I'm this. Oh, like, watch this.

Y' all.

Watch out. Now she gonna preach. Like, I didn't. No, I didn't feel like that. I felt very humble, like, okay, I hope this goes okay. You were back there with me. Thank God you were there.

I was. I remember how Mark Brown helped me and turned into the cheerleader just before. So I knew my role had changed just before. Now when I reached out to you on Sunday morning after you delivered the second and third time. And this is reminder to everyone, you're doing new content in front of a new audience, a new situation. You're. If you get to do it a couple times, the first time, it's like, I, it's good. But now, okay, now it's almost like you can breathe. You can breathe.

Well, I'm going to ask a question here about that Saturday night, Sunday morning. Sunday morning. Because sometimes you. You're prepared for the first one. You deliver it. Did you receive any comments from parishioners or congregants after your Saturday night sermon?

I did. I received quite a bit of positive feedback on Saturday night from the people that were there. So that was really nice.

And they were. Mark, even. Excuse me. Saturday night, people were totally engaged. They were. It was a charismatic church. They were, they were calling out to her and she was calling out to them and they were calling back to her and it was. I was like, yes, there was some just brilliance. And I remember we had a little conversation about this that you said the next day, you have more fun.

I did.

You know, because you can ease up. But for everyone, we want you to know this is normal. Like, you can't always nail it that first time because you care. You want it to go well. You care about the audience and, and you're still in your head a little bit because you're internalizing it still. And then that next time it's like, all right, it worked. Now it's going to work better. And you, you deliver from a little different essence. If you.

Yes, yes, for 100%. Because it's, it's letting go. So there's these four principles. I've heard that the first thing is that you, you, you study until you're. Till you're full. And the second one is you let it marinate in my world. It's, you pray until you're hot and then you let it go. And that's the hardest thing I think most speakers deal with is letting it go. And so Sunday morning, just because I had it, you have the message in you. You are the message. But it's letting it. Letting it go, letting it flow, letting it be.

I'm curious. So Saturday night goes well. What becomes different for you going into Sunday as a result of how well Saturday night.

Well, went well, one of the first things was that Darren was there.

It's always good to have support in your corner at times like this. I mean, we're laughing. It's a. It's fun. But you may find yourself, viewer or listener, you may find yourself in a place where you need that ally, you need that friendly face. And them being there to offer the first words of encouragement can be just what you need. But what did you do differently do for the first talk on Sunday morning as a result of one Saturday night's presentation and the responses you Got, if anything at all. What did you do differently?

Few things. One, Darren gave me some great advice, which we are supposed to do as speakers, which is we store. We don't narrate the story, we act out the story.

Dialogue helps.

Yes. Become the characters.

Number two, there was a time issue that. With the time clock, and so that got fixed, and so that helped because Saturday night, I'm looking at the clock and there was pressure, and I was not. There was a miscommunication, which those things kind of happen.

It can happen.

And then number three, I let it go like I'm there to serve. So lights off me, lights on you. And now. Now I can let it go because it's not about me, Jake.

Well, one more thought then. So Saturday night goes well. First sermon. Sunday morning goes well. You're going into your last sermon of the series, so to speak. Is anything different in your heart and mind? Going into sermon number three, I was ready.

I'm like, I love. I love this. This is. I love the people. I want to serve them. And it was very interesting because I have never spoken three times in one weekend under a time constraint and under pressure. So I. I didn't know this, but it. The service started at 11:30, and I spoke at noon. And all of a sudden, right about 12:15, my body said, it's time to go to sleep. I'm not sure what happened to you, but it's. It is quite.

Yeah.

Uncomfortable. All of a sudden, you're exhausted from all of the work you put into it. My body said, hey, it's like this big dose of go to sleep came over me. So what I did was I asked the audience, I said, hey, your girl has been preaching. This is my third time. I'mma say amen. You say it back. Preach it, sister. Not ask for their audience participation and just ask them to engage and lean in. And it helped. It did help.

That's smart on the spot. We gotta wrap this up. What are. What's some advice that you would give somebody who all of a sudden, they have to create new content and they have short notice. What if you're sitting over coffee and I asked you, hey, I need your advice? You just did this. What would you tell me over coffee?

100%. I would tell you over coffee is number one. I would use the frit model number friend, where is your model? I would tell you to get that model out quick. Then the. And then the second thing I would say, bring who you are to the message. Don't try. Bring yourself something that you're not. I'm not a theologian. Gangster theologian maybe, but I'm not a theologian. So you bring who you are and. And more than likely you have strengths that you don't even recognize. Recognize that you have. That you can incorporate. So I coach, I lead, I love. I incorporate that into the message. And then the last thing is, is you actually are the message. You are it. And share a part of your story, and that makes it more authentic regardless of where you're speaking. At a Rotary Club, at a Toastmasters, at a keynote at a church. It doesn't matter. Bring you to it.

All right, Mark. Mr. Recap. Before he does that, we hear the wisdom that you drop for us. If someone wanted to reach out to you or follow you, where would they find you?

They can just go to my website. Cherie kane.com shereekainejones.com it's my name. S-H-E-R-E-E C-A-I-N-J-O-N-E-S.com and they can connect with me there. And I would love to help you wherever you are.

Any other.

That's no hyphen.

Correct forms.

You can find me on Facebook, you can find me on Instagram. I love people. Let me know.

And the name has no. No dashes, no hyphens. Correct. It's all straight. Cherie Kane Jones. Excellent. So what has Sheree Kane Jones told us about delivering new content on short notice? Well, if I can read my own handwriting, I'll need my glasses for that. Isn't this not so bad? Okay. When you first pace the situation, stop, think, take it in before you decide. Okay? Especially when you're dealing with pressure for time. Pressure and the audience are dealing with. Prepare yourself. It's always wise to get the support of those who will give you good advice, Appreciate and respect the weight of the responsibility. And you said this one in different words. We can all find reasons to say no, but find a reason to say yes because you had so many reasons to say no. You didn't do that. Lean on your support group. Be wary of your own echo chamber. Find that pregnant premise. Have a research mindset and be more curious about your subject than you currently are. Dig deeper. Put on your hat of humility. Use personal stories. Be vulnerable and transparent because vulnerability creates risk. But don't forget, the message isn't in you. The message is you in practice. Record, listen, rerecord, listen again and refine as much as you need in your rehearsals. Realize you will not be perfect, but be prepared. Always study. Let it marinate, pray on it, then let it go. Let your message speak to you, bring you to every presentation and incorporate your own personal strengths. Then you'll deliver an unforgettable sermon or presentation. Does that sound good, Darren?

Bam.

That's all you, Cherie.

Bam.

I'm like, man, I need to carry you around with me everywhere.

Sweet.

Well, hey, thanks for listening. And that's how I met you. And now, boom, look at you go. So I was very inspired by seeing what you did, knowing you had new content, short notice, and man, talk about confidence. Mark, you got to see her on stage. Powerhouse dynamo. Those are best words that describe her on stage.

So just send me a video link, man. Just send me a video link.

I'll watch it because I listen to stagetime. Hello? That's what happens when you listen to the show.

All right, well, hey, thanks for being here with us. Really appreciate it. Mark Brown, always good to work with you.

Thank you.

Thanks for listening to this podcast. And hey, maybe you'll be a guest someday. Thanks for being here. We'll see you next week.

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