Ep. 274 TOO MUCH CONTENT?

Hey there, Mark Brown. How many times as a coach has someone come to you needing help with a presentation? And they've got way too much content. Maybe they're just getting working on one story and they tell their whole life story because it's important to them. But they've got to hear this. They need to hear this. Well, they've got to hear like this is important. Well, this is kind of important too. And this is kind of important too. And Mark.

I know it's supposed to, but what do we do when we have too much content? Let's talk about that. All right.

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

Your life tells a story and there's someone out there who needs to hear it.

And Darren Lacroix. And Darren Lacroix.

Stage time. Stage time. Stage time.

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

All right, Mark, the shortest podcast ever.

I don't know, we.

Well, before you got too much content, here's the shortest podcast ever. Write a book.

That's true.

Write a book, put it all in the book. You can make a book as thick as you want and then give us the highlights to get us to want the book or the course. You can't say everything. And for a story, if it's a story, you know, Mark, we have one of our clients we're working with now where they have a life story that everything is dramatic and everything could be a story. But we as duo coaching, we have to help them cut down and find the important part of this story for this purpose, for this message. Doesn't mean they couldn't have another story. They probably have 12 of them. But each individual story has to be on an island by itself. It has to be able to work by itself. Now, it may also fit in a longer keynote as well. Maybe it's the opening, maybe it's a closing, but we see this, whether it's a one hour keynote, whether it's a 90 minute training or whether it's a TED talk or a. As we're working with YPO for their lab speakers, which are one story, eight to 10 minutes in front of a thousand people who are all CEOs, like this matters. The challenge is if you use the wrong details in a compelling story, you send the audience off on a tangent. We said this before, we'll say it again. But A confused mind shuts off. We've heard a confused mind doesn't buy. Well, they don't buy into your idea, they don't buy into your concept, they won't buy into your message. But confused mind crosses their arms, leans back, and now they're not going to listen.

They check out. They check out. You know, I always say, ask yourself a serious question. And even as you develop stories with layers thereof, ask this question, what does this audience, this audience need to know? What does this audience need to know? As Darren said, your story may have layers that could take a long time to share. But think about your audience. Always be audience focused and ask yourself, what does this audience need to know from this story to accomplish the purpose of serving them in the best way? Because you know, Darren, you had the same thing when we first met back in 01. You had to prepare a seven minute speech and you had 14 minutes of material to work with. And it was so much content. And one of the caveats here is beyond just the story. We've said it before, but I say it again. Darren says we can't tell the audience everything we know in 15 minutes, in eight minutes, in an hour, in a one day workshop. So by asking what they need to know, it helps you to kind of narrow down your focus to determine what they can use. Darren, when we first talked years ago, you had a phrase that you say you didn't like. Well, sometimes you have to take your best stories and put them on the back burner. That wasn't the phrase you used, but I want to be kind and that's difficult. How can we inspire and encourage our listeners, our clients, our emerging storytellers, that it's okay to let go of what you think is your best story because it may not be right for that audience on that day and at that time it's important, right? So just think about that for a second. Is this part of my story or is this story the best for this client in this moment, at this event, and when you can understand the mindset, the objective and the goal of the client that will help you more carefully choose, decide on which story to tell, how much of the story to tell, and what parts of a story to emphasize. And I will say one more thing about that last phrase. Which parts of the story to emphasize. Stories can serve different purposes depending upon which character is highlighted, what aspect of their experience you make as a focal point. So the bottom line is this. Preparing and giving a presentation or using the stories without using too much content does require an investment of time. With a thought in mind, how do I best serve the audience in the last 2.849176 minutes? I've said a lot, but it boils down to, what does this audience need to know at this time from this story or presentation?

Hmm. Great question. So here's your homework. If you're watching this, look, we go through this too. You're not in that way, you're not special. You are special, but not in that way. In that way, you're human. That you. You have the same challenge as a lot of people. Now there's the opposite challenge, but that'll be another podcast. Not enough content. And you have the content. You just maybe haven't found it yet or know how to find it. But we're focusing on too much content. What do we do? So here's your homework. Watch the movie Frozen and then sing Let it Go. Let it go.

The Frozen. The Frozen Principle.

The Frozen Principle, Yeah. And Craig has. Our friend, Craig Valentine has a great quote on this. He says, if you squeeze too much content in, you squeeze your audience out.

I'm gonna write that down. I've heard it before.

It's a keeper. It's definitely a great foundational phrase that we must keep in mind that we must. We must do what's best for that audience that day and also keep in mind that event. Because what's the intent of the event?

That is a keeper. What's the intent? I'm writing, as I say this, of the event. You're getting brilliant sometimes, Darren.

Sometimes. I'm glad you noticed. That's good, though. Ed Tate and I just did the train, the trainer program. One of the ideas that he has in training, you have the same thing now. You have a whole day, but you might have two or three days worth of training that you might have to boil down or distill down to one day. Well, what do you do? And he calls it, I think it's the highest draw or the winning draw. I don't remember his exact words, but he does it like the final four brackets and literally lists his content down and okay, this versus this. Which one is going to serve that audience that day for this purpose, that intent of that event, which one will serve best? Because a different audience, it may be a different story or a different concept. If you and I are teaching presentation skills to newer speakers, emerging speakers, well, they might need to know. Stage time. Go find Toastmasters. If we're talking to experienced presenters, they're past that. They don't necessarily need the stage Time. But they do need the structure. They do need the advanced storytelling techniques. So that's why we've got to figure who is our audience, because it's the same subject, but each audience has different needs. And that's why we get hired. We get hired to help discern what is best for that day. That audience, that event. Some presenters think I work too much and try too hard to customize. I even had Mark, one famous keynote speaker that I will not name, who I looked up to as a mentor at the beginning of my career. And I got hired by organization. I went, I did all my interviews and everything ahead of time, and they hired this person a year later. And she called me and got mad at me because, well, now I set the bar that they expected the customizing. And hey, look, it's your career. You do what you want. But that's my method. I know I need to bridge the gap. Even if you have that standard, rock solid keynote that works. Now, look, when you're Larry Wingett, you're Larry Wingate, he doesn't customize, but he doesn't have to. And when your career meets his career, you can do the same thing. But until then, I believe it's our job to adapt to the organization and the audience. And we can't know which is best unless we understand our audience.

Yeah, and I'm glad you said that, Darren, because what may happen and when we are emerging anew, when we get a really good opportunity, we want them to know how much we know. We want them to know how great we are. We have studied, we have done research, we have experience. We really want. We want to bless them. We do. But we have time constraints and we have to understand that again, we cannot teach them or tell them or share with them everything that we know. But if they understand that you focused the points you made on that day to meet their need, that's when the relationship you have built with a meeting planner, an event organizer, or maybe a corporate CEO. What they will acknowledge is that you made the effort to. To meet them where they are and to specifically address their needs. And if you watch other presenters carefully, there are times when they will say, I have seven points that I'm going to cover on this, but for today's purposes, I'm going to drill down on these three. When they say for today's purposes or for this event, we're going to drill down on those three. What they're telling you is I have more content. But I know based upon my research into your organization and the Needs that you have that these three specific points, examples, illustrations, stories, solutions, will best suit your audience. For this, for the purposes of our conversation, this event or this meeting, do not take lightly the power of those words. When you say, for the purposes of this event, you are telling them, I'm doing this for this event. And that's when you say, okay, I don't need to give them all seven. I'm going to give them these three, because these three will serve them. Do not take lightly the power of customization in that way. And that way, you don't feel, I didn't give them everything. No, you gave them what they needed. And that's important. So don't forget, for the purposes of this meeting, this event, this conference, that's what you want to drill down on. And that way you won't be concerned about not having enough content. You'll have just the right content for that particular event. Yeah.

So the idea is, it's not too much content. It's the right content. It's not too much. That's a mindset thing. It's the right content. What is the right content? So better question to ask, what is the right or the best content for this audience and this intent of this event. I love that. That was fun.

Brilliant. You know, I always say. I always say, when you are selective, you are effective. It's all part of the same process. I'm going to select this material, this story from my vast treasure trove and store of content because that's. That is what they need. When you are selective, you are effective. Ask, what is the intent of the event? What does the audience need to know? These three questions can literally transform how you serve and how you deliver your material to your audiences.

Yes. So content. Having a lot of content is a blessing. Now, you have choices, but it's our job to choose. It's our job to choose. And by the way, this is a very short podcast. We got the point across. Do you want us to go on and on for 20 minutes and talk around in circles? No, probably not. Well, you know, there's a few that might, like my dad, he might like to listen to me ramble on, but.

It'S not my wife, though. Not my wife.

But it's not necessary because we've covered what we need to say, and it's about choices. And the best choice, the right choice. What's cool is another audience. You've got that presentation, whether it's keynote, PowerPoint or whatever. Now you adapt it to the next audience. So I have a long keynote of all my slides to choose from and then I narrow it down and tighten it for each individual client that I'm speaking to. I also want to take some terms and pictures and quotes from the people I spoke to and add that in. That heightens the power of what I'm trying to say. That heightens the effectiveness of the content. Mark?

Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that because please don't think, friends, please don't think that by replacing your content with a client's content, you're selling them short or the client's story. You're not selling them short, you're customizing again and proving to them that their person's, their employee story, their team members experience is important enough within the context of your content. You're not losing content, you're actually enhancing it. And when you can refer to them, you're inviting them to see that you understand who they are, where they are at. Not very good grammar, but it also shows your willingness to make sure you meet their need. I want to stop here because, Darren, at some point perhaps we can discuss when you think you don't have enough content. That's a different talk for a different day, Darren.

All right. Hey, next week. We teased you last week but we actually had to record another one before I went on the road. But next week we are going to sit down with Brian. Do you want to tease them?

Well, some people want to find out who is Brian? Brian Biro. He is America's breakthrough speaker. We're going to talk with him about how you can have a breakthrough and also how you can use magnificent illustrations and really move your audience. That's all I'll say. We'll see you next week about that.

All right, keep going. Be a sponge so you can serve your audience with the right content for that day, that time. Choose because you want to be unforgettable.

Unforgettable. See you next week.

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