Ep. 281 CONNECT THROUGH THEIR CHALLENGES?

Hey there, Mark Brown. Connecting through their challenges. I get this, I've done this for years, but nobody actually told me. Here is their heartbeat, here's what's top of mind. Ask.

I get the feeling there are people right now who are asking. Let's find out what to do.

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.

Hey there, Mark Brown. It's so simple, but most people don't take the time. If we want to connect with our audience, we need to know what's top of mind. And that changes just because of time, because of evolution, because of progress. I mean, two, three years ago, no one was talking about AI as a speaker. Now AI is something we need to use, we need to incorporate, we need to be aware of, we need to know what other people are doing. So even if you know the industry, what's top of mind now?

What's a good question? Good question.

One of the keys that I've learned is ask. So step one, ask. Ask the event planner, what are their challenges? And it's going to be different. Like if you're talking to a group of entrepreneurs, all their challenges might be employees, staffing, right?

Yeah.

If you're talking to frontline people, their frustration might be the bosses. Maybe it's the industry, maybe it's the regulation, but how does the industry, the regulation, bosses, frontline people, how does that connect into your content? We've got to ask.

Yeah, I think one of the risks that we run as presenters sometimes, Darren, we become so adept and so good and so skilled and at delivering our content, we run the risk of creating what, what I would call cookie cutter content. It's going to be a catch all. Everyone needs this. The industry needs this. It works really well. And the issue is there are times when that has been true. You can take the talk, you can change the name and go deliver it in four or five different places. But as times change, industries change, ideas are being adopted. Some more, I would say, are so more progressive than others. There's also different levels of risk involved for individual companies, large or small. There are so many variables for us to consider and it's wise for us to find out for that particular organization or association or even company, what are your challenges that you're facing that I can help you to solve right now? So I agree with you, Darren. One of the keys is to ask. Ask quickly and. And then shut up and listen to what they tell you. I know that sounds harsh, almost not quite like me. I'm a nice guy. But when we ask the question, we have to ask ourselves a question. Am I ready, prepared and willing to hear what they say and then put the work in to meet their needs by customizing?

Well, yes. And what I will caution you, I've learned from years of experience is I always ask the event planner or the person who's hiring me, and I asked for a list of 10 names, knowing I'll probably only talk with four or five that I can reach out to two weeks prior. And I ask them because sometimes the people who are part of the association or the company, they know what's top of mind more than the person running the event because they're different positions in the company or association. So I want to ask them too. And what we're looking for. The commonalities. The commonalities, what do people bring up? Why? Because we're trying to figure out what's top of mind. And here's another key to asking. Ask it in three different ways. Ask them what are their challenges. Then I ask them, what are your frustrations day to day? And then what are your pet peeves? Now it's pretty much the same question, but. But frustrations, pet peeves, challenges, they may trigger a different thought or idea. So I'm trying to trigger. And again, take notes, record with permission if you can, but at least take notes and jot it down. And what you're looking for is what does every person or most people refer to? Because that's the hot button. So what we're trying to do is bridge the gap between. Between our content and their world. Between our content and their world. Ask, ask, ask.

And one thought on that, Darren. When you talk about pet peeves, challenges, frustrations, sometimes. I just said we think we know what they are. And at times, a meeting planner may have a vision of what that is. But when you have a conversation with individuals within the organization, they tend to tell you more of what's on their mind. And when you say look for common concerns, the more people you speak with within an organization, the better the picture will become for you. And as Darren says, when you find common concerns, when they show up, it's a key for you to look at what is of concern to them. And we emphasize the word challenges for a particular reason. I said earlier we want to show them how we can help solve their problem. The business of communicating professionally is really not so much about being how good you can be on the platform. It really is about how you can help a client to achieve a goal, overcome an obstacle, and solve a problem. So my invitation to you as you listen to this podcast is to think more clearly about what challenges can I help a client overcome. We tend to focus a lot on getting our content really good, being good on stage and being a good presenter professional. And that's good. We want to do all of the above, but revisit the material you currently have, revisit your content, your presentations, and ask what issues, what concerns, what challenges come I helping them to overcome and how can I enhance my current presentation to really be more challenge focused when perhaps we may have been on just on general content, it might be a shift in our thinking. But recording this podcast at the beginning of 2025, a new year, and it might be worth our while to revisit what we have in the light of how can I really take my content to a level where I am attacking and providing solutions for the challenges that my clients face?

Yep, this is critical. If you're listening to this Friday and Saturday, Chris and I are doing Customize youe Keynote. And this is coming right from that. And I also want to give you an example. If you're watching the YouTube video version of this, you will see this. If not, if you know Mark and me, you know we talk about the Patricia Fripp speech model. So if we use this as a basis, you have your three points of wisdom and your evidence to back it up. You could customize by adding one of their stories, adding one of their comments, or one of the challenges or stories that they have. Again, this is gonna connect you with your audience. So we're taking their ideas. So the cool part is, to us, we don't really have to change our speech much. We just have to put it in the right spot. That makes sense. That backs up a point of wisdom. What I did, I'm going to show or play a clip in just a moment. What I did is I actually used it as the preface, as the bridge between my premise and the points of wisdom. So whenever you can customize or bring in a challenge and you're going to hear me list their challenges because I want to connect with them. And one of our best values is if we could let's say reframe or change the perspective of a challenge. So, Mark, you and I have an event coming up called Game Changers. This is a big event we do once a year. One of the challenges is prospecting. No one likes to prospect, no one likes to find leads. Well, at this event, what if we can change that perspective and find a way to make it fun to prospect?

What?

Exactly. So this is what just want to use that example is if we could make prospecting more fun or turn it into a game, people are more likely to do it and overcome it. So, Mark, your thoughts.

Weird. A couple of thoughts come to mind is you use the word connect earlier and when you said about having a game, more fun to it. The hidden truth here is if we can find different ways to connect with the audience and connect with their challenges, that gives them a reason to lean in and hear what we have to say. Darren, show us what you have.

If you had a company or where there's, let's say, the executives and the frontline people, well, how, how do you approach that? Well, you could say, well, if you're an executive, your challenge might be this. If you're working on the front line, your challenge might be this. So what we're saying is we know we did our homework, we're an outsider, but we took the time to find out. I'm going to show you one from the Water park association keynote that I did recently. And this is about their challenges. You're going to hear me list them, but listen to how I list them. You still got to do it your way. And it's going to be different from every audience, how you connect it into your presentation. I'm just a fan of specificity. Here's an example of what I did. Specific. Five syllables. Mark, you should be proud.

Indeed.

And I even used the word properly. Anyway, so now in this situation, the executive that I spoke to, he just told me what they were. But being at the conference, I was also had my antenna out. So even though I knew ahead of time, what's cool about PowerPoint is you can change it, you can take pictures. And I encourage you, if you're listening to the Apple version or Spotify version of this, go check out the YouTube version to see the pictures that I took. And I plopped these pictures right in my slides. I even talked about a breakout session that was about challenges. Well, guess what? I wanted to attend that breakout session to see what I could add in what I was maybe missing from my initial interview. So this was a time where it was in Vegas. And if you know me, I always ask the event planner if I can spend a whole day with them the day before because I want to take pictures, I want to see what they're seeing, see if there's anything specific that people are complaining about at that event. So here is me connecting. Now. These are people who run or manage water parks. So these are not essentially the frontline people. These are the executives and the managers of the water park. Check it out. Yesterday when I was here, I saw the program Good, Bad and Challenging Guests. And we had Rudy and Gailey there, but it was a packed room. Why do you think that is? Because we have similar challenges and we all have them. They had to bring in extra seats. The people around you, they've been there and done that. Use this time together in the hallways to get past what you're challenged with right now. Some of the challenge I've learned about you guys is you are developing a young workforce. God bless you. Safety an issue, obviously. Increased regulations, of course they're going to increase weather. You can't change that. And then, oh yeah, entitled people. By the way, you can't say this, but I can. But employees and guests.

Yeah, that reminds me, Darren, I did a similar technique, had a program for a school boards association. And I did the same thing where I pointed out to them, you have the responsibilities. And I listed on a PowerPoint slide you what you need to advocate for education. You got to set vision, get a set goals, set policy, adopt an approved budget and guide strategic planning. And by listing each of these, I could see in their eyes, Darren, as I began to list all the concerns they had, all the responsibilities they had to share, I could see from their eyes that they were, yep, this guy gets us. Well, you ask questions, you check their website, you review your corporate reports. And we've talked about these techniques before. But when you place before them their own challenges, you are connecting with them as our title suggests, because you let them know I understand. And then if you can also then show for them, show them tools and techniques for overcoming these challenges. It's that much more a benefit to them. But the first connection point is when they realize this individual, this presenter, this guest speaker understands where we are as an organization. They understand what we're going through. And hopefully, hopefully with all the research you've done and the quality of your content, you'll give them the tools that they need to overcome the challenges that they face. But it's up to us to ask the questions, to spend the time to Invest and to make sure that we can connect. Because here's a thought to consider. We may have solutions for their problems. We may have tools for them to overcome their challenges. But if we fail to connect with them early enough, if we fail to establish an emotional bond with them, if we fail to let them realize that we know about them, their organization and their concerns, we may not get to the point where they're even paying attention. We have to connect with them first. And we've talked about this before, going in early, meeting people, having conversations. And they don't all have to be intended to glean information. Casual conversation, get to know somebody, establish a relationship. And sometimes the connection comes through personal anecdotes. The key is if we can connect. The bonus is if we can connect with, ah, I know how that feels. I can remember a time when then they now know you connect with them on a personal level, but you also understand their challenges. And these are layered. When we do them well, we become in their minds, pretty close to being unforgettable.

And Mark, for my fellow introverts, here's the perfect question. When you're in the hallways prior to your speaking and presenting, whether it's the day before, the morning of, hey, I'm expert, I'm the keynote speaker, but I'm curious. I don't work in the water park industry. For you, meaning to the person you're talking to. For you, what are some of the challenges you face? Even if maybe I don't have time to incorporate it, if they give me a great insight or something, I could say, hey, I was talking to Johnny beforehand and he told me that. So we're smart enough that if we know our content, we can incorporate it. And the more you start to make this part of your process, the easier, the more skilled, the more fluid you will make it. And then if you have time in that one on one conversation, or even if it's a small group, say, yeah, how'd you overcome that? What did you do about that? Now you might have a solution story that you can bring to the stage. You know, Johnny told me he didn't know what to do, so he went to his mentor. Who's your mentor? Are you seeking that person? Guess what? They work for the same company, they have the same big goal as you. I'm just using that as an example.

Right. But you're right, because sometimes when in casual conversation, somebody has a solution for a problem someone else in the room may have. And I've found this to be true, particularly at the association Level where you have chapters around the country where you know they're going through a different particular challenge or situation and they don't have the answer. Well, someone at table number seven has the answer. And as presenters, what we can also do is invite and encourage our audience members to have hallway conversations at the coffee hour or the mixer. Invite them to talk to somebody different during lunch, invite them to collaborate and to help each other with solutions. Because sometimes the answers are in the room. We are brought in as experts, certainly, and we may not have all the answers. And I hope our egos don't tell us we always have all the answers. But if we're, if we're. We can also be facilitators of sorts in the way we inspire them to look for the answers within and without as well. But do not discount the value of encouraging them to collaborate and, and to help each other to solve their challenges. That only comes. It can only be effective if we have invested the time and established a connection with the audience to the point where they will trust what we have to say and help them find those answers.

Yeah. And the planner, the event planner will love it if you from the stage encouraged better conversations in the hallways. We did a whole podcast about this. But if you can encourage that, even if they don't, if the event planner hears you encourage that, they're going to love it. They will love it. And then if they hear the conversations in the hallway, they're going to love you even more because you were effective doing that. So don't need to overdo it. The point is, ask, incorporate and deliver, customize your presentation. You know, make some adjustments. Take a picture with the person you spoke to. Take a picture with Johnny. Hey. And, you know, or you could call Johnny out and have Johnny stand up. Or take a picture with Johnny and throw the slide into your deck. Like, find a way, find your way, whatever you're comfortable with. But take the time to find out what their challenges are. Remember, challenge frustration, pet peeve. They're going to trigger different answers. Mark Brown, take us home.

Don't forget also, don't forget also to find ways while you're there to, even before you get there to connect with the audience. And don't forget Darren just said having a conversation, if the individual is willing to pose for a photograph with you, that can go miles in distance when they say, hey, there's Mark with the speaker. How cool is that? So right now, I urge you one more time to think about how can I upgrade my presentation to meet the challenge of my audience and what other ways can I connect with them so they can meet their challenges so I will be for them. Unforgettable. We'll see you next week.

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