Ep. 301 PREPPING FOR THE ROAD

Mark Brown, prepping for the road. You're heading to India tomorrow and I bet there's a whole bunch of things you gotta get done, such as record a podcast because I'm gonna be on the road, so. Wow. I love when we talk about a subject that is right that we're right in the middle of, whether it's coaching, running an event, getting ready for the road, but prepping for the road, if you don't prep right, if you don't have what you need, if you don't pre think, if you don't have that conversation ahead of time, you may be very forgettable. We gotta prepare to be unforgettable.

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.

Yeah. Mark. Sometimes we don't consider that prepping for the road affects not only our presentation, but but our mindset and our families at the same time. So if you're listening to this right now, Mark is in India or on his way back from India. I don't know. It depends. It depends. But prepping is so important to our mindset. What we have. I know, Mark, this is just one of my prep things is I always make sure I have an open usb and my us, like I just had to buy another one because I lost it. So I had to find a new version. But here's what I did. I got a USB that has USB C on one side and you flip it and it's got the old school USB on the other. Because you and I never know what the situation is. Now I like to run things from my laptop. They could agree to it ahead of time or they could just miss that. I want to use my laptop and it didn't get to this person, which gets to that person, which gets to that person, which gets the AV team. So as a result of that, they may not get the message and they might need it. Oh, well, the whole conference is in PowerPoint. Well, now I got to not only convert it to PowerPoint because I use Keynote, convert to PowerPoint, make sure all my fonts don't get messed up. And now I got to hand it to them. So yes, I Could email it. But isn't it so much more convenient to just hand over a usb? So even when we do Game Changers, Mark, our one event, we have our big annual conference. I have a version of the slides on my event computer. I have the same version of the same slides on my laptop, so I could literally run it from either one. We have got to worry about plan B and or C ahead of time. Ask us how we know that, Mark. Here's one of my little secrets. Not a huge secret, but a simple tip that can really help out is like, we had own the stage a couple weeks ago. So I have the own the stage on my meeting computer and I have own the stage on my laptop. But I always add to the file name the date. Whenever I update it, I change immediately the date. And whenever I come back from a event, whether it's being out of town or one of our own events here in Las Vegas, I make sure, okay, update it right now. Well, which one was the older one? Was it the meeting computer or the laptop? Well, I can tell because of the the file name and the date. So I'm always changing that to keep me current.

Now, I know there may be individuals here who are hearing the podcast for the first time, and they've been told, oh, yes, you learn everything about delivering unforgettable presentations, and you're talking about getting ready for the road. What we want to be clear on is for everyone new, emerging, or even experienced, being prepared for a presentation goes beyond writing a script, rehearsing, and delivering, particularly if your goal is to be a professional. There are several other moving parts surrounding the presentation, which is why we feel it's important to let you know about some of these details, what it takes. Now, I've been traveling since, I guess, almost 30 years, I guess, and my first international invitation was Bahrain and Hong Kong in 2001, 24 years ago. I've been doing traveling within the lower 48 US states since 1994. 95. So it's over 30 years. And I remember when I first began, Darren, to kind of back up a little bit. When I first began, I used to have a checklist, you know, had a travel checklist. What to prepare for, not only for my presentation. We didn't have PowerPoint back then. I had those plastic foil slides on a light projector that you don't. Don't give me that face. It's been a long time. We're in a new millennium now, and there are people hearing us out now who have no idea what that Slide predictor. Looks like it's antiquated. Ask Siri. Or go online and look it up. Ask. You know, did they have jet engines.

Back then, Mark, or was it props?

But I know you began when you began traveling. You had a checklist typed out, double spaced, everything from your toothbrush, your passport, power adapters. And the funny thing is, as Darren says when you're hearing this, I will likely be in India and I'm recording on a Monday. I'm going to my WhatsApp. And by the way, WhatsApp is my preferred means of communicating internationally. Unless I go to China. I use WeChat. But I have WhatsApp communication all over the world. Today's Monday. On Saturday I had communication with the team in India and they asked about do you need a pointer and a clicky PowerPoint? And I said I normally bring mine. And they said great. I also asked for a photograph, an image of the power adapters I will need in India. And they sent me an image. I went on Amazon and ordered three or four of those things. I took a picture of my order. I said will this work? And they said perfect. It's a small thing. You go to a foreign country and you don't realize now some hotels will accommodate Western. I know that that's great but not everyone will. And you go and you. Oh, I forgot to buy. That happened to me when I was in Saudi Arabia back in 2009. Okay, so you list includes. So they said yes, perfect. And they said that's good. They sent me PDF version printouts of my travel itinerary and my wife's itinerary. Every flight, departure, flight number, number of bags to check, all of the above. They also sent me on today I got this at 9 morning a copy of the hotel folio my reservation and I always have a folder. It's actually those on video. You'll see a burgundy folder here with papers hanging out. And I've got here the hotel, I've got my itinerary and I know and I three hole punch of Darren with a three hole punch in that binder. It's my go to everything I will need for the trip. And also I mentioned jokingly Darren his toothbrush. Don't forget to pack enough clothing for your trip plus an extra day, Darren. And you know why I say that? Because once in a while you don't realize, you know what, what if to prep for the road again in terms of personal. I also carry a set of clothing and underwear in my carry on backpack. It might sound toothbrush lotion, mouthwash, deodorant, because you're going internationally and we're gonna have three legs for this flight to India. And the app says it's 20 hours, 20 minutes of travel time, not counting leaving my house four hours early. Etc. Okay, so a day it may happen where you get a delay. I was going to Saudi Arabia. They had a sandstorm several years ago. We got diverted to Kuwait. What do you do when you go to Kuwait? Well, you. Kuwait, because you have to wait. I know, Darren, bad. I had to get one in there very quickly. Literally in a hotel overnight, unexpectedly, which means an extra set of clothing, assuming you shower. This may sound. I hadn't thought of that. But these lessons I learned the hard way from being on the road. So here's my main point here. I need to make a note of this. Prepping for the road is not just about the material you need for your presentation. It's about what you need to be at your best, at the ready and good to go. You know, things like shaving for my head. Think about what you will need as if you're going to be staying somewhere for 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14 days, at least one extra. What do I need to take care of myself with a report on my mobile device? I have a clock app, Darren. I'll show it to you right here. And it shows clock. And in my clock, I have Barcelona. I've got London. I'm going through London. I have Jaipur, where I'm going. So I know I go to my weather app. I have a weather app. And I asked my weather, what do I have? I've got my hometown. I got Las Vegas, where Darren is. I was there recently. I've got Atlanta, Washington, D.C. i've got Jaipur. Prepare yourself. What's the weather going to be like? Is it going to rain? What time zone will it be? All of these things. Do you need a tool to help you sleep on the plane or to be awake? How do you handle jet lag? How many hours? Where are we going to be? These are small details, but here's why they're important. When it's showtime, you have to be at your best. You want to be unforgettable. Did you factor in an extra day to rest before you speak? Oh, no. I figure I'll get there in the morning and I'll speak at night. No, you're traveling 20 hours across the world. You don't want to do that. Okay. You want to make sure with the organizers you plan your itinerary to make sure you are at your best and ready to go in every situation. I'm going to pause there. I could talk about this all day, but I know we also want to discuss preparing for the presentation as well. So bottom line, prepare as if you're going to be there. Plan for an extra day and take care of yourself in every way. Check the weather, check the temperatures, check the schedules and just be prepared.

Yeah, Mark, you can't talk about it all day. You're going to miss your flight. So I need to. Mark. I need to. Mark. I need to Mark a checklist to come home. I don't know about you, Mark, but I know me and some of my speaker friends, we do a walk through, through the hotel room and through the event room when you're done. Did I grab all my adapters?

And.

And when you and I were in Barcelona. Well, when we were in Barcelona a few months ago for ypo, coaching the executives there, just what you said happened. I didn't get my bag. But just like your preparation, in my carry on, I always have one set of professional clothes, professional shoes. If I'm not wearing professional shoes for the travel part, but I always have that with me and I needed it. So boom, the bag eventually came like 48 hours later, but I was okay. And I just went recently, Mark, when you and I were in D.C. well, I did the walkthrough, but I forgot my power adapter for my computer. And I was on my way to Denver to give four presentations for NSA Denver and then also for District 26 Toastmasters out there. Well, I didn't have power, my computer and I didn't have an adapter to recharge it. Now, fortunately, the very first meeting was for NSA teaching five Essentials to Get Paid to speak and the hotel. I asked them because you always ask because you know, somebody leaves it behind, what do they do with them? Do they collect them? And they said, don't worry, we'll. We'll send somebody and we'll bring it in. Otherwise, I would have maybe made it through that presentation, but I had three more in the same hotel. So thank you to those from Great Wolf Lodge in Colorado Springs for taking care of me. So of course, lesson learned. I did do a walkthrough, but I need a checklist, you know, and sometimes, Mark, when I go travel, I have my carry on my pack luggage and I take a backpack with me. And I always keep my power for my computer and my power adapter for my phone in that. So it's always there. So as Long as I grab my backpack. But sometimes I'm not taking my backpack. I only have the regular carry on and I've got to remember to bring it. Anyway, if you're listening to this, I know you know this, but we're reminding you because even we forget. I also have old school prepping where I have a physical folder and I have a label on the outside of the folder. So Regina, who is my office manager, she every event we have, we have a physical old school folder. And on it she puts a label and that little label is a checklist for her to make sure, hey, when the conference. And she has them like all my trips in a, in a file folder right on top of her desk. So she just grabs that, oh, hotel confirmation number, boom, writes it down. Why? Because yeah, it might be on your phone. Yeah, it might be on your computer. Well, what if you can't grab it or your computer doesn't work or your phone doesn't work or you're on the plane and you need to know. I like to have the old school physical folder. And yes, I recycle when I get back. However, having that sticker which is what's the hotel, who's picking you up, what's their cell phone, what's the event planner's cell phone? Where's the sleeping hotel? Where is the event hotel? Because sometimes it's a convention center, so it's in a different building. So it's right there on the outside that I can text the event planner as soon as I land. I can text the event planner the morning of whatever that is needed. And if I have technology problems, I still have that folder. Mark.

Yeah. And thanks. Thankfully, we have done some work with a bureau here in the US Executive bureau and they always send us a document with a full itinerary. The event name, the event planner, the venue. They have times, they have a car service pickup, a drop off, times, dates, phone numbers, and a matter of fact, we have a car service Thursday morning very early when we get to get to Jaipur. And the driver has already contacted me on WhatsApp. I have his photograph, I have his phone number. He has a picture of Andrea and me. He has my phone number. He verified the time because my plane lands like 0005 on Thursday and he wanted to make sure it was Thursday and not Wednesday. I said, well, if we land early, it's going to be Wednesday. If we're on time, it's going to be very, very early into Thursday morning. He said, great, got it. That small detail can be an issue because one remember one time I was traveling back, I was using a van service, a shared ride Service in Macon, Georgia. The one you used to go back after D.C. darren and I booked the van and the plane was going to land at midnight 05 on the 17th. Somehow they had me coming in on the 16th.

Oh.

So I was not on the reservation list to get back home at 12:30 in the morning and hour and a half south of Atlanta. Happily, the driver had an extra couple extra open seats and was able to put me on that van. But being Atlanta Airport at 12:30 in the morning and finding out I'm not on the res at the wrong date on reservation. Sorry, you're not on the list for the day walk. Where do I stay for overnight? It's a small thing, it seems, but it can be very inconvenient. Imagine that going out to present before you speak on the road and having a mix up regarding transportation and timing. And you have to be 100% and unforgettable within 24 hours. Dealing with jet lag, not very cool. So one more thought. Prepping for the road buffer. Enough time to get acclimatized to temperatures, to time zones. All of the above. Give yourself an extra day before you go on the platform. It may seem like a small thing and Darren, I confess, when I first began to speak, I was doing two conferences on the weekend for Toastmasters. Man, I go somewhere on a Friday. I'd speak Friday night, leave Sunday morning and speak Sunday afternoon and come out on Sunday. I thought I was just knocking them out. And after a while I realized this is not the way to do it. I wanted to get the numbers in, but I wasn't serving well, preparing well, and I was not being as unforgettable as I should have been. That was 30 years ago. I've learned a lot since then. But please make sure you take care of these small and minor details, even in terms of communication. And that checklist can be a really powerful lifesaver if you get accustomed to using it. And a physical binder is always great by the way. In that binder include paper copies of your introduction or introductions. And that was also on our list today. Two copies, right, Darren, I look at my WhatsApp messages here. It says here on WhatsApp today it said, hi, Mark, would need your introduction for you to be introduced by our MCs. They asked for that today. I'm leaving tomorrow. I said, yes, I'll be on it this afternoon. Also, if you're traveling internationally, I recommend you Bring copies of your passport as well. Because my wife said, honey, we need to get copies of our passport. She reminded me. Now, truth be told, in the binder, which those who are listening cannot see, but those who are watching can see, this binder has in it a document which happens to be a copy of my passport. Okay, So I have copies of this. And some hotels, when you go, they ask for your passport. Can I hang out with for a day or something? I don't know how that works, but it's just wise to have that in case anything goes wrong. If you're being invited, travel internationally, particularly in some eastern countries they will need, like China, they'll need, if they're on business, a letter of invitation to let you in. I'm Bishore. Some countries have different types of visas, right, Darren? And you might get to a country and you think you're there and they say, oh, you have the wrong kind of visa, we can't let you in. Darren, you share a story of having to deal with that yourself at some point in time. We need not name the country. But you found yourself wondering after a day and a half travel, do I have to go back home? Feel free to expound if you wish. If not, we'll move on.

It was close, but I think the point is make sure you get the right visa and don't necessarily take the word of people who are bringing you in, like, do your own. Do your own due diligence. We just have to. Because I literally thought they were going to send me back from another country and I found out another world champion did in fact get turned away in previous years. But let's focus on what really matters for you. Listening to this, and one of the most important parts of prepping is getting to know that audience, getting to know people who are in that audience. If you've heard us before, you know, I tend to interview 10 people ahead of time or ask for 10 names. I only end up speaking to five or six. But those conversations are gold. Who can you connect to on LinkedIn ahead of time? Can you get a list of conference attendees? Mark, you and I got list of ypo and I jumped on and I. I often connect with people on LinkedIn ahead of time, so that goes a long way to having friendly faces in the audience. There is a lot to the prep that affects your connection with the audience. And just like we're talking, we talk about a lot of travel things. Yeah, well, if you don't have the sleep, you don't have a hotel and you get to sleep in the airport or something that will affect your performance. So, hey, things are going to happen, no doubt about it. But what can you do beforehand to minimize that and to have a plan B? Mark, you talked about your remotes. I have three remotes with me. One of them needs to be recharged, so I kind of only have that in emergency. But I have two working remotes with me just because. And it has happened, it may happen to you. There you go. Where another presenter who's doing a breakout somewhere else at the same conference. Hey, does anyone have a remote? Here you go. You know, now they're super thankful. Consider Amazon gift cards or Starbucks gift cards for the AV team, for people that just go above and beyond to help you. What a great little thank you. Right in the moment, which most presenters won't do.

Mark, and quickly, one more thing also. It's good for you when traveling internationally, particularly if it's your first time around. Be aware of what it takes to get cellular service. Sometimes you get an ESIM, if you can do that, or if your host wants to give you an ESIM card for your phone. I got a SIM card in China, so my number was different for a week and a half. But I could call anyone who was there at any point in time. And that's again, options for telephone service when you are traveling internationally. But make sure you are fully connected. And as Darren said, I use the word connected deliberately because we can be. You can be in contact with the individuals who are there. But as Darren said earlier, if you understand the audience well and what they need, that's part of you being confident enough to serve them in a powerful way. And you'll be unforgettable because they realize your whole goal was to make sure they had a good experience and they walked away with benefit and value. And we cannot be at our best if we're not fully prepared. Aaron was right about software. Is it keynote? Is it going to be PowerPoint? And I love the idea of gift cards for the av because I had not been in the habit of doing that, but I'm always in the habit of thanking them. A tangible gift can go a long way. If you have books, carry a few. Even if you have 10 books, if you have 10, bring them with you. They could be giveaways for the audience. It could be gifts for the team that brings you in. It could be gifts for the AV team. Maybe you don't have that much to market, but if you got a few copies, bring them. You never know who you could Bless by giving them a book and signing it, you have no clue what it could mean to somebody who really values you and what you bring to the.

Yeah, I've given several to taxi cab drivers, limo drivers. I have a great conversation with them, they take good care of me and I ask them, hey, tell me something, what's your big crazy, ridiculous dream? And I have a conversation about that and then I hand them 17 minutes to your dream if it's appropriate. If they're like, yeah, yeah, I'm fine and you know, blah, blah, blah, well then obviously it's not going to make as great a connection, but I have a few in my bag just for those type of situations because now they'll never forget that that book will mean more to them. Even if they never open it.

They know it came from you and they understand your heart and your gesture. And I know this may sound a bit self serving, but there are other individuals in the audience who you may never interact with, but they see the way you come with a servant's heart. They see how prepared you are, they see, they see the way you treat the AV team, they see the way you want to accommodate those who have brought you in. And you know, this might be to some a bit abrasive, but we can't go in as prima donna saying, okay, I'm the pro, I'm the expert. Yes, you are. But if you go in with a servant's heart, it makes a big difference. And I've seen that in the way that meeting planners I've had internationally are still in contact with me. I got two different individuals from China last year, May, 12 months ago, who are still communicating with me. One sent me images and they said, you were here with your wife one year ago. We miss you.

What?

What? I didn't even think about that. But that's the way we can, we can be unforgettable not just for the presentation, but our presence. It's your presence and your presentation that can really make you unforgettable. And we invite you to really think about your process. Sit down and say, okay. Given a chance to travel, what will I need to bring with me? How can I make sure I don't miss anything? Am I communicating effectively? Am I in constant contact with the meeting planner? Can they refuse to have questions for me? Will I get back to them? Can I make sure everything I have disappeared in a way that will serve them well? Do I have backup copies of my passport? Do I have copies of my interest? Just think about all of these things that you'll need. And you know what? Maybe one day you'll go back to this podcast, you'll rewind it and you'll play it again because you have a chance to travel. You know what? I'm so glad Mark and Darren recorded this sometimes goofy podcast to really help me to prepare for the road.

Yeah, so make your own checklist. Keep tweaking it and adapting it each time. You know, bring yourself a hard copy and then just write notes. Ooh, I gotta remember this. I gotta remember this. And it will become yours. And that could be a game changer when it comes down to that one time. That one time.

And by the way, friends, this should go without saying, but the best preparation you can make for the road is to prepare your unforgettable presentation that will be repeated and remembered. You will be unforgettable.

We'll see you next week. If Mark makes it back from India.

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