Ep. 32 How to Make Your Characters Unforgettable
2 Apr 2020 · 38 min
Darren LaCroix and Mark Brown discuss how to make characters in presentations stick with audiences. They cover techniques for helping people see, feel, and hear characters, the role of supporting characters, and how to build emotional connections through storytelling.
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Hey, Mark, with all this craziness, there's so many stories that are happening right now that we're living, that we're in the middle of, that we see on the news now, bringing that over, converting that into our presentations. How do we make our presentations unforgettable? I think one of the keys to an unforgettable presentation is an unforgettable story. But, Mark Brown, what is the key to an unforgettable story?
Unforgettable characters. And today, I want people to listen carefully because there's one key ingredient to making unforgettable characters an integral part of an unforgettable story, and indeed, an unforgettable presentation.
Let's do this.
Anyone can give a presentation. Few deliver unforgettable presentations. What's the difference? You're about to find. 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.
Hey there, Mark Brown. Unforgettable characters.
Yes, indeed.
Yeah, man, I love this subject. I'm so excited about this, and I think it's a good release to some people to focus in that. If you step back from your stories, how do we make our stories better? Well, our characters, can we see them? Can we feel them? Can we hear them?
That sounds really simple. Can we see him, feel them and hear him? But it's so key to having the story really pop because we have to be able to identify with the characters, connect with the characters. They have to be in some way relatable to us. And very often we insert a character, they're the main person in the story or in the speech, and we kind of get to see them and hear their conflict. We want to make sure there's conflict and resolution. They go through all of this. But we need to really see, hear, and feel and identify with these characters to a point where as an audience member, you want to know what. What happens next, but you also feel, you know what I know what he or she is going through, I've been there, or I know someone who's been there.
It's gotta be relatable. Whether it's again, us that we can relate or we know somebody that we could put in that situation or relate to that character. When it's relatable, it's 90% there to unforgettable so we gotta start, and that's gonna be our overriding idea, that the character's relatable. But, Mark, how do we make them rel?
We want the audience to see our characters. I have learned that I need to become the characters when I tell a story, because when I become the character, the audience gets to see the character much more clearly. And if we do it well, we could even create a scene in the mind of the audience where they can see the character. Based on how I conduct myself on stage, the voice I use, my facial expression, my vocal inflection, the way I move. And I know this kind of point to presentation here. But if the audience can see a different character in me, and for a moment all they see is that character, then they're invested. Especially when, Darren, they know someone who was like that character, or at some point in their life they've ever felt like that character, then they can relate to it. For example, if I'm talking about, I don't know, a dad and his and his son having a conversation about sports or school or whatever issue, if I can sound like that dad, and the audience can hear that father's voice in my own, that's one way to connect. When I can portray the character as that dad, then the audience can see that character much more clearly. And through the dialogue and conversation, the audience can feel the emotion. That's one, two, three ways the audience gets connected.
Yeah. Mark, when you did your speech, by the way, I recommend everyone go back and if you're listening to this now, listen to. Let's see. It was. I'm pretty sure it was episode three, which was Mark talking about your story. When you prod on the character of Pat Harper, who was a news reporter, you literally took on her shrugging body. And when you did that, we could see Pat Harper. You personified her so we could see her. And that helped make it unforgettable. So seeing the characters, I remember in one of my speeches, one of my famous speeches that actually helped me at the regional level, which is now called the semifinals, was one of the stories I pulled out of my keynote. It was one of my best stories stories, and it was called my valet story. And at one of our humor boot camps, you and I do those two day events. And at the humor camp, Patricia Fripp happened to be in Vegas and sitting in the room and she saw the. I showed a video clip of it with the audience reaction. It was one of my best versions of it. And there's an event planner who Walks up and asks me, are you ready? And Patricia Fripp, in all of her brilliance, said, darwin, why don't you make the meeting planner an Amazon woman? And I never even thought of that. But what you and I teach is we've gotta tell the emotional truth. And in that story, because I was new and I was so nervous, but giving the Persona of an Amazon meeting planner it. Within just one word, one word description, we see this tall, strong, confident woman, which adds to the conflict of the whole story just by being able to see her. And Mark, you know, if you're listening to this podcast and you've seen anything we taught, I've told the Mark Brown story 3,452 times.
I bet you have. Right.
And whenever I tell it, I always, especially if Mark's not in the room, and usually, even if he is, I raise my hand up to about 6 foot 2. And I said, if you don't know Mark brown, he stands 6 foot 2. And I raise my hand up to that level. So you can see he's much taller than me, 6 foot 2. He's a native of Jamaica, which gives you background in just a few words. And obviously saying, you know, you're black and you've got that funny accent type of thing.
Thank you very much, Darren. No problem, man.
Yeah, it comes out sometimes. And then I say that he has a heart of gold, and we'll get to feeling in a while. But here's the thing with us as presenters is we've got to get the character across quickly and in just a very few words. If you're writing. If you're writing an article, if you're writing a book, well, then you have more time to expound. But we don't have that privilege. So for us, it has to be a very short, brief description so we can see the character Mark.
And it's funny, you mentioned my contest speech with Pat Harper, the journalist. And I recall when I was telling the story of her, I said, she resolved to do a story on the plight of the homeless in New York City to appreciate their circumstance. She dressed as they dressed, she walked as they walked, and she lived as they lived. Those three lines, I literally put a garment on. I showed it as I was putting on a garment, like a heavy coat. She dressed as they dressed, she walked as they walked. I had a hunched shuffle as I was shuffling down the street and lived as they lived. And I pointed to a corner to simulate the doorway that many of these homeless people sleep in in New York City. And in one Short phrase. She dressed as they dressed, walked as they walked, lived as they lived. Right then the audience got the picture of what she was like. And I doubled down and I said, there she sat, huddled in a doorway, shivering, trying to fend off the bone chilling winds. And you told me later you saw the actual bone chilling movement and you felt that. So that adds to the visual, but it also added to the emotional feeling of the character as well. So think about this friendship. When you describe a character, Darren may give you a key nugget here, a keeper. He said, you gotta get to the character quickly in as few words as possible so the audience can see them right away and visualize, yeah, I know someone like that, or I have been that person, or, wow, they're talking about me. It's an instant connection and the character becomes relatable because now the audience member can clearly see in their mind what, what that character looks like. It's simple, but done well, it's brilliant.
We've gotta see the character. So look at your stories and ask yourself right up front, do I let the audience see them? Cause if they see them, they're so much farther into buying into the emotional connection of the story. But we gotta see them first. Again, just detail. My mom is a painter, and so I like this little analogy that in the on stage presence or virtual presentation presence, all we need to do is take our paintbrush and touch the canvas. That one little detail. We let the audience paint the picture. It's just our responsibility to dab the color and put it on the canvas and let the actual description come to life in the audience's mind.
That sounds like my wife's favorite painter, Bob Ross. The late, great Bob Ross. The white tree with the Afro man. Happy little bush right here. A little bird up here. Happy bush, happy little bush. And you know, we can laugh at that. But the little detail, the little 6 foot 2, heart of gold and laughs like the guy from 7up Commercial, I mean, that is a big description. Anybody who's over 40 will probably, well, 45, probably get that joke. But at our age seven up commercial, maybe over their heads. But it's true. The little detail, the little nuance, that one little detail is all it takes for the audience to get a clearer picture. So three words, native of Jamaica. Again, in their minds, a visual is created. So think about your own presentation when you describe characters and places. But more importantly, characters. Can the audience, based on your simple description, see those characters? That's only one part of the process, right, Darren?
Yeah. And just to wrap this one up, the seeing is so important. Go back, look at your stories and ask yourself, have I shown. Have I painted just with that dab, the picture of the audience? When I talked about the valet story and the Amazon meeting planner, who now she is, when I first described her, I took on her Persona as being large. But that one word helped add to it. And Patricia Fripp's brilliance in storytelling could see that it would also affect the. The conflict in the story. So all of these things come together, all of these attributes. So take a look. Can we see your characters now? We've touched on this a little bit. Feel. Mark Brown, how do we feel?
I'm glad you asked the question. As you were saying about the last Amazon character, a thought came to mind just spontaneously, Darren. And we've taught our clients or people working with us in Statestown University to record yourself when you're rehearsing. Can you imagine what it would be like when you record yourself? To play back a recording of you describing a character but not looking at it? Just play back the audio and hear if your words adequately describe what the audience can see, then to double down on that, how can the audience feel the character? Our dear friend, one of our gurus, Michael Haig, Hollywood script consultant, says the purpose of a story is to elicit emotion. And we can very easily elicit emotion in one simple way. It's the way we portray the characters, the voice you give to them and the way you speak when you describe them and when you become them, when you portray them, don't just talk about the character, become the character. Let's feel what they're going through in the emotion of their voice. If somebody is angry, we've got to say, we've got to hear that. We got to feel the anger. And sometimes it doesn't mean yelling and screaming and shouting. If you can recall, if you're a parent, you probably have at some point in your life yelled at your kids quietly through clenched teeth. If you ever do that one more time, I'm going to bring don't go over there. And we kind of laugh about that, but we feel the emotion of the character in just the way that we hear them speak, in the way you portray them. And sometimes if you do it well, you can create the emotion of a character without even saying a word, by the look on your face, by the action and the reaction. Darren did a wonderful job of that. When you talked in your contest speech about telling your parents that you want to be a comedian after they stretched their Budget. And that scene was not really. Not too much words. The reaction was not verbal at all. It was purely physical. And it gave the audience a chance to see their reaction and to see how they felt. When you were developing, was it going through your mind? How can I get the audience to see my parents without them saying a word?
No, it wasn't in my mind.
But see, afterwards, you saw the later though, right? Absolutely.
You coached me through that. I didn't get what you were helping me do. And in fact, just two weeks ago, when we talked about this in a previous episode, you said just that. We pointed out the fact that before I even got to the dialogue, which I usually, when I'm teaching this, I focus on the dialogue of that story. Yet the setup was what allowed the audience to feel what my parents were going through. Again, going back to the relating, as a parent, imagine how you would have felt if you just helped stretch your budget to put your kids through college. And then they come home, mom, dad, I want to be a comedian. The dialogue is not nearly as important. If the setup is missing, it would have fell flat. I learned it from you. But yeah, perfect. Where we need to know, and if we know what the characters are thinking, that helps us to understand how they're feeling. So feeling and thinking are intrinsically connected in this situation, when I say Mark Brown had a heart of gold, he ends up delivering me very truthful, very honest, but brutal honesty on what he just read. But because you know that he had a heart of gold, it helps set up that moment. And we don't think Mark as mean or evil. Well, usually we don't, but in that story, he's kind. So all of these factors, if we don't know the situation, it's hard to truly know what the audience get because we need to know what the characters are feeling and thinking, because those are related.
Yeah. And the thing is, what is beautiful about this, and I hope everyone catches this, sometimes the best dialogue is actually non verbal. Because, Darren, you have made a point to drive this home, that very often it is the reaction that's important and it is the reaction that gives the emotional connection which ties the thinking and the feeling together. So you have to make sure if you know what you're thinking and you can see the reaction, then you can say, oh, I know exactly what you're going through. I know exactly what they're feeling. And they'll even say to themselves, I remember how it felt when. And these are the kinds of responses, emotional reactions you want your audience to have so when the character is relatable and they go through an experience towards the audience can relate, you magnify that by showing the reaction and the emotion becomes that much more real. And the audience not only sees, but your audience begins to feel as well. Think about the times you ever did a presentation and somebody has come up to you and said, man, oh, you brought me back, bro. Or you made me remember this. Oh, I know exactly how that felt. The same thing happened to me, a different situation, but. But the response was the same, man, I can relate to that. And I remember one time I told a story about my dad and going to see my dad on my way to Jamaica, way back in 1981. And I told how my dad came to see me and he drove three hours total time to spend seven minutes with me before he went back home. And at the end of my presentation was right before lunch at the conference, and someone came to me and said, mark, I want to talk to you about that story, but before I do, I have to go and call my dad.
Boom, Bam.
And it didn't hit me until then the value of portraying my father's character. He was tall, coming through the airport, and how he turned around. I mean, every little detail of having a cup of coffee with my dad at the cafe outside the gate. And he said, I want to talk to you, but first I've got to go call my dad. That was relatability, that was connection. That was him feeling the story of my own character, my dad in my story, and prompting him to go out and call his dad. And honestly, Darren, when it happened, it didn't occur to me back then, several years ago, maybe 20 years ago, it didn't occur to me then, the power of allowing the audience to not only see but to feel the characters. Because my dad hadn't seen me in a year, he had sent me out to America with 40 bucks in my pocket to start a brand new life on my own. And here I am, one year later, going to see my dad face to face for the first time. And what was he thinking? What was he feeling? His willingness to sacrifice three hours to spend three hours to come see me for seven minutes that spoke to this individual. So in your story, think about the emotional piece. What's the emotion of the character? Can your audience relate to that, connect to that, and then respond to that?
If you do want to go deeper, one of the episodes you might Recommend is episode 27, where we talk about the story diagram. But we felt it was very important to talk specifically about Unforgettable characters like Mark. That story is always so powerful and it's always so relatable, and it's just about love, the love of a father to his son. When you were doing Pat Harper, you were shivering in the cold. So that helped us see and feel how the character was feeling when. Now think of something simple as this. When I tell my stitches story, prior to going into stitches, when I go into the very first comedy club I was ever in, Chris McGuire was the comedian that night. And I walk up to him in the comedy Hut, Dick Daugherty's comedy hut. And I walk up to him and I'm all nervous and I work up the courage. So when I say I have to work up the courage, they know I'm intimidated. And then, Even though Chris McGuire is technically the same height as me, I have my character, Darren, look up to him.
Ah, yeah.
So you can see, but you're really feeling. So you don't just see the character saying the word of dialogue, but you see them. Hi, my name is Darren. I want to try this. What do I need to do? And he turns to me. Now the other character looks down.
Right.
Are you funny? No. But the intimidation adds to the humor. It adds to the emotion of the situation. Because if you've ever had to work up the courage to do something, you can relate more to that scene in that moment. Now the moment in the story becomes more unforgettable, thus the presentation becomes more unforgettable.
And that is so true. And I can't help but go back to your winning contest speech out, because many people are familiar with that speech. They've seen the video several times. But there's one little part, one little story, mini story in middle of. Well, towards the end of the speech, where you talk about the night you bombed and you had a lady behind you doing the improv poorly, and you said, please do something with your hands. And she did. And we talked about not having the dialogue and telling us what. Not telling us what she did, but showing us.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. We talked or I argued with you?
Well, we had. Let's be real, a spirited conversation. We had a spirited conversation about the virtues of an alternative way of depicting the character. How does that sound?
It sounds, again, you have a very big heart. Well, I was like, no, I need clarity. I was trying for clarity over.
Well, I was trying for clarity over connection. I should write that down. Darren was alliterative today. But the point is, when you showed the reaction to what she did, and we saw the reaction to what she did, that was powerful. You played a video back, you hear the audience reaction right away, because they could see they got the humor, but then they could feel how Darren felt when he went to see his mentor, Rick. The pain, the embarrassment, the out of the moment, they could also feel that. And in very simple but powerful ways, your audience can feel. If you know how to portray the character, how to show their emotion, how to show their response and reaction, and the language you use to depict what happens next can really be helpful when the audience can actually hear the characters as well.
Mm, excellent. So we are talking about the over umbrella of relatable. We talked about seeing. We talked about feeling, and now we're talking about hearing. Let's hear your character speak. This is one of those mistakes we see in storytellers over and over again. Especially presenters as storytellers, especially corporate presenters as storytellers, we wanna hear the character talk. Cause when the character speaks with the right emotion behind the dialogue, now we're not talking stage play back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. We're talking about, here's a statement, maybe a reaction, maybe one reaction to the reaction, but that's it. Otherwise, it's a stage play. So we need to hear them. And Mark, when you first looked at my speech, oh, Darren, we have some work to do. That's one of the overriding things I needed help with. After seven years in nsa, for seven years in four Toastmaster clubs doing standup comedy, no one ever taught me. No one ever taught me the importance of hearing a character.
But the funny thing is, what you didn't realize, Darren, was in your semifinal speech back then. It was called region. You did a pretty decent job with that. It was rmt remove my tension. And you told the valet story. But you. What really made me connect was when you became the valet. The thing is, maybe you didn't appreciate it back then 20 years ago, but you. You had become one character when you could have become more characters. And the valet, you were not mocking him by his accent, but the way you told his advice to you, next time you come here, you became that character. And a slight shift in the accent and the attitude was so powerful. I could see his frustration with you going back and forth to your car to get item after item. I could see his frustration. I could hear him by how he spoke. And his emotion came out in the way he spoke. Similarly, mom, dad, I want to be a comedian. We could see the enthusiasm, the joy you wanted to do. Yeah, it's a Simple thing. If we can hear each character in their own words and in their own voice. We have done this before and told people, you don't need to have a very high voice for a lady and a very low voice for a guy. We don't need to go crazy extreme. Please don't, please don't, please don't, don't do that. But just a slight change of voice and inflection gives us a chance to hear them in their own words and in their own voice. And those two combined will magnify the image in the minds and the eyes and the ears of the audience to really see a different character.
Yeah. And consider posture, too. A slight change in posture, Mark, as you did in your championship speech, which you can find on YouTube, but taking on the character. So if there's a change in posture, even if it's not both characters, but even if it's you, and let's say the other character is a little egotistical or something, or snooty, and they have their hand on their hip and they shake their head when they talk, and the other character doesn't. So it's not like you want to create two. We just need to know the other characters talking. And Patricia Fripp taught us this so brilliantly that in the dialogue, in the words that you hear, what the audience needs to know is who's talking. And a simple technique we learned From Patricia Fripp, fripp.com, f R-I-P p.com One of the things we learned from her was that you put the recipient's name in the dialogue at the beginning, too. Mark, why are you so amazing? So now you know. It's the other character talking to Mark, because the recipient's name of the dialogue is the first thing that one of them says. So if I say, mom, why did you do that? Or dad, I love you, we know who's talking. And that's one of the important things to creating that scene, which is part of the story, which is part of the presentation.
Well, you did that in Mom, Dad, I want to be a comedian. You also do it when you say, oh, Daddy, we have some work to do. What?
I've never said that.
We can laugh about that. But the thing is, when you use the other person's name, it becomes clear in the audience mind who's talking. And if you watch some people telling stories because they're inexperienced, they'll go back and forth and they have 8, 9, 10 lines of wait, who's talking here? What's happening or they try to create a three way conversation. It just gets muddled and confusing. And clarity is one of the things that Darren preaches. And I've heard him say clarity, clarity, clarity. Maybe 83,219.7 times, but that's okay. You want it to be clear so the audience can see and hear the characters. And with again, a slight vocal infection, you don't need to go overboard. But the whiny kid, I don't want to go. I want to stay home. We know it's a whiny kid.
You do that really well.
Well, I will not say I was never a whiny kid. And I hope my wife will not say I'm a whiny husband now. But. But the point being very little bit. I tell the story of when I met David Brooks, my mentor, after the 1994 World Championships. I tell the audience, I'm on the fourth row, sitting there with my seven year old son Joel in my lap. The room is empty, 2,000 people have left. And he's in my lap crying. And he says, daddy, you tried so hard, but you didn't win. It's not fair. And I do a little lip quiver and the audience kind of chuckles, but they know it's my seven year old son crying. And I say, son, it's okay. I did my best. Is always next year. Slight vocal difference, but the character becomes real. So even if you were not watching the video, if you were simply listening to audio and Darren, no comment here. But in 1995 when the contest was over, there was no instant YouTube video. We had to wait several weeks to get first the audio cassette. Anybody remember those? And then the VHS videotape. So until the video was ready, I was blessed to get a copy of the audio cassette of the speech contest in. I think it was two cassettes. And I would play that back and all I could do was hear the words I spoke in the contest. I could only hear what every contestant said. And it became so real to me that when we portray characters, if we can sound like them, how would a 7 year old boy sound? Who's disappointed? How would an angry Amazon woman sound? How would a frustrated valet sound? And I realized by hearing these cassette tapes. Wow. We can actually see the characters if we let the audience hear them properly in how we portray them.
Yeah. Because what the audience does is they go back to moments in their life in a similar situation and they paint the picture in their minds from that relatable situation and the relatable characters. So Mark, we talked about seeing them, we talked about feeling them, we talked about hearing them. And one thing I don't hear much about, but is very important, which you brought up to me this morning when we were preparing for this, is the supporting cast. The other small role characters that have a crucial role in the story, a pivotal role in. And you can't tell the story most effectively or in an unforgettable way without some other characters having a small role.
We often tend to focus on the main character, what he or she has to endeavor and go through. But if you look at film, there's always supporting cast. I mean, the Academy goes as far as to provide Academy Awards to Best Supporting Actor or Best Supporting Actress because they realize the value and the importance of supporting cast. You mentioned one of your favorite movies has great supporting characters, Star Wars C3PO.
You know, he doesn't have a major role. He's a character, but he also is to bring levity to a situation. Jar Jar Binks, I believe, was designed to bring levity to the situation. So when you have that charismatic character, the quirky character, like Arnold Horshak in welcome Back Kata.
Oh, you're going to welcome Back Darren. Our audience may not know. Welcome Back Carter. With Gabe Kaplan and a very young Vinny Barberino on the Sweat Hogs.
True.
We're really dating ourselves. We're both over 50. Guys. Please forgive us, but go archive that. Welcome Back Carter.
Yeah, even in Lion King, Timon and Pumbaa, like, those characters have a smaller role, but yet they add so much. The story would not be the same without Rafiki as well as those two. So even Rafiki, like, as a guru, has a small role. He's a quirky character, but we remember him. We see him. We hear his laugh. We see. Part of seeing him is the little. Is it a cane that he has or the stick or the wand or something. But when I think of him, I see that, you know, I see him holding it. Yoda. Anyway, when you tell your stories, the supporting characters, even if they only have a line, even if. Mark, you and I talked about Craig Valentine. Oh, one of my favorite stories of his is when he's teaching his kids, they buy a bunk bed, and he teaches his young son not to go to the top bunk. Greg comes home and where is he? Of course, right where he told him not to go, the top bunk. And Craig says, what are you doing up there? And he says, coming down. It kills me, but it's part of the story. It helps make the point, but it Brings levity to the story as well. So let's. When we look at our stories, is there maybe character missing, or do we need to give them a little more character to the character, if you will, to make that a little more development?
Yeah, you're right. You're right. And I guess the rule of thumb is ask yourself, if I take this character out, will my story be as effective? Will it be the same?
Great question.
Will it have the same value for the audience? One concern I often hear from speakers who I coach is this Darren. But Mark, I don't want to have too many characters to confuse the audience. I want my main character to go through this thing. And that's true. But sometimes that one secondary character, that supporting role, is a pivotal and integral part to the story. So you have to ask yourself, yeah, it may seem like I don't need all these characters, but are they really important? In your contest speech, you had Dr. Goddard. You had a mom and dad who didn't say anything. You had Brian Tracy who was talking to you through your cassette, but you had a woman behind you during your routine.
She was a perfect supporting character.
Exactly. And hers was active, not verbal. It was action. Rick said so. He had one word. Rick had one word. So. But it was important for your growth and development. So don't discount the value of your supporting cast and secondary characters, because they can have real value.
Yeah. Maybe even ask yourself, could a supporting character enhance this story? Like, a lot of times people come to you and me and say, I got a great story and they want to make it more memorable, and yet they're missing one element. They're trying to make it funnier. Well, sometimes a small, random line from a supporting character can be just what you need to break the tension and make the whole story more digestible, more memorable, thus leaving your message in the heart and the mind of your audience.
And sometimes one small line, a few words by a supporting character could actually be the wisdom that the main character gets in the story. And we almost miss it. We almost miss it. But it's so key to the development, the change that character goes through. And coming out on the other side of your conflict, you realize, wow, they're better. Why? What was the key? It was those two words his grandma said to him when he came over, when he came to have her apple pie one day. And you go, wow, those two words, like, not today, for argument's sake. And it becomes the wisdom that it then passed on to you, the audience. So as a storyteller, don't Discount the import and the value of supporting characters because they can have great wisdom, humor, levity. They can add so much to your story and to your presentation.
All right, so Mark, what do we have for keepers? Line up our keepers. Remember the characters. If you want to make your stories unforgettable, need to be relatable. That's the overarching umbrella we're talking about. But do we see them? Do we feel them, do we hear them? And do you have supporting characters? Mark, what do we got for keepers?
Supporting characters can play a pivotal role, providing humor, charity and wisdom. The biggest one for me came from you. Very early on, you want to get the audience to see, hear and feel the characters early with as few words as possible. We want to see, hear and feel your characters early with as few words as possible. As Darren says, in a book you can do two pages, but in a presentation you want to get short, quick but clear words. So choose your language carefully. Don't just talk about the characters, become the characters. Don't just talk about the characters, become the characters. Take on their Persona. Depict them visually, verbally and also share their emotion by what you say and how you say it. One last nugget. You can use a word to depict a character visually. Like the Amazon woman, like officer friendly, like, think about ways to describe the character so the audience can see, hear and feel. There's a lot going on here, but the great wisdom is this. You want the audience to think like the character, feel like the character and relate to the character. Never discount the importance of supporting cast.
Nice. Thank you. Mark Brown, I hope this has been insightful to you. Take a look at your stories. Please subscribe. Join us, Tell your friends about what we're doing here on Unforgettable Presentations podcast. Mark Brown, always a joy. Let's see you next week.
All right, man. Bye.
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