Ep. 68 Unforgettable Movie Moments

Hey there, Mark Brown. Are you a movie fan?

Of course. I love movies. Are you kidding me, man? Come on.

Yes. I think most people are movie fans, and if you're not, this probably isn't the episode for you. If you are, there are some magical moments in your favorite movies, whichever movie it is, because it's your favorite. Because of those moments of connection, well, we're gonna dive into magic movie moments, what makes the moment, but most importantly, how that can help to make your stories, which will make your presentation 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 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.

And Mark Brown, I want to qualify right up front because sometimes we might talk about a moment and the listener might be thinking, well, it was all right, it wasn't that unforgettable.

But.

But when we say. Just like when we say something's funny, we're saying something's not funny in general, it's funny to me. So when we're talking about this, we're saying, hey, these were unforgettable moments for us when we enjoyed our favorite movies. And just like the people in our audience, they're going to people who love the moments in your presentations, and then there's going to be some. Well, it doesn't really resonate with them, and that's okay. But if we're not focusing on trying, we're not striving to be unforgettable, then we're really missing the whole point that we have touched them in some new way, given them some perspective that gives them their aha from that moment.

I'm glad you mentioned that, too, because, you know, here at Stage Time, we do our weekly coaching calls, and our host, Mike Davis and I were talking about this recently, that every story has a moment. And it's true. It is very subjective, I will grant you that. But stories well told as part of a bigger presentation can really, when you have those moments, those, wow, didn't see that coming. Or, wow, that's amazing. Or that's. And when the audience has any of those reactions, when they get some kind of response to that moment, then you've made that connection. And very often, not only the connection between you, the audience, and the story, but the connection to your message, which for some people can be a really big aha. And it can frame and inform their perspective going forward. As presenters, we have a responsibility and an opportunity to create those aha moments, to transform our audience's thinking, and to create for them an experience that it wasn't just a good speech. Wow, I learned something. I felt something. I can now do something. And very often that begins with a moment in your story and in your presentation.

That's why right now, Mark, we're recording this in December 2020, where we haven't been to the movies in a long time, which is killing me. But I think it's different when you. And you're in front of it and you're with a whole group of people. And just like you said, it then is an experience.

Yes.

As opposed to on the smaller screen with a smaller audience. Look, hey, I'm thankful we have Netflix to help us through this, as well as any other medium that might be your favorite. And if you're younger, if you're born after 1980 or 1990, you might not understand some of the references that we talk about. Well, they're the movies of our lives. But still understand that the principle still works. The principle is still something that we need to strive for if we want to be unforgettable in our presentation. So, Mark, let's talk about some of the movie moments that were unforgettable to you and me. And then we'll talk about, well, what made it unforgettable. I mean, when we think of the classic Star wars, we think of the moment where, Luke, I am your father.

Luke, I am your father. James Earl Jones voice. Luke, I am your father. Go ahead.

And then I think of Jaws, the moment where Sheriff Quint. No, wasn't it Sheriff Brody that says.

Sheriff Brody was Quint? Yes.

We're gonna need a bigger boat. It's that moment, like a lot of people say, oh, it was a great line from the movie. But don't misunderstand it. Understand that that line represents a. That made it a great line, that made the line memorable. It's not a line in and of itself. If that line was said, delivered it another way, in another circumstance, in a different background, with different characters, it would not have the same impact as it does in a story well told.

You know, Darren, you just said a while ago, I gotta jump on it for a second. And I hope everyone catches this. The line at a different time by a different character in a Different place may have been impactful in and of itself, but it would not have the same impact as it would have blending itself to the moment in which it came and the context in which it was given. So what that means for us who are listening and who are watching on YouTube is to think about the power of some of your key lines in your presentation. But at which moment are they delivered and will the impact be magnified or enhanced when that line is delivered and at the right moment? Darren.

And most of the time, there's some silence after that moment. There's facial expression, reaction, but in silence. Why? So we can absorb that moment. I mean, in the movie Forrest Gump, I wrote down a few that, you know, the moment that Lieutenant Dan comes back, the moment that Jenny comes back, and then Forrest finds out he has a son, and then he asked that question, is he smart? Like. And it's just like your heart goes out and we connect with them. And Mark, you and I were talking offline, but I have to bring this up because you reminded me one of our friends just Blaine had to have some surgery, and we were talking about colonoscopy. And when I think of colonoscopy, I can't help but laugh and smirk just a little. And I go back to the moment in Fletch, if you remember the movie, the Old Old Mov Fletch with Chevy Chase, where he's getting a colonoscopy and he leans over. We just see the front of him. He leans over and he starts singing Moon river to the doctor. When the doctor.

Yeah, he's wounding it.

Yeah. And it just. It's just like, oh, there's all these emotions wrapped in that moment. But when we were talking about that subject, it reminded me of that movie moment.

Mark, now you just said all these emotions wrapped up in that moment. Understand this, that movie moments, and indeed presentation and story moments are always connected to an emotional response. Darren, you said earlier, the pause after receive the reaction, you mentioned Forrest Gump. You lowered your voice. When you recall a story, the question Forrest asked, and it triggered an emotion. Speaking is emotional, friends. And many of us will say, well, I report, I give data, I'm a numbers person. But when you have moments in your presentation that can elicit an emotion, that's another place, another way to connect with your audience and reinforce the value and the power of the scene in the movie or in the story. And if you do it well in the context of your presentation, it becomes even that much more powerful. Who knew that going to movies could.

Be so informational and for us as presenters, so educational, too. Even in a corporate presentation, we're talking about the numbers, there still could be a story wrapped around that where the revelation happens and the client who was that skeptical person becomes that believer. Well, you know, I think of the movie Avatar. Some moments in the movie Avatar where he's the main character is accepted by the navi. There's that moment he battles for it. We know he's a good guy, but they think he's an imposter. And then the moment where the two love interests, where they say, I see you, meaning. Yeah, they see into each other. They see the real person inside rather than just the traits outside. And, Mark, I can't talk about movies if I don't talk about Rudy, of course. So Rudy, my favorite movie. I think of the scene where he's talking with his dad when he's about to get on the bus to go to Notre Dame, that his dad's trying to talk him out of it, and he's like, come on, we're Rudiger's. There's nothing to be ashamed of. You know, Notre Dame's for rich people. And I could just hear my parents talking when. When I wanted to do stand up, when that's. That's for the other people. And to me, again, it's a personal moment to me, that was emotional. And he tells a story of this farmer. One of the ancestors was a farmer, and he believed in a crazy dream. And because he believed in that crazy dream, he bought a farm. And then it was during the Great Depression, and all the cows that he bought died of disease and he had to go away. And so it's ridiculous to believe in a dream, in a stupid dream. Okay? So he's trying to talk him out of that dream because of the experience that he had, he's trying to pass it on. And Rudy won't accept that. But there was so much to me that resonated with me. The moment that he's sitting on. Rudy is sitting on the bench when he's undoing the acceptance letter to Notre Dame, and you don't even hear him talk. You see him unfold the letter. He's on this park bench, away from everyone else, and he sees it, he gets choked up. You know what it said, Based on the reaction and the telling of the story, of course. The moment that, you know, he got called into the game, there's another great moment. If, you know, if you don't know the movie, I apologize. Just. Just give me some grace here. For a second. But there's a moment when he is told he's not going to get to dress that one time. And the captain of the team and all the best team players just know this is his dream, to just dress. So they go into the coach's office and they throw their shirts on the coach's desk, and they're like, he can dress for me. He can dress for me. He can dress for me. He can dress for me. The coach is mad. And he pulls the captain and he's like, you're the captain. You got to start acting like one. And he just goes, I believe I am. And it's just like, bam. It's just a beautiful moment. And of course, when everybody's in the crowd starts chanting to get Rudy in the game. Rudy, Rudy. Rudy. And so that's a moment. These are all, like little moments, but the whole movie, there's so much more to the scene that makes that moment matter.

Now, I hear you rattling off 3, 4, 5, 6 moments from one film, and one thing stands out. And I trust everyone catches this. It is the emotional impact. I go back to the emotion, Darren, the impact that moments have on the viewers in the movies. If we all stop and really ponder this, we have opportunities to have impact on our audiences through the moments that in our stories and the moments in our presentations. When they get to that point where you say the right words at the right time, depicting the right scene, having the right experience, you have no idea how your audience members are going to react to that. Case in point. We had a coaching call recently with Stage Time. One of our presenters was telling the story of a retreat he was on. And the facilitator asked a question on, what is your deepest longing? And our friend Chad kind of stood back and said, oh, and, you know, somebody gave the typical I want world peace answer. But I revealed to everyone that night on our coaching call when I heard the question and he paused for me, that was a moment because it brought to me some of my deepest longings. And I revealed in a moment of vulnerability, Darren, to our listeners and our attendees that evening, I said, one of my greatest longings is to be a certain kind of husband to my wife. So much so one of my prayers is, God help me to be the husband my wife desires and deserves. And that was a moment when Chad was giving a speech, but it was a moment in our whole experience. So much so. The following day, I posted in stagetown's Facebook page a photograph. Two photographs of a post. It I wrote for my Wife with that prayer on it, which she keeps on the counter in the kitchen where she prepares meals every day. And she sees that. So the one moment from Chad's presentation was so resonant for me, it prompted me to tell part of my story, and I reflected on what I had done for my wife. And then I made that public within the Facebook group. And I say all that to make one point. Friends, you have absolutely, positively. Mark Brown is in no idea of the impact the moments in your presentation can have, not only in terms of a story you are telling, but the personal impact on the people who hear your message. Darren only shared a brief glimpse of his reaction to these moments in Rudy's story. But there's more to the story of Darren and Rudy which he might share some other time. My point being the impact of the moment was so deep, it has affected him in the same way Chad's comment affected me and in the same way. Your words at the right moment not only can, but will affect your audience. And these movie moments, we can recall them. And that was a cool moment. But think about in the big picture, what that means for you in your presentations, your speeches, your stories, the lives of the people who you can touch every single day through your presentations, whether virtual or in person, have those magical movie moments to make an impact on your audience.

Yeah, Mark, a lot of these moments are some kind of transformation, some kind of revelation. So we've got to look at our characters, and are our characters in our stories for our presentations? Are they having a revelation? I mean, Mark, when I tell the classic Mark Brown story, my ego is in the way. I was all excited. I hand you the speech and you looked at it. Oh, Darren, we have some work to do. And I what? But my reaction is fighting. It is not wanting to believe it. And then I finally come to the revelation that if you're not coachable, there is no cure. So that is part of the revelation. When I got on stage and stand up and I get that one laugh by accident at Stitches that first night, and I walk off stage and this guy says, don't worry, it's just your first time to comfort me. And I'm like, my first time? Did you see what I did? I gotta laugh. Okay, So I came out with a whole different attitude. Everyone there thought I bombed, which I did in their minds, to me, I got that one moment, even though it was a mistake, I can figure out how to reproduce that, that moment. When I go and ask Chris McGuire before I even go to Stitches, he was the first headliner I saw and met and asked him, you know, I want to do this, what do I need to do? And he said, you know, go to an open mic night, get the book. And I'm like, book? There's a book about stand up comedy. Okay, again, a little mini revelation, but those are the moments in the characters. So, Mark, I know one of your favorite movies, we were talking about it in preparation for this was the Godfather. What are, what's.

Oh, yeah.

Talk about some of those moments.

Oh, yeah. Oh, the Godfather, 1972. It's a 50 year old movie. And I was so amused earlier when Darren said, if you're younger, you're born after 1980, that's what, 40 years ago? So I guess that gives us context. But it is a classic. And I'm sure there are those out there who have seen the classic film the Godfather with Al Pacino and of course, the great Marlon Brando. But there's a moment in that film that was significant when you think about the full context is a scene in the film where the Godfather, Don Corleone, was shot. They thought he was dead, but he was not. He was critically wounded. He is in hospital. And his son Michael, who has just come back from war, is gonna go see his dad. And he finds an empty hospital. He figures, oh, no, they're gonna kill my dad. And he has a nurse help him to move his father to a different room. And there's a moment where Michael leans over his father's bed. His father was barely alive. And he whispers to him, I'll take care of you now, Pop. I'm with you now. And you see a little tear all on his father's face. Very quiet moment. And I'm going, whoa. And you might wonder, so what's the big deal about that being a moment? Well, Darren said earlier, context really adds power to the moment. One has to understand, if you haven't watched the movie, recommend you watch it. It's long, but it's powerful. And those who didn't know this, that Michael Corleone, played by Al Pacino, is the local war hero after the war, he is the one member of the family who is not in the family. When he goes home to his sister's wedding, he brings his girlfriend Kay with him. And Kay sees all these strange people and she says, oh, these guys are bad guys. And Michael says, that's my family, Kate. That's not me. That's my family, Kate. That's not me. A really bad Cold War impersonation. And then he says, to his father. Don't worry, Pop. I'll take care of you now. I'm with you now. That was the moment Michael Corleone crossed over completely and was transformed. And those who know the film and the book and the series know eventually who becomes the Godfather. Michael, the one person who was never going to be involved in the family business. And that moment, I'm with you now, Pop, transformed everything. And the context is important because hearing Michael say, I'm with you now is fine, but you have to understand the content and the backstory, which leads to a point. Darren, I know you wanted to make about context and the background. Please elucidate and elaborate.

Well, why don't you talk about it as I go look up that word? But I think what you're trying to say is, let's go a little deeper. So in those moments that you love, so we encourage you, one of your favorite movie moments, dissect it and ask, why was it unforgettable? What was the transformation? What was the revelation in that moment? And look at the backstory, the fact that he was the least likely one to become the Godfather. Well, that has to be set up prior. So in our magic moments in our stories. By the way, if you're a toastmaster, I encourage you to go listen to episode 56, where we talk about magic moments in speech contests that were moments that were awesome. They didn't necessarily weren't part of the winners, but same idea. So if you're a toastmaster, check out episode 56. And again, for everyone else, what is that backstory that sets up the moment? So we don't have an hour and a half to set up our magic moments in our speeches, but we still have to set them up. We still have to. Like, even when I'm telling the Mark Brown story, I tell you, Mark Brown is 6 foot 2, has a heart of gold. He's a native of Jamaican. He's got the laugh like the guy from the old 7Up commercial. So I could tell you a lot about Mark Brown. I could tell you he's my Christian mentor. I could tell you he sings in the choir at his church. I could tell you he's given some sermons at his church for this story. In this moment, those are irrelevant facts. But the fact that Mark has a great heart helps set up that his heart's in the right place when he gives me that direct, tough love advice. So it may seem like, okay, that's just a little fact about Mark, but it's strategic to tell the story. It's strategic to have my revelation instead of just, well, Mark's just a jerk. And then I walk away, and I take it personally. End of story. My life is different. But because I knew his heart and I knew he was sincerely trying to help, it forced me to say, wait a minute. What did my ego have to do with that? Maybe I asked him for advice. Maybe I should listen. I mean, just looking at the moment, Luke, I am your father. Well, Luke Skywalker's whole story is about not having the confidence, wondering if he'll have what it takes to be a Jedi. And all that he's for is against Darth Vader. And then he finds out Darth Vader's his dad. Well, that's a little backstory that's important. And it's a twist that we didn't necessarily see coming. We're gonna need a bigger boat. How big was Jaws? Here's guys, a seasoned fisherman, Brody.

Quint.

Quint. Quint. And Brody. Challenging and realizing, you know, it's on a small screen, we can't necessarily see how big the. The shark is. But then in his eyes, we're gonna need a bigger boat. And Quint isn't even looking. And that there's so much to the reasons behind these. Let's see, what else. Even in the Rudy story, the moment he has that sitting on the park bench, this was his last opportunity, the last year he would be eligible to play as a senior. Walk on for Notre Dame. And he gets that letter. But we also saw him three or four other times go to his P.O. box. Now, you may not remember this, but because it's a movie I've seen over and over again, he goes to his PO Box three times. We see him open his letter, and he's rejected. And he. They don't even say it. And he slams it against the locker. There's all these just rejections. Everyone telling him he's crazy and he's stupid. His dad in the bus scene telling him to give up on his dream. That's just crazy. It only hurts the whole family. Those things are critical. That conflict is critical to the transformation. So what's the conflict? What's the twist in your story that is set up so we don't realize it's a twist. We don't see it coming beforehand.

Mark, I'm glad you mentioned that, because the setup, the context is so key that if you do it well, it can provide, as you said, Darren, a twist for the audience to see. That was unexpected. That certainly is one possibility. But giving the audience context helps to create the conflict. It's either alleviated or even escalated before the moment when everything shifts. I tell the story of this high school soccer player. I would recall Leo, the Leo story, and our friend Michael Haig, who's a Hollywood script consultant, who's a super story guy, he loves my Leo football story that he and I have used, analyzed back and forth about a soccer player at my high school named Leo who never got any playing time till his last game. And there's a moment in the story when it's revealed who Leo really is. And that's the hook that gets the audience with an aha. Because the setup was he's a skinny, knock knee, buck teeth kid. He was young, he was wiry, he didn't play much. He's on the bench the whole time. So we see him in this context. And then when he finally gets to play, oh, wow, it's awesome. And then something happens that adds a second twist. And then we reveal who he is. And it's a moment that people go, wow, now I get it. Ah, now I understand. And get this. The moments in your stories, yes, they have an emotion. Yes, they may have a twist, but well told moments in stories can be revelatory. They can create the aha as. Oh, now it makes sense. It can magnify the emotion. And as Darren says, it can show the transformation of the character, of the circumstance and the situation. But if it's really powerful, it'll transform your audience as well. Darren.

Yes. This is the bring your dictionary and the Thoris episode. Thank you, Mark. I did love the escalation and revelation. Our escalation and what was it? No, it's transformational escalation. And that's all right.

So caught up in it, Darren loves to tease me about being a work. I must say, look, I'm a self conscious word nerd. And for those watching the video, I have a skull cap on, I've got a bad gray hair day, so forgive me, but I'm a word nerd. And words like revelational, you know, transformational and elucidate are words I love to use. So Darren's gonna make me always, always tease my.

That's okay.

Love the language and grammar.

That's part of our conflict. You use big words. I'm the guy who has to go look them up. So it works. Somehow the opposites attract. One more little insight into one of my favorite scenes in the Rudy I mentioned, where all of a sudden the coach is a new coach. The first coach had committed to letting him dress for one game. Then there's a new coach, which escalates the conflict. Now, how is he gonna get his one shot? And so when all of his players from his team start coming in, all the big guys, the starters, and putting their shirts, one of the guys who does it is the exact guy who told him to stop showboating and stop showing off earlier. So that guy that's like against Rudy now is for Rudy, again, a little transformation in the character, which is what helps make the moment that Rudy won him over, that he wasn't trying to show off, he was trying to help the team from doing the best he could from the position he was. Anyway, sorry, this will. Well, I'll wait like four or five episodes before I bring Rudy up again.

Good luck with that. Listen, please understand that you may not realize this challenge for your friends. Look at your most recent talk or presentation or even a story you've told recently. It could be in a Toastmasters Club. You had a short six minute speech. Revisit your stories, revisit the context of every. Every story you tell or what you told recently, and ask yourself, was there a moment? If there was, fantastic, if there might have been, but you missed it, how can you convert that into a moment for your audience? Of course, one way is to not just tell the story, but to relive the story. When you relive the story and the emotion comes back from the experience, you can more easily recreate the moment because you are in the moment, so to speak. But are you and I missing opportunities to make the movie moments matter? Are we missing opportunities to make the movie moments matter? Because right now, Darren and I are talking about Jaws and about Luke Skywalker and Star wars and Rudy and Forrest Gumption, and we are remembering moments from those movies. Your audience remember moments from your presentation, Darren.

Yeah. And just a reminder, these movies we're talking about are 20, 30 years old. And to us, those moments still resonate. So for you, the reason we encourage you to go for being unforgettable is because we want to help not just the audience in the moment you're presenting, but so you can help them three days, three weeks, three months after you present that that moment stays with them and truly is unforgettable. But more importantly, when they come to that moment of decision, that fork in the road, instead of choosing the old path or giving up or thinking you're not good enough or whatever that is in your presentation, instead they have the courage to make a bigger, better choice for their life. Because you took the time to make your moment unforgettable.

Friends, I believe we have opportunities right here, right now, not only to revisit our old stories, but as we begin to write new messages and begin to find new stories. Seek out the moments, use the moments, don't miss the moments, and make those movie moments magical and you will be unforgettable.

We'll see you next week.

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