Chapter 11

This Stuff Really Works

I had just completed the manuscript for this book, and I decided to take a break. I was reading the local newspaper when I noticed the headline: “High School Students Hear Motivational Talk.” I couldn’t help but think, “That poor speaker dude trying to impress a bunch of high school kids. Good luck!” I read the article. It was 10:00 A.M.; the talk was going to start at 12:15. I couldn’t miss this opportunity. I’ve appeared before appliance parts salespeople, accountants, and even butchers, but the thought of going before a group of high school kids would give me the willies. I couldn’t wait to observe the “motivational speaker” trying to motivate a group of teens. I thought that this had to be the toughest audience in the world.

The local high school was only about four miles away. I arrived early so I that could watch the audience enter the gym. Just as I thought: they were giggling, noisy, shouting, shuffling, and slow to take their seats. This was one tough audience. I was so happy that I wasn’t the speaker.

What I discovered that day surprised me. It shouldn’t have, because it’s everything this book is about. What I found was a “10”—a speaker so good that he captivated a gymnasium full of teenagers for one hour and twenty minutes. How did he do it? He did everything I’ve described in this book: steak, sizzle, and style. What excited me was seeing all of it put into action in front of these kids. This stuff really works! I’ve seen it work for years in front of adult audiences, but to see it work in this crowd really convinced me that these techniques produce phenomenal results.

The speaker was Mark Scharenbroich from Minneapolis. He was a freelance speaker sponsored by Jostens, the company famous for its high school rings. Mark was one of those speakers who was fun and funny, and he had a very strong message. I feverishly took notes so that I could tell you about some of the things he did and said.

Steak: Here are just a few of the thoughts he conveyed:

He spoke the language of the students: OK, OK, OK, all right, shut up, cool, humongous.

Sizzle: He used simple props: a student’s desk at one end of the gym, and a music stand. Often he would sit at the desk and pretend to be a student, raising his hand wildly or slumping in his seat. He used gold stars with the theme “above and beyond,” and gave out a few to students.

He told lots of personal stories. One was about his Catholic school experience: “Our Father, who art in heaven, how do you know my name?”

The students really laughed during his story about being a lineman on the high school team. He referred to the line as “the wall,” and the quarterback was “the princess dancing behind the wall.”

Mark used a lot of audience involvement. He had the kids raise their hands from time to time in response to his questions. He had a few students participate in various segments of his talk. He teased some of the teachers—to the delight of the students!

He used participation in the grand finale. He stood at the music stand and conducted students on each side of the gym in a roaring series of chants: “boom-ba” (on one side); “hey!” (on the other side). It was an uplifting way to end the session.

Author’s note: Mark used sizzle at least once every two minutes. I noticed that if he spoke for more than two minutes with just straight talk, the students became a little restless, and then pow! He’d give them another dose of sizzle to hold their interest. With adults, you need sizzle once every six minutes. You can see that there’s a need for more sizzle, more often with the younger crowd.

Style: Mark’s gestures were huge. He walked, ran, shuffled, and stood all over that gym floor. His arms exaggerated the movements: driving a car, passing a football, toddling like a baby. It was an enormous space, and he did a terrific job of moving throughout that space.

His eye contact was riveting. He stopped and looked eyeball to eyeball right at the students in various sections of the gym. If a certain group became noisy or listless, he would move to that area quickly and look right at the kids.

Mark went beyond his normal personality. He was an actor. He was a ham. He had a big message, and he delivered it in a big way.

His voice hit every possible note. He sounded out the characters’ voices in his stories: a first grader’s enthusiasm, a freshman’s fear, a teacher’s commands, a baby’s silliness.

How he related: The kids liked Mark because he spoke on their terms. Right at the beginning of his talk, he put himself in their shoes. He said, “You’re probably wondering, ‘So, Mr. speaker guy—what kind of advice do you have for us during this magical time of our life . . .?’” He said that he was not going to make a motivational speech. In order to make a motivational speech, “you kind of have to be yippy zippy.” He added that he wouldn’t be talking about drugs and death stats. You could feel a sigh of relief penetrating the room. Mark then added, “If you can’t motivate yourself, how do you think I can?” This was the best thing he could have done. Now the students knew he was not going to try to motivate them to do anything, and they were willing to listen.

He joked with the freshmen, with the sophomores, with the juniors, and with the seniors. Everyone knew that he had walked in their shoes at one time.

His last name was difficult to pronounce, and he made fun of it. His name is Scharenbroich, but he told the kids just to call him “Shake ‘n Bake.”

He had done his homework. He knew about the losses of the struggling boys’ basketball team; he knew that the school’s choir was headed for state competition for the eleventh straight year; he knew about the school’s mascot.

What fun I had that day seeing all of this occur just down the road at the local high school. It was the ultimate test of steak, sizzle, and style. Next to these kids, business audiences are a breeze.

Dissecting speakers is one of my favorite ways to expand my own skills. I like to take presentations apart bit by bit. I want to see what the speakers do, and how they do it. I encourage you to do the same. See what you like. Have you noticed anything that you’d like to try in your own presentations? What are some things that you didn’t like? Remember to avoid those pitfalls.

I want to encourage you to keep trying out new ideas. I’ve been doing the Speakers Training Camp for almost ten years, and it’s always changing. I’ve never done the same program twice. There’s always a new story, a new prop, a new audience challenge. Have fun with presentations. Your audience will thank you for it!