Would you like to connect more deeply with your audience every time you present?

Here’s the problem. Most presenters will spend hours and hours preparing their presentation? and rarely take the time to prepare their mindset just before they step in front of an audience.? This is true whether it is a formal presentation, a one-on-one sales call, or even an interview.?

It can be even worse! Have you ever given a presentation where you just didn’t feel connected?? Many presenters or speakers blame it on the audience but the reality is most of the time a? speaker needs to look in the mirror if he or she didn’t connect with the audience.?

What can you do? Actually, the answer is quite simple!

In 2001, I out spoke 25,000 contestants from 14 countries to?win the World Championship of Public Speaking. Though I?had rehearsed and practiced tirelessly for over two months?on one speech, one of the most important things I did?was pull out of my pocket a question that I asked myself??just before I took the stage. I still to this day ask myself?the four questions before I take the stage. Creating the?connection this way is crucial whether it is a high-paid?keynote speech or working on a new story in front of a?small audience.?

The moment you take the stage, your “mindset” is?everything. You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to be the? ultimate expert. The audience will forgive almost any mistake, but they won’t forgive? you if you’re not there for them. We must be present. Your audience wants you present, not? perfect. Unfortunately our ego and fear of embarrassment directs our brain to worry about? ourselves.?

I’ve developed Four Crucial Questions I ask myself before I take the stage to make sure I? connect with them. We must connect with ourselves before we can connect with anyone? else. How powerful are these questions...??

Well, Ed Tate, 2000 World Champion of Public Speaking called me just before a big presentation? and asked me to remind him what my famous four questions were. After his presentation, Ed? sent me a text that said:?

“Thank you for the four questions. I knocked it out of the park!?

It was the World Championship of Public Speaking all over again.”?

~ Ed Tate, 2000 World Champion of Public Speaking?

How do you use these questions??

I assume you prepare your presentation. Sometimes, however, you may be put on the spot. No? matter what: you need to be “in the moment.”

Even polished, well-practiced experts often do not??“connect” to their audience because they think it?is about themselves they are actually in their own??head being self-focused. Those presenters are not?there for their audience.?Since I carry my questions around with me a lot, I?wanted have them with me on a laminated card so?I did not have to create a piece of paper each time?I present. Then I thought, “Hey, maybe others would?want a card with these questions on it too.” That way?you will conveniently have them with you as well. These?crucial questions will help you connect at every presentation?for years to come. How much would that be worth to you??

Keep MY CONNECT CARDTM www.TheConnectCard.com in my pocket anytime I? present. Take five minutes alone, away from distractions of the event where you are presenting.? Then I pull out card and sincerely and slowly ask yourself these questions. Take at least ten? seconds to reflect on each of them.?

Why do my questions work??

Whenever I teach presentation skills, I ask my students “What are you thinking five minutes? before you present?”?

I always hear comments like:?

“I hope I don’t forget what I am going to say!”?

“I wish I had more time to prepare.”?

“Did I go to the bathroom?”?

“Please, don’t let me faint!”?

“What the heck am I doing?”?

“Is the microphone working?”?

“Will they like me?”?

How about you? If asking my questions can just get you to not focus on these types of worries, you will automatically connect deeper. Putting your energy towards the correct questions will?reduce your speaking anxiety and enable you to be more?in the moment. Speakers “in the moment” can be less?polished and less prepared and still be appreciated?more by their audiences. In fact, if you are connected??to your audience, they will excuse many mistakes!?Your audience can “feel” your connection, or your lack?of connection. The third question is the one I had in my?pocket — that grounded me — before I won the World?Championship of Public Speaking. If you don’t have fun, they??won’t.?

Early in my speaking career, I learned the final question from an amazing speaker, Willie Jolley.? It was crucial to my early years when I was still developing my talents. Even now, it is still? important to my delivery before I approach any audience.?

Fellow World Champion, Craig Valentine and I created this foundational phrase: “Skill set, without mindset, will leave your audience upset.”?

Speakers who connect more deeply with their audience will get more laughs, get referred more? often, and simply have more fun every time!?

What do speakers say about my 4 questions??

“WOW!...Your advice was great and helped a lot and?

I love the 4 questions to ask myself before I hit the stage.”?

~ Jamey French, Keynote Speaker?

“Hi Darren, I think this is great! I still have your questions on my dashboard and I read them before I teach every one of my classes. I like the idea of carrying it with me.” ~ Charli Douglass, Fitness Expert?

So, what are these four powerful questions??

It is so crucial to understand the “why” before you get the how. I created this powerful and?simple card for myself, and for you if you want one, just go??

to: www.TheConnectCard.com .??

Here are the questions for you:?

1) What is my intent??

2) Am I present??

3) Will I have fun??

4) How would I give this presentation if I knew it was my last one ever??

The last one is the one I learned from a mentor, Willie Jolley, when I first started in the professional? speaking world. It will ground you and bring you present if you truly reflect on it.?

The audience will forgive many minor mistakes and some major. The one mistake they will not? forgive is, if you are there for your ego rather than their insight. When people who compete in? contests are there for the trophy, the audience can clearly sense it.?

What will you ask yourself 5 minutes before you present???

Will you do this every time???

Sometimes you may feel you do not have time due to some technical issue. Can you see that? it’s exactly right then when you need to ask them the most??

Stage Time, Stage Time, Stage Time,?

Darren LaCroix, CSP, AS?

World Champion of Public Speaking??

About Darren LaCroix

He felt invisible in high school.

He failed as a business owner.

He worked in a cubicle for over a decade.

Today he's a world champion speaker.

What made the difference for him

?can make the difference for you.

A Real-Life Underdog Story Filled with Humor and Hope

After a failed business in 1992, Darren LaCroix took a dare and took the stage at an open mic night at a Boston comedy club. He bombed miserably.?It was horrible. The headliner that night told him,?"Keep your day job kid."?Friends told him that his dream of making people laugh for a living was crazy and stupid. He didn't listen.?

He may have been born without a funny bone in his body, but Darren possessed the desire to learn and the willingness to fail. These were the essentials for achieving his dream. This self-proclaimed?student of comedy?is living proof that?anything?can be learned.?

Less than nine years later, in 2001, Darren LaCroix outspoke 25,000 contestants from 14 countries to become?the World Champion of Public Speaking…ironically with a very funny speech. Some said it was one of the best speeches in the history of the contest.

Since that victory, has delivered keynotes in every state in the U.S. and 44 international cities. He is passionate about showing people that if you are a pray, find the right mentors, and become a sponge, anything is possible.

Darren is currently?the only speaker in the world?who is a CSP (Certified Speaking Professional), an AS (Accredited Speaker), and a World Champion of Public Speaking. In spite of this, Darren always reminds people,?“The letter after your name are not as important as the professional you become in the process.”

He is the author of the book?17 Minutes to Your Dream, the co-author of?Deliver Unforgettable Presentations?and the co-host of?Unforgettable Presentations?podcast. Through his live workshops and Stage Time University.com, he helps good presenters become UNFORGETTABLE.

Through his live master workshops and online programs, Darren works with presenters eager to learn what it takes to connect deeply with their audiences. He is the founder of?StageTimeUniversity.com ?where we help passionate presenters stand out, deliver a memorable message, and leave their audience wanting more."