Working With Big Audience And Big Stages
Our guest this week is a Leadership Speaker, Best-selling author, Award-winning Businesswoman, an advisor to US Presidents and their task forces as well as Fortune 500 executives to be effective at engaging their people and stakeholders. She educates leaders and businesswomen on influencing, impacting, and inspiring others to increase profits productivity, and positivity. She coaches women CEOs, Admirals and Generals, College Presidents, and entrepreneurs on influence, impact, and presentation skills. Her expertise is on women leaders and women in business. She is the founder of Power Women Worldwide. Her newest book is “Called to Lead: Success Strategies for Women”. AVON and Real Leaders Magazine called Pegine one of the world’s top leadership motivational speakers.
Questions:
- Who have you spoken to?
- What was the biggest size audience you spoke to
- What was the scariest moment when speaking to a big audience. (hint falling from the stage and breaking my foot)
Today she will share advice about working with big audiences and on big stages. How to keep the energy up, how to keep everyone engaged and how to use the stage. Everything you need to know about the big stage.
Artificial Intelligence Generated Transcript
Below is a machine-generated transcript and therefore the transcript may contain errors.
Pegine Echevarria
Maria Franzoni 1:28
Lovely to see you Lovely to see you again. Susan, before we start, let’s just make sure that you know people realize you’ve actually done the big stages. What was the biggest audience for you? So far?
Biggest Audience
Pegine Echevarria 1:39
Better? Super great question. The biggest audience was in a stadium that I didn’t like one of these motivational rallies, and we had 65,000 individuals in the audience. So the biggest stage, it was also when I began to really understand some of the tactics and tools that apply on big stage that don’t apply on smaller stages. And when I say smaller stages, they’re not the same that if it’s not going to define a big audience is anything that’s 1000 people and more. Yeah, because them mindset, the thoughts are completely different. It was it was so hard. You want to know the hardest thing about that during that stadium?
Maria Franzoni 2:32
Of course I do.
Pegine Echevarria 2:33
Okay was having your headset on. And you would say hello, hello, hello, hello, hello, hello. How are you? How are you? How are you? How are you? Are you because you think what I’m saying you can hear. But the people up there, it takes about two seconds to get them there. So I
Maria Franzoni 2:58
thought about that I hadn’t even you’ve got to change your pacing.
Pegine Echevarria 3:02
Oh, you have to change your pacing, you have to do AV talk with you really had to have some great conversations with the AV people, you have to be really aware of your presence. And I and I know that we’re going to talk a few minutes. But one of the things that you all have to remember, you all have had training for two years to do big audiences. Because in the big stage and James, you probably know that what both of you know this is, a lot of times you have multiple cameras watching you. So the experience that people are having are not you because they almost can’t see you. You’re so tiny. What they’re watching is the camera, the TV, and now we all have such extreme experience by took talking to that camera. And that’s critically important.
Maria Franzoni 3:56
James, I’m sure you’ve got lots of questions. I
Using The Stage
James Taylor 3:58
mean, I’ve seen it. I’ve just reminded it there’s a American speak of Ron Kaufman, I remember him teaching me early on. When working on those kind of larger stages. You have, as you said, you might have five, six different cameras. And he said you have a conversation with Avi find out who has that close up shot, what camera that is where you’re looking for that when you’re really wanting to live, very strong line and you want to have that eye contact straight down the barrel of the camera, that who’s doing the wide shots, the you know, the the thing on stage, but something you said there, it kind of reminded me of a conversation I had a years ago with a drummer called Billy Cobham, who the drummer with Miles Davis said to me something he said, he first started and he was a really successful drummer. And then he went and worked for Peter Gabriel, the musician from Greece, and they did the first night show and they thought we did a really good job and it came I say I’m kind of happy about it. But then Peter took Him aside and said there’s something you’re gonna have to learn because this was he was moved Going from doing like small club gigs. 1000 other people now doing stadiums. And he said, all those lovely little minut things without real grace notes about lovely stuff that you’re doing there, that’s only transmitted to the first 10 rows. You’ve got to learn, transmit and connect with that person that’s way over there. And so he said, it’s playing change, he became much more physical in terms of dramatic using his his body more using the stage more his kind of your power. I mean, you talk about power a lot in your in the work you do. It felt like physical power had to change. He’s quite a powerful player in it, but had to change slightly to work. So what what are the little things do you notice going from, you know, from a terms of like presence, positioning power, those kind of presentation skills, do you notice when you have to go to those larger stages from the smaller ones?
Pegine Echevarria 5:53
Well, you know, I saw I’m, I love that you and I could talk about from a music perspective. And so I always think about it before I ever get there. And I have always created because my intention has always been to do large is that I do perceive it as a rock show. And so I do take, I break everything into five minute segments, as though it’s the playlist of a rock show. And what’s critically important about that is, you have to know that in a large audience, you have this kind of ripple, that’s going out, right? So you have to know that when a singer starts, and he’s singing a ballad, the reason that the lights go on these strums slowly, and everybody goes into that mode, and he
James Taylor 6:48
would get the light is going at this point.
Pegine Echevarria 6:51
It’s preparing the audience, the audience knows something’s gonna happen. And they do it. The second thing is that he’ll have his second song, which might be like, hey, hey, hey. And so you’ll see them, start doing this and getting up and getting at educating the audience I am requesting of you in that moment to lift your energy up. And so my playlist is an emotional playlist of not only what am I saying, What do I want the audience to think, do and feel when I’m creating the playlist? And then how am I going to create that experience?
James Taylor 7:31
So but even before you step onto the stage, yeah, how the creating that context framing? I know like with musicians, for example, they’ll often have they’ll think a lot about the the playlist of the music being played before they even jumped on stage. Absolutely, this is toto but to us, it was before that, that that preparation take us through your life in that lot that first 30 minutes before you get onto the stage.
Preparation before going on stage
Pegine Echevarria 7:56
So I’m gonna give you so this is so I always fly in the day before. I spend three hours before I ever go on stage to prep myself. And here’s a couple of things I do first is I stretch now, people say well, you’re just going on stage I see more people so stiff on stage because they didn’t stretch. This is a championship this is a you’re going into for the fight you better stretch. So I need to make sure that my arms can go at really wide and I’m going to stretch stretch. I need to know and especially for women that are going on stage they need to get those hips like anchored so Oh man. Oh just like you know Jack let’s look at JLo think about JLo Alyssa would you you got to get that going on before you ever get on stage. You have to absolutely positively here’s one of the things that people forget about all the time. You got to do I have to do this. I’ve done a warm up my facial muscles because it is critical on stage. That with that I have to do my tongue. Wow. Because my facial expressions and everything has to be bigger than if we were an intimate conversation right? It’s got to be bigger. It’s got to show bigger so I will stretch that out. As a woman I will make sure men please men oh please just hire a makeup artist. Because you think we see you we don’t every man should be carrying carry chapstick with them. I can see the cherry
James Taylor 9:25
chapstick actually I actually have my wife and why are you buying carry chapstick individually?
Pegine Echevarria 9:30
You have to have very chapstick because your lips the lights make you very pale. You have to your mouth is your money. You’ve got to see it. So women should have more exaggerated makeup more. Because you think oh I would never go out on the stage like that those stage lights make you really really get washed out. You need great theatrical makeup, to be able to not sweat through it. Feel and if you’re a man and you’re bold, you better have However on that, because the audience is gonna see this light shining, it’s like you’re walking around like a like a light bulb, you think people are seeing all we’re seeing is your light on your head, get that powder. So I do that beforehand, I make sure that I also, I go to my ad. So this is really, this is the secret sauce. Okay, so I’m giving you some secrets. When I go to the AV Tech, I always make little packets of candy. For every tech person, I put them in a little bags. And I go around, I say, thank you so much. Thank you so much for doing this because your work helps me and I make sure they know certain things. I want to meet the videographers, the guys holding the cameras. I call them that usually guys, and I just say you are I’m Madonna, you are my boys. You together, you are my Supremes. So I’m going to look at the camera. And I do this all the time, I’ll say I’m looking at this camera, make sure they we’ve had a pre check so that the camera will switch over here. So that I can do this kind of talk, if you’ve watched some of the Avon things, you will see that a lot of times I’ll go and for you watching because we had 11,000 People watching virtually. So I need to address it to them, I need to speak to them that way. So I do talk to the AV people. If you have slides, I need to tell the AV plot sides only put the slides up for two minutes. I am the star not my slides. So I might even put black slides in between my slides to remind the AV people. Black slide, you’re talking to me, focus on me don’t focus on the slide that’s really important beforehand. The other piece, I know James, I don’t know if you do it is I always use my own mic. And if you don’t have your own mic, I suggest it.
James Taylor 11:54
I used to do that a lot. But then I found working in so many different regions, parts of the world, there’s different frequencies that you have to do. And it just became so difficult. But what I do, and especially our post COVID Is everything gets wiped down really clean before I have to my head. And although I don’t allow them to put it in my head because I just kind of do it myself. And I know I know I had no way I would position and then when it comes off my head, I clean it down for them as well. Before I
Pegine Echevarria 12:22
do the same thing except what I bought was International.
Maria Franzoni 12:27
What mic again, what is your mic?
Pegine Echevarria 12:30
I use a shore of course. But here’s one of the thing is, you know how this is this is so this too, here’s how to women, keynote speaking things that I want to let you know and for them. So if you see your mic your mic, it looks like that at the end, you always want to win sock on top of it. When socks can cost $35 apiece right? To get a flesh tone. Well, I’m a woman, I go see this, you guys don’t know this. Women know we could go to a drugstore. And we could buy these eye makeup things.
Maria Franzoni 13:02
Yes, or you use those very good
Pegine Echevarria 13:05
with these tips. These cost me $4 For all this package, and I try to buy colors because then my my audience is amazed that I have colored tips that match the screen. I pull it off. And I put this on my windscreen. I just now saved myself a lot of money. And by the way, I buy these and I give them to the tech people. They are thrilled because
Maria Franzoni 13:31
things are always even the best gigs to be a tech person at our plugins gigs you get sweets, you get little mic covers.
Pegine Echevarria 13:40
I give that all to them. I also made sure so that’s a before thing and you said something really important. You know, for women, we wear earrings. And the reason that I want to do my mic. I like to bring my mic is my mic is already customized to my ear. Right it it goes corkscrew in I hired an AV guy to teach it to mold it to my ear. So it goes inside my ear the way it is the outline. No, it’s in the place it goes click in my eardrum over here, and I can go for it. But I also have to be very conscious about my earrings. Because that can affect in my necklaces. So those are things that I really watch beforehand. I do bring a stylist I have I hire stylists for now, every one of my gigs, because I’m a show. I’m not just a speaker, I’m an experience. And if you don’t know that about yourself, you think it’s your words. It’s the whole package. It’s an experience, they’re buying my power, they’re buying my image, they’re buying all of that. So that’s why I started hiring a stylist so that every program that I do, I’m wearing a customized look for that program.
Stylist Costs
Maria Franzoni 14:58
Let me ask you a question on that picking actually Because so in the past, I’ve worked with some big celebrity names. And of course, they actually put the stylist costs and the outfit costs onto the client. Are you able to do that too?
Pegine Echevarria 15:10
Of course, that’s where I raised my fee. They don’t know that I’m doing it. But hell no, I’m not paying for that. I’m not paying. So I’m not paying for two things. This is something really important. I’m not paying. So if I’m doing virtual, I’m not paying for the producer that suddenly I have to hire to do your keynote, like you hire your producer for your event. But I’m gonna hire my producer for my speech. Because they so I hire Amy and I incorporated my fee. We do. If it’s a pre recording, I put that cost to my client, I’m not paying for that. Hell, you you’re saving money as it is you’re not, you know, it’s not 20 people. So I always incorporate that I do incorporate the fee of my stylist now. And because my stylist and I don’t buy the clothing. Here’s what the gift is. People want me to wear Mike the clothing on stage? And they’ll say where did you get it? Oh, I got it from Dillards and stuff. So the the stores that my stylist knows, is really happy. Oh, my glasses are all sponsored glasses.
Maria Franzoni 16:17
So it’s a whole business isn’t it being on the big stages is brilliant.
Pegine Echevarria 16:22
And you’re investing in these pictures, all my headshots that I just had done with all that are now being seen in this high end optometrist, his office, my picture is all over the place as
Brand
James Taylor 16:35
what you’re talking about. They’re picky. I think it’s interesting, because you were kind of early on a lot of this stuff. Now we have this was the influence of culture and influences. I totally get this. And I think I saw someone the other day in a speak influencer, who actually has a sponsor for her dogs, dog food. This is a this is a thing because it’s part of her brand and who she is and everything. So you’d be you are quite early on this because I still think mostly I have certain things sponsored, certain technical stuff sponsored, but I don’t have the post sponsored. Because I kind of get very kind of customized things. And it’s just it’s kind of my it’s my vibe and and if anyone was looked like me then insane, they shouldn’t look want to look like me. But I think it’s really interesting, you’re kind of going out and finding those brands that have a resonance with you.
Pegine Echevarria 17:23
They find me more than I find them. And certainly the stylist is really helpful to have educated me. This is why brands want to be with celebrity stylist, they want you to be walking down the aisle, they want to see it on stage, they want to capture a picture. So one of my pictures, a boutique that she works with got the picture blown up with the outfit that they had lent me because we don’t buy it right with the outfit and the outfits sold out. Because they saw me wearing their outfit. Like how cool is that? You know, for James for you, for instance, I would actually go to your tailor who would love any business wants to have business, right? And I would say would you like to sponsor my outfit, I’ll happily post the tailor experience, I’ll happily take the pictures to promote you. I mean, that would be for him or her whether it is a win for them.
James Taylor 18:20
I was actually I was on my tail last week on shirts in London last week. And I think my shows because their stage shirts and not just you know, they’re, they’re going to cost like $500,000 for for a shirt. But it’s interesting, because when you have a little conversation, there’s quite a lot of musicians that go there. And we were having this conversation about Frank Sinatra, he used to buy his shirts from the same place the same maker. And he said Frank always had a thing, which I can’t remember the name, I think it’s called a corn, which is a piece of material that goes from the back of the shirt ran to the front of the shirt. And it was first designed for people to do horse riding in order to stop the shirt raising up. But because always on stage always uses body like you know, that was thing he didn’t want. He wants to keep a very thin shape. But he didn’t want his shirt to rise up and get a horrible thing with a shirt can it goes with the belt doesn’t look very nice. So it’s interesting when you talk with tails or you talk with any kind of stylists. I just learned so many different things about I think, Oh, that’s interesting. I didn’t think about that that before. So it’s a it’s a bit of a education for me.
Pegine Echevarria 19:25
So James, I’m just gonna let you know something. This is so funny to hear you. So women have known about body suits
James Taylor 19:32
forever. Say we didn’t know what guys were however this is we know
Soundcheck
Pegine Echevarria 19:37
this has been a thing for ever. So you had the body suit and you put it in it’s like, you know, you put it underneath so that it doesn’t pull up out of you. And so it’s just so funny because I love you all very much. You’re like he designed this hell no, he saw his wife put on. He saw his wife put it on said Why should we be doing that? And I’m really glad that you’re saying this because I think one of the things that’s important for people to know is where do you put your mic pack when you’re speaking. And you have to learn from superstars, right. So I will, depending on the size of the stage, I might have a custom mic pack that matches the outfit put into my, the back of my shirt. I always, always, always, always, always, always wear a body suit under, because I know put the pack on my bra strap is the best place for me ever. And I just tell the guys because there’s always guys putting in my pack. I go take off my shirt, I pull it up and they’re like, You don’t you don’t have I said, Trust me on something. Some there has been a lot of people that have seen my boobs. You’re not the first one get over it. It’s perfect. And I’m beautiful. So just and when you do that, can you also do a massage? So you know I play with them on that so that they’re comfortable but I want it really sturdy. Yeah. And I want to make sure that it’s going up the back so that’s what i Those are the kinds of things I didn’t do before but here’s two pieces before that a critically important this is this is the most important thing that I think that a keynote speaker can do. You go to the practice and what happens on your on the stage and they’re asking you to do a soundcheck and most people do a soundcheck like this they go 123412341234 Well, that means your voice is not modulated and the abt needs to know your modulation. So I have a song that ago, I put it on Okay, everybody, hip hop, a heavy hip and hip hip popular. Don’t stop rocking to the BAM BAM bogey. Now up to the bogey of the rhythm of what you do B, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R s, t, u, v, w, x, y and z. Now, I know my ABCs won’t you sing those long with me? Why you do that, so they can capture how my voice is gonna go up. And that they’re hearing the sounds out the that’s words, because they need to know how my spit is going out to modulate and too many people just go checking 123 Check 123 And that’s an AV guy. But I am command of my keynote, so I need to make sure that they get my piece.
James Taylor 22:29
I’m James Taylor, keynote speaker and speaker business coach and this is the speakers you podcast. If you enjoy listening to conversations that will help you launch and grow your speaking business fast and you thought possible, then you’ve come to the right place. Each week we discuss marketing strategy, sales techniques, as well as ideas to increase the profitability of your speaking business and develop your craft. You will find show notes for today’s episode as well as free speaker business training at speakers u.com. This week’s episode is sponsored by speakers, you the online community for international speakers, speakers, you helps you launch grow and monetize your speaking business faster than you thought possible. If you want to share your message as a highly paid speaker, then speakers you will teach you how just go to speakers you.com to access their free speaker business training is a quick technical question. And on that on that, but you know what you’re doing as AV checks, because something my wife I learned from my wife is a jazz singer is when she goes up on stage to do a BTech. She’s saying she checks her the monitors, the stage monitors, the audio monitors that we have on stage to hear ourselves so we don’t have to. So we’re not destroying our voice. She doesn’t get them to soundcheck them first, and then she does front of house but I speak to other speakers who they like feel the out of house first. And then they will do any kind of stuff on stage. Do you have a preference in terms of how you do it?
Pegine Echevarria 23:49
I don’t I mean, one of the things is that I do trust. So when I’m talking to the AV people depends first, let’s just be clear. It depends how, what the investment is in AV people that the speeches are that you’re going to if they are pure speaking AV people like they’ve never done music they’ve never done they don’t have any of that. Yeah, they don’t, they have none of that. So if I go in prepared that they don’t have that, you know, that’s I could think like some rare places where maybe they’ve had musicians beforehand of me presenting. And so they have the edit audio, they had a piece I still want to get one of those ear heads
James Taylor 24:31
things, those bass spins, they’ve got those great bass bends when you have a proper music setup. So when you hit that those lower register of your voice, it really pushes through to the corporate stuff, just all very Toppy, very tinny and loses some of the power.
Pegine Echevarria 24:48
I’m so glad that you said that. I’m so glad because when you’re doing the stage the worst thing the the one of the most irritating things for audience members is high pitched voices when you’re doing stage work. And you’re doing your piece I always tell people, especially women and men with high voices, to touch their, their plate their their learnings here and go Hmm, so that they’re speaking in this lower place because the timbre of your lower voice will actually resonate. And I’ve done enough study about this about two very significant things. For women, women that have lower voices get paid more money, or more have more male audiences, or more invited more often,
James Taylor 25:37
it is the Margaret Thatcher effect. She worked on dropping her voice,
Pegine Echevarria 25:41
absolutely any. You have to because here’s the thing, if you’re doing this Hi, this cheerlead one is really bad on your voice. Two is the audience can’t hear you. They what they hear is you’re screeching. You’re yelling at me. You’re, you know, when an early on my husband would be in the audience. And we had he had signs made screech. So he would hold it up like behind the audience. So that I would go cuz you get energetic, you want to screech? No, I gotta bring it down. So that’s what I do beforehand. Oh, important. This is just so important. I have to say this, when you’re on at this AV, there are three important things you have to do. First off, you have to be able to I walk the audience, and I sit in the chairs, I sit in different spots, because I want to, I want to have the experience of what are they experiencing when they see me. So I’ll sit at the men’s knees at the top, in the back row and the front row, I’ll sit on the front part, I’ll sit in the back, I’ll sit in the front, you know, because a lot of times, I want to know what those monitors look, I want to have the experience that they have. So that’s really important. Number one, number two is I want to be on the stage. And I want to declare, and I like to let that whole abt known and the meaning plan. I know this is my ritual, I go, I am the commander of the ship. This is my house, this is my place, I protect my people. I am here to serve, I’m here to receive, I am here to give this is my house. And I do this in the ad and I stretch my arms out. And I am absolutely in that moment, sending out energy to every single piece of that room. So that I create ownership of the room. It also makes all of the tech team really grateful that somebody is in command. Right. And so when I’m on stage on command, this the the other piece that I do, and I think it’s critically important that everybody understands this, I learned this from Zig Ziglar I had the chance to have a couple of conversations with him is we when we’re on stage should something happen. We are the commander in social media. Now you have to know you know, stuff happens when we’re not in the you know, in the world, people do terrible things. How are you going to protect your audience. So when I’m on stage, I’m always look, I become an airline hostess, I want to know where the exits are. I want to know where the exits are behind me. I want to know where the exits are the top and I will do the practice in my mind. Which means because I want to be able to be prepared, if there’s something should happen, everybody has to evacuate immediately. I they will want to take me off stage to protect me. That’s but I’m the commander of the stage. So I have to be able to say we’re going to ask you to evacuate back rows to the backplanes. Front the front 20 Here’s your here’s the polls. If you’re before the polls, you go to the back end entrance. Use both aisles, move quickly move quietly, help the elderly pick them up, you are contained, you are protected. Everything is going fine. You just go and do what you need to do. I will stay here by until you are all safe and sound outside.
Maria Franzoni 29:18
Again, I have a question for you related to that. I’m hoping that’s never happened to you. But what’s been the scariest moment you’ve ever had on stage.
Scariest Moment
Pegine Echevarria 29:28
So I’ve had two funny they both happened with the military. So the first one was, oh my gosh, I was speaking to high command of the military army. We were in a hotel room. We had 100 rooms. It was 100 Very, very old generals, big generals right in the room. And I was it was a kind of a pitch fest about why I should be their keynote speaker at some with their big events. And in the middle of my program, a flock of birds hit the hotel generator and knocked out all the lights and all electricity. Now, commanding, I mean, it went completely out. It went dark, and I said, remain seated. I’m continuing. And I continued to this day those people that were in the audience don’t remember that the lights went out. They have, they have no memory that the lights went out, or that AB, they just knew what I was talking about. They remember it that was really impactful. The second time was three or four years ago, I was speaking to 1000 military officers, generals and admirals and a bunch of people. And I was so excited. I’m on this big stage. I have somebody on and we’re doing this process. And I was so into it, that we were doing that kind of this walking thing had a side and Adam mind, I’ll make sure you remember when I’m down. One, two, we’re doing this. What I didn’t realize is as I was doing this March, I was moving to the edge of the stage. And I fell, I just I completely fell into the pit on the stage. Everybody in the front row heard crack, crack, crack. And like they were all stopped and nobody knows what to do. This is where the commands are so important. I went you was with military so it’s great. When you go get the medic you call the hospital, the three of you get a chair put put three chairs on the stage right now. The three of you lift me up, put me on the take. The show is going on. And I went on stage with my sitting on the chair. And I just went I know you’re all worried about me. Can you all just go 123 Ah, ready? Oh, 123. And they all went? Oh, I said good. We’re done. Let’s move on. And we did I had broken my foot in 26 places.
Maria Franzoni 31:59
Wow. Wow. Wow.
James Taylor 32:01
The Dave Grohl Foo Fighters of the of the speaking industry.
Pegine Echevarria 32:06
Oh my God, it was so took two years to rehab that. So then I was presenting in a wheelchair and a motorized scooter on Kenya. Oh my gosh, I do I have stories about that. But that’s the game. Tell.
Maria Franzoni 32:17
Tell me a little bit. Can you give us advice? You know, people used to small stage suddenly have got a big stage? What advice can you give with regards to sort of using the space? Do you just do what you did before? And just stay still? I imagine you don’t right?
Small Stage VS Big Stage
Pegine Echevarria 32:29
No, no, no, no, no, no. So I am trained in improvisational theater and children’s theater. I’ve been in New York stages. Many years ago, I was a theater major. So I was used to some stages. And what I find is that people just don’t understand how to use the stage. So I’m gonna give you a couple of techniques for that are really important for how you use the stage when you’re speaking. So the stage is broken into, I’m gonna go easy way. You know, if I’m looking at you, so there’s right stage left stage was they actually look at it from the audience. But I’m talking to you, because you’re the keynote speaker. And I know, I don’t want to confuse you. So each part of the stage represents something, an emotion, a process of thought. So if you aren’t on right stage, so you move over to write stage, when you’re at right stage, you’re kind of giving a synopsis of what you’re going this is where you’re the storyteller, if you ever went took your kids to children’s theater, if you knew some, this is the point where they’re going. And then they went into the forest. And there she found bla bla bla bla bla, let’s learn more. So this is the part where you might be saying, Today, I’m going to be talking to you about purpose, passion, determination, and the skills that I have. And then you go to center stage, a center stage is when you’re saying your truth, or you’re teaching a concept, or you’re you’re doing a point, not a story, but a point. When you’re on stage, you want to be in the center stage. So you have the center lights, and you plant your play your feet so that you are sharing your brilliance in that moment. When you go to the other side of the stage, which is my left, this is the time where you’re going the secret. This is where you’re sharing your failures, or your your Have you breaking the veil of the stage to have an intimate conversation. So James, you know that time that we were both together, and this happened to us? Well, I have to tell you, my head was bothering me big time. So notice my modulation changes. So you on a smaller stage, you know, literally just you know, this is my keynote stage when I’m talking virtually. Right so this is my keynote stage because I need to remember where I’m at, right? So if I’m going over here, the audience begins to recognize, when you’re going to be telling truth. Or the point, when you’re going to do a little bit of kind of background, what’s the objective, where are you going, you might be setting up a story, then you’re gonna go tell your story. But then you could go over here and kind of do a little debrief, and let’s have a conversation, let’s have a moment you and I together, that’s one thing that is very, very different. And because you have a big stage, and you are not going to do this, just saying, you are not going to do this Pacer. The worst thing you could do is that, and when I see myself doing that, right, it’s, say what you need to say. And then move on, say what you need to say, and then move on, say what you need to say, than mine. The other piece that you really have to do and you do this during abs, you could ask the tech people I for their tape, I asked for markings, I want to know where the lights are. So that’s something you don’t do on a smaller stage. So I have to know, when the lights are the brightest on me, I also have to know when I’m in my dark space. So if I go into my dark space, you’ll see, you know, shadows, I need to know on the stage, where’s my box. That’s why in TEDx, they put the round circle. So then, so that, from an AV perspective, people stay on the round circle,
James Taylor 36:40
I sort of speak to the other day, who’s just coming new into speaking, and someone at your pace, you need to get own like, because even even sports agent own that part of that. And they actually made him banned for the practice on a on a chair. So we couldn’t pace significant people in not pace. And then we’re going to move like blocking and like understanding different state. But as you were saying different parts of the stages and how you use them.
Pegine Echevarria 37:10
Yeah, it’s really important. And it’s important for you to understand where you are in the stage, some of these stages are humongous. And you have to know why. And there’s first, we don’t I don’t think we have time. But no, we were six pieces of the stage that represent different emotions and different places. So that if I were in a big stage and really crafting something, I know how to go, but your lighting is critical. And they won’t tell you they expect you as a keynote speaker to know where hotspots are. So I will carry with me sometimes tape if they don’t have it, just so that I have markings I need to know where the other thing on that stage, which we you and I James were talking a little bit earlier is where are the cameras, because everything is going to be hybrid. It is, well everything is hybrid, even if it looks like it’s not, because on big stages, there might be six to 10 monitors big monitors, so that you have 1000s of people watching you. They’re not watching you on stage, they’re watching you on the monitor. So you really need to know, to stop looking just at the front end, you got to stop looking that the audience is more than that. So I was talking about other things that I do is I block out I take the room, and I make a quarter if we have mezzanines up here, I do the mezzanine in half. I go around and walk around and I know that’s one chair that’s chair, here’s one person I’m looking this is another person, this is another person, this is another person when you do quarters, the impression for the audience is when I’m looking at that one chair in that one quarter, that whole area believes I’m talking just to them
James Taylor 39:00
is the size of the stage distance. I’m speaking over
Pegine Echevarria 39:03
there and I look up there I’m choosing one chair. And they do that when I’m doing the AV is which is the main AV camera that’s going virtual. That’s my other audience. So I don’t look at the totality of I’m talking to you. I’m talking to you. I’m talking to you further down here. I’m talking to you. I’m talking to you and I’m talking to you. So that really I’m speaking to seven people.
Maria Franzoni 39:30
Brilliant, brilliant pigging there’s so much more you can share. It’s so clear, your expertise is brilliant. We’ve We’ve run out of time, and I want to give James the opportunity to share all the excellent links that you’ve got for us and sum up if you wouldn’t mind, James
James Taylor 39:45
yet. So you’ve been sharing some wonderful gems with us today. You’ve kindly we’re gonna have a link at the speaking business.tv We’ll go there. Well, I think we’re going to show it just now as well. But one things that you have available is something called the five stage is, in order to kind of we’ll be talking about some ideas about how to be a better presenter of your ideas. I’d be a bit of speaker, can you describe what the five stages are? And then we’ll make sure put a link to that as well, people can learn. Sure.
5 Stages
Pegine Echevarria 40:10
So a lot of people don’t realize there are five stages of speaking, as you move through the speaking business, you start from wanting to speak, what do you need to do that? What do you need to be seen as a speaker? Then the second stage is how are you starting to be seen as professional, and I have very specific things that is a checklist is an absolute checklist that you can use, some people use it for years and years and years to know where they are in their stage. And so the ultimate is the top right, you’re, you’re, you’re, you’ve been a million dollar speaker, you’ve been running big, big, you’ve seen all this? Well, what else does that mean? What is you you’re looking for, and having such a checklist? So you know how to go through your speaking career? And it’s, it’s a fabulous piece? If I do so save myself? And it’s, it’s yours? Yeah, so just do that. That’d be great.
James Taylor 41:00
We’re gonna put a link to that. And you also have, we kind of haven’t didn’t really get a chance to touch on it so much on this interview. But you work with a lot of women leaders, as I mentioned, kind of earlier, though, and you have these two grouping something called Power women, elite power women Pro, can you just share a little bit about that, and we’ll make sure that we will link to those as well? Sure.
Pegine Echevarria 41:19
So power women Pro is for professional speakers, experts and authorities who are paid to share their expertise. It’s a free group where you’re able to come in and lots of people post questions and ideas and thoughts, it is not a, I wish I could be a speaker group, we’d actually don’t let you in, you are in if you’ve been paid to be an expert paid to be a speaker. It is. And so we get to talk about some of the nitty gritty details of being a woman professional speaker from Fraus. To hairs to, to negotiating to money to which which bureaus
James Taylor 41:54
not to work with, which are the ones that aren’t paying on time, although some of those little things that we something
Pegine Echevarria 42:01
crazy, right. And, and then Elite is a one of my mastermind groups, a lead is for those those individuals who are ready, you know, they’ve been running their business, but maybe they’re not making the money, then they’re not being made, they haven’t hit six figures, or maybe they’re want to go to, you know, the $250,000. And they need a champion to educate them. And I made this particular group specific, because I was always searching for somebody to help me, I was wanting to like, like, I just wanted to be around people that with someone that could share their wisdom, that could not rob my bank. And that could really make it valuable. So it’s a very, it’s a low cost. But you have weekly meetings, and then I have a whole platform with lessons and teachings that I have about that. And every once in a while I have events. So that’s power women elite in the group, and from my men, I know, I know, you want to be with me, I want to be with you too. So just email me at piggin@pigging.com My men, I do do individual coaching for men and I have special rates for you because I love you too. I do love you can be in those groups. So I’m happy. Most of my individual coaching happens to be guys who have watched what I’ve done from social media from speaking and they just want that help and, and support. So that’s what I think
James Taylor 43:24
we’ll put all those links there. People go to speaking business.tv You can also find these links there as well. Again, a pleasure. As always, always learned lots having a conversation with you. Thanks so much for coming on the show today.
Pegine Echevarria 43:37
Don’t go because there’s one last tip that they must know. Okay, when it is time and you are finished. Don’t run off the stage. Oh, yes. Ken bow. And here’s what’s really important. You put your arms out and you count One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi, because it takes three seconds for the audience to feel you. And it takes three people to stand up to give you a standing ovation.
Maria Franzoni 44:11
Fantastic. Let’s do that now. Thank you. Thanks. One Birmingham,
James Taylor 44:15
two Birmingham, three Birmingham. You can subscribe to the speakers you podcast on Spotify, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts while you’re there. Leave us a review. I really appreciate it. I’m James Taylor and you’ve been listening to the speakers you podcast.
Links:
https://www.teampegine.com/Five-stages
www.PowerWomenELITE.com
https://www.teampegine.com/ConnectWithPegine
Working With Big Audiences And Big Stages
