How to do better Youtube videos and sell more online, by Victoria Labalme

In this video, the author and speaker Victoria Labalme teaches how to :

• Develop your Youtube skills

• Built and engage with a Youtube audience

• Make an impact

• Increase your online sales

Resources :

• Rock The Room
• Risk Forward
  
• Check out Victoria’s TEDx video : Risk Forward: the Rewards of Not Knowing | Victoria Labalme | TEDxSantaBarbara
• The interview of Jason Friedman : 📈 From 0 to 150 million $ in 12 years : the story of Jason Friedman
• The Ethical slut : A guide to infinite sexual possibilities

Timeline of my interview with Victoria Labalme:

1:20 : For which prestigious companies has Victoria worked?

2:47 : Victoria shares how to use our bodies to better express ourselves and the importance of creating our own form of expression.

4:23: It is very important to be AUTHENTIC to get our message across, so Victoria shares how to be connected to ourselves.

5:03 : Victoria shows us a very practical exercise, “The Moon View”, to really discover our mission in life and why certain things are very important to us.

9:50 : We talk about the concept of IKIGAI and how Victoria compares it to her principle “The Throughline”.

10:44 : Discover the notion of “My Verb/Mon verbe” and its incredible impact on the structure and success rate of your video or stage presentation.

13:30 : Victoria talks about the procedure she follows to make YouTube videos by explaining the “V Cards” method she invented.

15:18 : She talks about her TEDx presentation “Risk Forward: the Rewards of Not Knowing” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC6NI…, and she gives a preview of her upcoming book.

17:36 : Here we find out how Victoria was inspired by the French mime Marcel Marceau to use the term “RISK FORWARD” and what it stands for, and she shares an example from her personal experience and how it changed her life.

20:52 : I share with Victoria how I started my YouTube channel, how I had no pressure to launch my blog in 2007, RISK FORWARD and go into the unknown!

24:54 : Victoria describes how she teaches her students how to facilitate their videos and presentations, with a weird but simple colour system

27:38 : “Rock The Room” is Victoria’s online course to help her students succeed in a performance or video.

29:12 : Victoria shares with us the different approaches she follows during her presentations and performances 30:49 : Here Victoria shares a fantastic advice, it’s the KDF CONCEPT (Know/Do/Feel) / (Savoir/Faire/Ressentir)

33:40: I’m asking Victoria to point out some of the mistakes most people make when following the different concepts she explained, including the “V Cards” method. 34:15: Victoria gives us her approach to managing and planning our time on stage. She presents the 10% rule

36:02 : Victoria insists on NEVER ending your presentation with Questions/Answers, and the 3 reasons why.

In an other interview with Victoria Labalme, the author and speaker shares how to succeed even when you don’t have a clear goal.

(Literal) Text Transcription of the video : Youtube mastery with Victoria Labalme

Olivier Roland: Victoria, can you please do the most « sexy clap » that this camera ever saw.

Victoria Labalme: Sexy clap?

Olivier Roland: Yes.

Olivier Roland: Hello hello my intelligent rebels. I’m actually with the guest of honor which is Victoria Labalme.

Victoria Labalme : Ah. Bonjour, ça va ?

Olivier Roland: Ça va ?

Victoria Labalme: Oui!

Olivier Roland: Yes.

Victoria Labalme: Hello everyone.

Olivier Roland: Hello. So, Victoria is a hall of Fame international speaker. You work with a lot of very famous companies – we’ll talk about it later. And you will share today how basically to communicate better in all the different formats that there are today, like video, audio and how to do better presentations?

Victoria Labalme: Yes and how to express your ideas.

Olivier Roland: It’s going to be awesome. First, can you tell us for what kind of companies you worked already?

Victoria Labalme: Well, I have done work with Microsoft, Starbucks, PayPal, a French company that you know, JCDecaux.

Olivier Roland: Yes.

Victoria Labalme: They have a North American division. I’ve worked with Cisco, I’ve worked with Zillow, New York Life Insurance… probably 700 organizations at this point.

Olivier Roland: Wow. That’s big stuff.

Victoria Labalme: It’s big stuff. And also with a lot of entrepreneurs and also with a lot of artists. I work in 3 categories: executives, entrepreneurs and artists.

Olivier Roland: All right and a lot of people who are watching this right now are entrepreneurs or want to be entrepreneur.

Victoria Labalme: Yes.

Olivier Roland: There are few artists or few coperate people so let’s focus on entrepreneurs.

Victoria Labalme: Entrepreneurs, yes.

Olivier Roland: So, you have how many years of experience in this? Like 30 years? 25?

Victoria Labalme: Hundred. A hundred.

Olivier Roland: Hundred, all right, okay. And…

Victoria Labalme: Yes.

Olivier Roland: I remember because we are part of the same mastermind, you did a presentation for us about how to be better presenters.

Victoria Labalme: Yes.

Olivier Roland: Basically, you love to give us a lot of advice and one of them that really stuck in my mind is how to use our body.

Victoria Labalme: Yes.

Olivier Roland: You know that most people, when they do a conference they are like « that ». You know?

Victoria Labalme: Right.

Olivier Roland: Or maybe they will just move a little bit their hands but it’s like very static.

Victoria Labalme: Yes.

Olivier Roland: And you told about « You have all the space. You can use and you can really do a lot of stuff ». And you did a bird at some point and you were lying down.

Victoria Labalme: Right, yeah.

Olivier Roland : So, is it the first thing that we should have in mind that we could use a little bit more of just what is available around us?

Victoria Labalme: Well, I think the first thing is that… The most important thing whenever you’re expressing your ideas, whether it’s on video or one-on-one or in a room or on a TED stage or on Oprah, is to come from a place of authenticity.

And then, if physicality to your point is part of what you want to use, that’s great. But if it feels inauthentic to you, you can’t use it. A lot of problems in the presentation skills were about people saying to us “Stand like this and gesture like this.”

Then what happens is people turn into puppets. You know this, by the way in my opinion, is something you should never do because it’s not… no one stands like this in life. Who stands like this in life? Nobody stands like this life.

Olivier Roland: I would like a coffee, please.

Victoria Labalme Yeah, right? It’s ridiculous. So, when I see people doing what I call “the pyramid hand,” I know they’re not authentic because you’ve got to come from a place that is right. And I think when we’re connected to what I call “your through-line,” what’s coming from within, we use our bodies naturally.

And so, part of what I do when I help entrepreneurs is, I remove the barriers that keep them from being who they really are. Get out of your own way.

Olivier Roland: Sometimes, maybe some people could express themselves a little bit more with their body but it’s out of their comfort zone and they need a bit of training, right?

Victoria Labalme: It’s both. It’s partly permission because you know, some people say to me “Oh wow, I didn’t know I could move around. I thought I had to stand like this.” So, part of it is permitted to use the platform or use this frame and part of it is training.

So, part of what I give them is different strategies and techniques to use their body effectively.

Olivier Roland: You said it’s very important to be authentic and connected to what we are. So, is there other ways to make sure we are well connected to ourselves?

Victoria Labalme: Yes. Well, whenever you present, whenever you communicate, whenever you express your idea, the first thing I have people do is connect to what I call “their through-line” and that’s a theatre term.

So, in the program I have “Rock the room,” we talk about the through-line: what is driving you from the inside out? It’s not the theme, it’s not the topic. It is why is this message important to you? Why in the big scheme of life does this really matter?

And when we get connected to that, not like “I have to do a video, I have a meeting, I have to present on camera, I have to present live,” it’s… If you were to stand up on the moon. If you were to stand up on the moon and look back at your life here on earth.

So, imagine, you’re up on the moon and you’re looking back at this tiny globe, this green globe glowing in the dark night of outer space. From the moon looking back at your life on earth, why does this interview matter to you? I ask you right now, like, let’s imagine we’re up there Olivier.

Olivier Roland: Okay, that’s a good question.

Victoria Labalme: So, here you are…

Olivier Roland: So, I’m on the moon and I’m looking at me from very far away.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah, far away and you’re here interviewing Victoria for your audience. Why does this matter in the big scheme of life?

Olivier Roland: Well, I hope it will help people to be better in expressing themselves and communicating their ideas and, you know, spreading their message.

Victoria Labalme: Okay.

Olivier Roland: Yeah.

Victoria Labalme: So, when you’re connected to that through-line, that this whole interview is geared in that direction, so you’re like “How can I help my audience express themselves better?” When you come from that place, it’s an authentic place, it’s connected to what you believe.

And so, for me, my whole through line is around helping people express themselves, whether it’s my stepdaughter helping her being who she is, or whether it’s me with this audience of entrepreneurs or whether it’s in “Risk Forward” which is another communication I have where I help people do that in their lives. It’s really about that.

Olivier Roland: Okay.

Victoria Labalme: And the moment I try to do something else, it’s problematic.

Olivier Roland: That’s a really cool exercise that everyone can do right now.

Victoria Labalme: Right, I call it “The Moon View.” Stand up on the moon.

Olivier Roland: The moonview.

Victoria Labalme: And then, I say “What’s the nobility behind your work?” It’s the same idea.

Olivier Roland: Good question.

Victoria Labalme: What’s the nobility? Because sometimes we get scared “I have to stand right or say the right things…” You go “No, no, no, what’s my through line? What’s the nobility behind my work? What is this really all about?” And it just changes your whole communication and people can feel it.

Olivier Roland: It’s all about also being clear about what your “why” is.

Victoria Labalme: Yes.

Olivier Roland: It’s connected to also what Simon Sinek shared, you know, in his famous tittle.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah. It’s a little different

Olivier Roland: Okay? So, what is the difference?

Victoria Labalme: Well, I like to think of your through-line as also appearing in any given scene. Sometimes the « why » is hard for people. You know, it’s this general theoretical idea and there’s such a value in Simon’s work. I know him, he’s terrific.

I also take the through-line and I break it down to any given scene. So, my background: I come from the Performing Arts. I spent 20 years as a comedienne, as a writer, a performer in theatre and film. And in the acting world, we talk a lot about an intention. So, if my intention is to flirt with you, whether my intention is to threaten you.

Olivier Roland: It’s not the same.

Victoria Labalme: Right? So, I can still say the same words in any intention.

For example, if I want to say “Excuse me”. You know, we hear that phrase “excuse me” all the time, I could either mean like « Oh, excuse me! » like « I’m sorry! » or my intention could be to get you to move out of my way.

Olivier Roland: Excuse me. Yeah.

Victoria Labalme: Exactly.

Olivier Roland: Or you can even be angry.

Victoria Labalme: Right, « Excuse me ».

Olivier Roland: Yeah.

Victoria Labalme: So, it’s not about the words, it’s about the intention, the through line behind this. The way I see the through line is not just a general “why,” it’s really more “What’s my overarching through line to help people express themselves?”

Now, in any given moment, how does that show up in a Verb in this moment? Like, I want to make it clear, so, my verb right now is to clarify what the through-line is? So, I’m doing everything I can to clarify. Then, it might be to entertain or to help you feel more loose, you know. That’s why I do this thing because people go “Oh, that’s funny, I get it.”

So, I’m always using different verbs to entertain, to clarify, and to bring out my larger through-line. So, it’s just… it makes it very accessible.

When people get caught up in their… like “I don’t know, it’s somewhere out there and my purpose in life…” which, you know, people are so obsessed with their purpose like “What’s my purpose?” Instead of saying “What’s my verb right now?”

Olivier Roland: It seems more accessible.

Victoria Labalme: It’s much more accessible.

Olivier Roland: Because sometimes you don’t know really what is your big « Why » or you forget it.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah.

Olivier Roland: You cannot really express it every time.

Victoria Labalme: Exactly.

Olivier Roland: Yeah.

Victoria Labalme: So, the through line is really an acting term from a Great Russian theatre artist named Stanislavski and it just makes it accessible because it was an acting term to say “Every character in a play has a driving force behind their behavior.

Every characters driven through the play by something. And so, what’s driving you? If, your noble intent… your nobility behind your work is to help people express themselves or the entrepreneurs to do better work.

Olivier Roland: Yeah.

Victoria Labalme: To have better lives, that’s your noble intent.

Olivier Roland: Yes, it is.

Victoria Labalme: Right.

Olivier Roland: Wow. Okay so, that’s awesome. Ask yourself “What is my noble intent?” And obviously also, you want to make money, you know, have a good time and stuff like that. But, you also have a mission you want to accomplish through this.

Victoria Labalme: Yes.

Olivier Roland: Have you heard of the concept of Ikigai, the Japanese concept?

Victoria Labalme: Yes, I love that.

Olivier Roland: So, it’s connected to that.

Victoria Labalme: Yes, it’s like that. I think Ikigai is a little different in a beautiful way because that has many components like what’s your passion? What’s your purpose?

You know, I think it is 4 components or maybe even more, it is 7?

Olivier Roland: It’s four. It’s like the mission, the economic potential, the skills and the passion.

Victoria Labalme: And the passion, right.

Olivier Roland: And then, you have the Ikigai which is your “raison d’être”

Victoria Labalme: Yes, the center of all of it.

Olivier Roland: Yeah.

Victoria Labalme: And so, what’s different here is I’m not talking about the economic piece of it or I’m not talking about the passion. Those are important but the through line is really not about that, it’s one piece of it.

Olivier Roland: It’s like the mission.

Victoria Labalme: It’s like the mission

Olivier Roland: It’s a mission. So, it’s connected to the big « Why » but in a more accessible way.

Victoria Labalme: I think so.

Olivier Roland: Yeah, it’s like “What is my verb?”

Victoria Labalme: In any given moment. It’s always changing.

So, for you, I’ll make it very accessible for you. If you’re doing a video or let’s say, you’re coming onto a big stage, your opening moment, the first moment has a verb to it. So, it might be to welcome people like “Welcome entrepreneurs”. And all I’m trying to do with my body language and my voice and my energy is to welcome you.

But sometimes, people would get on a camera and look like “Welcome everyone. My name is Olivier Roland. I am so happy you’re here!” Right? And nothing about that communicates a welcome. Right?

Olivier Roland: Right.

Victoria Labalme: But if I say to people that’s why I don’t like to script things, I’d say to… “Look, all you have to do, I just want you to welcome people.” And they go “Oh, okay. My verb is to welcome.” You know, it’s like this.

When I work with companies on their expression and communication. It’s like a receptionist. Sometimes receptionists, they’re not really receptionists. They’re supposed to receive. That’s their job title: to receive. So, someone comes in the office, they’re supposed to say “Welcome! Can I help you?” But sometimes, they’re like this: “Welcome”. You know, I call them rejectionists. They are like….

Olivier Roland: Rejectionists… Who never met someone like that!

Victoria Labalme: Right, is there that in your office? So, the verb is to welcome and to receive.

Olivier Roland: Rejectionists. That’s funny.

Victoria Labalme: So, like for you, when you get on a camera, the first thing you might think of is “Ok, what’s my opening verb?” It might not be “to welcome”. Maybe it’s “to challenge”, maybe your opening verb when you come on stage or into a room or on a camera is to challenge the audience to get them curious.

It might be like “Do you ever wake up in a panic just thinking about your day?” You know, that’s it, right?

Olivier Roland: That’s pretty good.

Victoria Labalme: Right?

Olivier Roland: Yeah.

Victoria Labalme: Or something else. So, the point here is that the verb is changing throughout the meeting, the video, the presentation. You’re opening verb is to welcome, then it’s to challenge, then it’s to entertain and so, it has this experience that’s changing all the time.

Olivier Roland: Oh, that’s awesome. For example someone who wants to create YouTube videos, he can just ask himself before “What will be my verb in this video?”

Victoria Labalme: Yes, right.

Olivier Roland: Okay.

Victoria Labalme: And then, in any given moment.

Olivier Roland: Yeah okay. You can have like a verb for the whole video and all the verbs throughout.

Victoria Labalme: Exactly.

Olivier Roland: Yes.

Victoria Labalme: So, you have an overarching verb which is your through line and then you have verbs throughout.

Olivier Roland: And it’s connected to the through line too.

Victoria Labalme: Absolutely, they’re all in service of the larger through line. If my through line is to help people express themselves or you’re through line is to help people build better life.

Olivier Roland: Being more free.

Victoria Labalme: Being more free, yes.

Olivier Roland: And giving more value to the world too.Why giving more value to the world?

Victoria Labalme: Yes.

Olivier Roland: Yeah, okay. It’s also connected to finding the Ikigai.

Victoria Labalme: Yes.

Olivier Roland: And stuff, ideally. Wow, that’s really cool. You know, you have just to ask this kind of question before and also when you write the script of the video.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah.

Olivier Roland: So, you did the few videos for your YouTube channel. Right?

Victoria Labalme: I did.

Olivier Roland: Okay and did you write the script in advance or do you… Are you more like “Okay, it would be my subject and then I will talk about it”? How do you work?

Victoria Labalme: Well, I have a whole strategy. I’ve developed card « V cards », V stands for Victoria, and I only have called them “V cards” because Susan who’s in our mastermind had said « Oh, they’re called “V cards”. » I said « No, no. » She doesn’t know that they’re gonna be called « V cards. »

Olivier Roland: Next question, right?

Victoria Labalme: Essentially, it’s a way to map out the structure of your communication whether it’s a workshop, a mastermind, a retreat, a video… I mean everything I’m sharing here applies, no matter it’s a one-on-one or one to thousands.

And each moment has an index card, a « V card ». So, you think of a 3×5 inch colored index cards and you put them in a series, almost like what I call a « constellation ». You think of the stars in the sky. You don’t have to know exactly…

Let me put it this way, if you think… I’m trying to say three things at once… Each index card is like a star in the constellation. So, if your opening star is « to welcome ». And then, your next star might be « to tell a story » and it’s the story of meeting Victoria. And the next is « to give some statistics, » and the next is « to give an example ».

So all you know is you’re going to welcome people, you’re going to tell a story about Victoria, you’re going to have some statistics and then you’re going to say… And so, all you have to memorize is those four things. Right?

Olivier Roland: Yeah.

Victoria Labalme: And then, you use your own words. You don’t script it word for word other…

Olivier Roland: Okay. That’s interesting.

Victoria Labalme: It’s like a series of stepping stones or stars in the constellation. That’s how I do my speeches.

Olivier Roland: Oh really? You don’t… you never learn a text by heart…

Victoria Labalme: No.

Olivier Roland: Even whe you did your TEDx?

Victoria Labalme: No.

Olivier Roland: Wow. Interesting because you did a TEDx.

Victoria Labalme: I did a TEDx, it’s called « Risk forward, » very beautiful, very proud of it because it was from my heart and something I feel strongly about.

Olivier Roland: We put the link in the description if you want to watch.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah, and I have a book coming out on that next year.

Olivier Roland: So, what is the name of the book?

Victoria Labalme: The name of the book I think is « Risk Forward ».

Olivier Roland: Oh, okay. Maybe it will change, we don’t know.

Victoria Labalme: We don’t know but… yeah.

Olivier Roland: Because it’s going to be published in like 12 months, more or less.

Victoria Labalme: Yes.

Olivier Roland: Yes, so Wow.

Victoria Labalme: In March 2021.

Olivier Roland: What will it be about by the way? Just like a little teaser.

Victoria Labalme: A little teaser? It’s about finding your own authentic path through life and expressing your ideas the way that only you can. Because here’s what I find is happening in the world a lot, even in the entrepreneur world. Is everyone starting to look the same, everyone started to do things because they can make money out of it.

But, it’s not really what lights them up or they’re doing it because someone else told them or they set a goal but it’s not really a goal from within. And I actually think goal-setting can lead us astray.

Olivier Roland: Really?

Victoria Labalme: I think that decisiveness can be overrated. So, this is a book in honor of going into the unknown, finding your own way forward and expressing your ideas in the way that only you can. So, it’s about creating your original path forward.

Olivier Roland: Interesting. It means like you have an idea of the global mission but you don’t want to be too specific about the goals.

Victoria Labalme: Exactly.

Olivier Roland: Because what you say is like it can maybe make you blind of other opportunities.

Victoria Labalme: Exactly.

Olivier Roland: Okay, interesting.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah. At a lot of time, it makes you less happy when you live life like that.

Olivier Roland: It seems to be a little bit challenging or maybe contrary to the law of attraction for example.

Victoria Labalme: Possibly. I mean I do think there’s value there for sure. But I also feel that life can bring you more than you can possibly imagine sometimes.

Olivier Roland: You need to add a bit of serendipity.

Victoria Labalme: A little serendipity.

Olivier Roland: I can say that in English, awesome.

Victoria Labalme: Right. And the book is a series of principles from the arts which is my background to help people risk forward. And « Risk forward » by the way, comes from the great French mime Marcel Marceau. So, I studied mime with Marcel Marceau and there was a type of movement he taught us which was being a little forward. Your weight was forward, you’re almost off balance.

Olivier Roland: Like that.

Victoria Labalme: Yes. I don’t want to stand because I’ll go out of frame and hit the microphone. But, the idea was you were leaning forward and as exposed possibly risking forward, he called it « risque avant ».

Olivier Roland: Risque avant.

Victoria Labalme: Risque avant.

Olivier Roland: Risque avant. Okay.

Victoria Labalme: And it was that sense of being forward and that’s how I think we do our best work in life.

Olivier Roland: Always in a… not in equilibrium, a little bit…

Victoria Labalme: A little off balance.

Olivier Roland: Yeah. Ok, interesting.

Victoria Labalme: And I think sometimes…

Olivier Roland: Like when we walk.

Victoria Labalme: Like when we walk. And I think sometimes goals… You know, people say “Go for your goal,” that’s not as hard as not knowing what your goal is and going forward.

Right, going for your goal, yeah, it takes a little bit of courage but what takes more courage is going into the unknown because you can’t define why, you can’t explain it. Something is bringing you forward and you’re trusting that.

Olivier Roland: Wow.

Victoria Labalme: And that’s scary.

Olivier Roland: That’s cool. Do you have an exemple from your life when you did that?

Victoria Labalme: Sure, my whole life, this is my entire career.

I mean, it started for me when I was in my 20s and all my friends were getting very clear degrees and they started graduating and getting PhDs and jobs and I had none of that. I was studying mime, I was studying physical comedy, I was studying acting, and I was studying mask and movement, like a clown, like a European performance. And everyone seeing it were saying “What are you doing with all this? Where is that going?” I didn’t know. I was making no money really.

Olivier Roland: You were doing what you liked.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah. And it took me to places I couldn’t have imagined. Here I am then doing corporate work for 6 figures because of that.

Olivier Roland: Yeah, crazy.

Victoria Labalme: I didn’t get married until I was in my 40s and everyone said « Oh, you’re… » and now I have the most incredible marriage. So, it’s about trusting what’s right for you even if you can’t defend it with logic.

Olivier Roland: Wow. And you need to be bold to do that.

Victoria Labalme: That’s my point. I think that takes more courage than going through your goal.

Olivier Roland: But the risks are also a little bit higher, don’t you think?

Victoria Labalme: Completely.

Olivier Roland: But it’s worth it.

Victoria Labalme: I think so.

Olivier Roland: Interesting. Wow.

Victoria Labalme: That’s very exciting.

Olivier Roland: It makes life more spicy too.

Victoria Labalme: It does and you don’t know. And you know? There’s a lot of pressure to know over it like “Where are you going, what’s your goal, what’s your plan, what’s your five-year plan?” For all of you who feel pain when someone says « What’s your goal, what’s your five-year plan? », this is for you.

Olivier Roland: Awesome. Do you think maybe it’s also a more feminine way of looking at the goals?

Victoria Labalme: I don’t think so.

Olivier Roland: No, okay.

Victoria Labalme: I think, in my experience, because I work with executives as I said, entrepreneurs and artists. In my experience, this is how all of the best of the best, do their work. Jeff Walker, for example, that person who runs the mastermind that we’re both in…, and he did not ever set out to have this business. It happened by doing one thing into the next.

Olivier Roland: True.

Victoria Labalme: Let’s talk about your life. Did you as the YouTube sensation that you are, was this your goal?

Olivier Roland: No, not for sure. When I started to do one-video-a-day challenge for 60 days, I never thought it would grow into this big channel of more than 200,000 people. For sure, so many things exactly when I started my first blog in 2008, 2007 actually, I never thought it would bring me here.

Victoria Labalme: So, why did you start the blog?

Olivier Roland: Well, I wanted to… I always like to write and I didn’t take the time and also, I was exploring new ways. You know, I didn’t do anything before on the internet and I was like « Okay, I want to try something ».

So, I just… I was like « Okay, let’s try this », I will like to write which will teach me something, maybe I can make a business out of it, I don’t know, we’ll see. And worst case, I will not have lost my time, it’s better than playing video games, Right? So, it was more like exploration.

Victoria Labalme: Exploration and look where it led you.

Olivier Roland: Absolutely.

Victoria Labalme: And had you not enjoyed it, you would have changed directions. You would have said « I don’t like this » because you had no pressure. It was just an exploration.

Olivier Roland: Yeah absolutely.

Victoria Labalme: Exactly. So, that’s my point when we just have or see where things take us. No, I’m not saying goals are all bad.

Olivier Roland: No.

Victoria Labalme: Because you had a goal to say « I’m gonna do a 30-day video challenge. » That’s fine because it was a game, it was fun but it’s when the goals become constricting to us, it’s a problem. Or when they’re driven from the outside force, it’s called « goal contagion ».

You want the goal that the other person around you or your community has, but it doesn’t come from within. And that happens a lot in society. People get married by 30 because they think they’re supposed to get married by 30.

Olivier Roland: For sure.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah, you know that, right? So, let’s talk about your personal life, right. That’s all, you’ve been led by just following what was right for you.

Olivier Roland: Yes.

Victoria Labalme: You probably had a lot of pressure.

Olivier Roland: Yeah. As people in my audience know I’m also in an open relationship.

Victoria Labalme: Ah, okay.

Olivier Roland: Yeah, I did a few videos about that. Go to see my chronicle of the book « The Ethical Slut – La Salope Ethique, » best title ever. We put a link in the description. It’s not like… I decided to create my own path for sure to explore it.

Victoria Labalme: And it’s… right.

Olivier Roland: And if tomorrow, I want to marry and I have a monogamous relationship, I can do if I want. It’s not like… you know?

Victoria Labalme: Yes, exactly. But, my point is you’ve done what’s true to you.

Olivier Roland: Yeah, true.

Victoria Labalme: And everyone that is in our group has so much respect for you because you do things your own way. It’s very courageous. You’re risking forward. Your whole life is risking forward.

Olivier Roland: Thank you. I see your point now, even better. That’s cool.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah.

Olivier Roland: That’s a powerful message guys. You can try to be like anyone else and obviously, we cannot be completely original, right? It’s normal, we have influences and this kind of stuff but what if the thing that you really want to explore and that maybe most people really don’t get.

It’s the same as when I created my first company at 19. If I would have done a survey around me, a lot of people would have said « No, don’t do that ».

Victoria Labalme: Right, and you probably… Did you know what you were going to do instead of quitting?

Olivier Roland: Yeah.

Victoria Labalme: No?

Olivier Roland: No.

Victoria Labalme: That’s my point, you went into the unknown.

Olivier Roland: Yeah.

Victoria Labalme: Right. And that’s harder than going for a goal, you’re like I know this is not right. I don’t know what it’s going to be but I know this is not right and I’m going to trust that.

Olivier Roland: But, I also had the goal of creating my business and making it successful, but it was the unknown in the sense that I didn’t know where it would drive me, for sure. I knew it was amazing.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah, and you have an extraordinary life now.

Olivier Roland: Yeah, I do.

Victoria Labalme: So that came from you, risking forward. Anyway, that’s the book that’s coming out next year. I know we’re talking about “Rock the room.”

Olivier Roland: We will do another interview when the book will release.

Victoria Labalme: We will do another video on that because there’s a lot more to say, it’s very exciting. But if you want to taste of it now, you can go to « Risk Forward » and watch the…

Olivier Roland: We put a link just bellow.

Victoria Labalme: And there’s a video, the TED video. That’s out there so…

Olivier Roland: Let’s go back to the framework you gave to create videos because it’s really interesting because you said there’s always likely « this constellation. »

Victoria Labalme: Yeah.

Olivier Roland: And you know, when I do videos and I think a lot of people do that, they have bullet points.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah.

Olivier Roland: But more, it is bullet points about content. You… it is bullet points about structure, which I like.

Victoria Labalme: Yes and experience.

Olivier Roland: And experience. It’s interesting because, I mean I never thought of that actually.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah.

Olivier Roland: It’s like introduction, story…

Victoria Labalme: Right. I call it « full-spectrum speaking ». So, when you want to think about like all the colors like in a prism, like a rainbow. If it’s all just bullets of content, it’s going to be like « blue blue blue blue blue blue blue blue blue » and the audience…

But, if it’s like you have a piece of content that’s blue, and then you have a story that’s bright yellow and it’s funny, and then you have some quotations that might be green. So, it’s like there’s content, then there’s something that’s bright and fun in the story. Then, there’re some quotations that inspire us and so, the audience is always having that full spectrum experience.

So, when I have my students map out their video or map out their talk, we actually put it on the index cards in the color, so like the first card which is the first star might be, let’s say it’s the content piece, so maybe it is blue, and then we have a yellow index card that says story about “when I fell off my bike” and that’s a funny story.

Olivier Roland: And you knew that yellow is the story.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah.

Olivier Roland: Okay. So, it’s like a color code that you know in advance.

Victoria Labalme: It’s a color code. And then, you might have a quotation that might go on a purple card. I can come over if I’m coaching you and I coach people by video all the time, but I have them lay out their cards. I’ll go like “You have too many stories in a row or you have too many bullets of content”.

Olivier Roland: That’s awesome.

Victoria Labalme: So, you can see the composition of someone’s speech like you can just… You know, we have a mutual friend named Ricardo, and he was one of my students and he had laid out his speech. We all came over to look at it but “Oh, this is way too much content. There’re too many points here”.

Olivier Roland: Right away.

Victoria Labalme: Right away. I didn’t even look at it.

Olivier Roland: You don’t even need to know the content that they say.

Victoria Labalme: Yes.

Olivier Roland: Just the structure, which is awesome.

Victoria Labalme: Because the core tenets of « Rock the room » which is my program is based on the concept that you always take your information and you merge it with an experience. What I mean by that is, you have content, information you want to get across but you’re saying “How can I keep the audience on this journey so they’re always engaged?”

So maybe I tell a story, maybe I show a video, maybe I do something physical. So, you’re telling them information but you’re making it, you’re wrapping it in an experience so then, they learn but they don’t realize they’re learning and they’re never bored.

Olivier Roland: That’s really important especially today, when you have so many distractions rightly available in a click.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah.

Olivier Roland: And so, do you have a course about that called « Rock the Room »?

Victoria Labalme: I do.

Olivier Roland: But it’s not only to rock a room, it’s also to rock videos.

Victoria Labalme: Correct.

Olivier Roland: And any kind of content.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah.

Olivier Roland: Really. And do you have structures that you saw are working better usually? Because like do you know for example, when you do a presentation of 1 hour, okay, for example: “well, 10% will be stories, 20% will be…”?

Victoria Labalme: Yeah.

Olivier Roland: Yeah?

Victoria Labalme: No, I don’t and I’ll tell you why, because every audience is different. For example, if you were speaking to financial analysts or people that were very driven by data like engineers, the amount of information to experience is going to vary. If you tell too many stories, they’re going to say this is no value here.

Olivier Roland: Right.

Victoria Labalme: Right?

Olivier Roland: Yeah. Just in the little bit… it’s like spice.

Victoria Labalme: That’s right.

Olivier Roland: You put just the right amount.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah. So, when I teach « Rock the room», one of the first exercises we go through after the through line is « who, what, where, when, why? »

So, who’s that audience because are they people who need a lot of entertainment, are they people who want…? And then, what are they there for? Where is this taking place because that affects everything? You know, what time? Like, is it at 8 in the morning? Are you in a video funnel where they’ve seen many videos and they’re exhausted so what has to start the video to encourage them see to it? Always look in it and then the « why », what’s the nobility behind the works. So, you’re always looking at each audience uniquely.

Olivier Roland: Wow.

Victoria Labalme: Right. So as a speaker, because part of my work is speaking, part of my work is teaching expression. If I’m speaking to the police force, which I have, in New York City the NYPD, the New York Police Department, it’s very different than if I’m speaking to a thousand insurance agents.

Olivier Roland: Of course. What did you talk about to the police? I’m just curious.

Victoria Labalme: That was a long time ago, that was maybe 10 or 12 years ago. They’d asked me to come in and do a communications workshop and to also entertain, it was the end of the year. So, that’s also driven by what the client wants you know.

Olivier Roland: Okay, and so now, you… People call you… You are like a reference in different agencies and when people want to have an inspirational amazing speaker, they can book you through this kind of agency.

Victoria Labalme: They can book me through an agency, yeah. And one of the first questions I asked on the interview is what percentage of entertainment versus education.

Olivier Roland: Interesting question. Ok. Do you advise them about that? Do you tell them what would be in your opinion the best number? Because they know their audience. Yeah, ok.

Victoria Labalme: No, because they know the whole experience.

Olivier Roland: Yeah, ok.

Victoria Labalme: For example, I was in Vegas two weeks ago, I had a small amount of time. The women had had a full day of information. They were exhausted and they just wanted me to come in and do something that was fun.

Olivier Roland: Ok.

Victoria Labalme: They gave them a little bit of value but there was something light-hearted at the end of the day. Other times, I’m on in the morning, you’re like “We really want a lot of value here. We want them to learn and take notes.” That’s a different speech.

Olivier Roland: You can do both.

Victoria Labalme: I can do both.

Olivier Roland: Because you have this amazing training of how to mime and …

Victoria Labalme: All of it. Then you just put together the cards to have that experience.

Olivier Roland: Wow. All right.

Victoria Labalme: I want to give you a tip that’s fantastic. This is a game changer for all of you, for you, for the crew.

Olivier Roland: I’m all ears.

Victoria Labalme: You may have heard it because people talk about it now after they’ve learned from me but we call it « KDF ».

Olivier Roland: KDF.

Victoria Labalme: Have you heard it?

Olivier Roland: No, I can’t wait.

Victoria Labalme: Okay. So, in any moment of expression, whether you’re talking to your kid or you’re talking to your lover or you’re talking to an audience of a thousand, you’re thinking what do I want them to Know, Do and Feel, KDF?

Olivier Roland: Yes okay, I remember now.

Victoria Labalme: That determine…

Olivier Roland: Know, Do and Feel.

Victoria Labalme: Yes. So, “Know” is the thing that we always think about, what’s the content? What’s the information I have to teach on this? But what we forget is, what actions do I want them to take? What’s the call to action? What do I really want them to do as a result? And then the piece that so often people forget is what do we want them to feel?

Olivier Roland: True.

Victoria Labalme: Right?

Olivier Roland: Yeah, it’s true.

Victoria Labalme: That’s when you say something that you then afterwards regret because it just you said what you needed but it doesn’t feel right. And then, you don’t get the result you wanted.

And for any of the entrepreneurs here, if you’re on an interview and one of the things you want people to do is download a chapter of your book or go to your blog and you forget to say that, you’re like « Ah, I do this whole interview and then, I forget to have them download the chapter ». Because you forgot the do, which is « Download, download the chapter ».

Whenever I teach people, whatever the speaker is, I always say “What’s the Know Do Feel?”

Olivier Roland: Cool. It’s also a great question to ask before you do a video on the internet.

Victoria Labalme: All of it, yeah.

Olivier Roland: That’s cool. You already gave us a lot of tips to structure our content and I love these kind of questions you know, because it creates a better interface with your audience and what you want to achieve, you know?

Victoria Labalme: Yeah.

Olivier Roland: It makes you be more clear about what you want to convey.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah. And what I love about it is, it makes you more clear but it doesn’t make you too structured and too restricted. Because when I work with the constellation and the cards, it gives you what I call « structured spontaneity » because you have the constellation.

Olivier Roland: I like that, structured spontaneity.

Victoria Labalme: Right, you’re kind of know where you’re going but you’re not scripting every word. What happens when people read from a teleprompter is that they’re kind of I call it « tied to the rail, » they’re like stuck. They are like have to go through and none of their expressions will come up because they’re trying to get the words, right?

Instead of just having that freedom of full expression where they can be who they are, but they still know where they’re going. They’re not winging it. They know the first moment, they know the final moment and they know each star in between.

Olivier Roland: Wow. It’s very interesting and so I’m wondering is there a mistake that a lot of people do when they try to implement these kind of things?

Victoria Labalme: Yeah, there are a lot of mistakes but I’ll tell you some of the key ones to look out for. So, the first biggest mistake people make is that they focus too much on the information they want to convey and not on the experience. We’ve talked a lot about that. So, what they do is they just get out their slides or they write their bullets and they forget about the experience. We’ve talked a little bit about that.

The second thing that people do is that they plan the exact amount of time for the exact time they’re given. Let’s just say, if you said “Victoria, I’m going to give you ten minutes”, I would then make the mistake of planning ten minutes of content. But you never want to plan 10 for 10 or 20 for 20.

Because number one, it makes you feel pressed. Like, if I had a given, if you have a keynote or you have a TED talk and you have 18 minutes or an hour, you want to plan I call it « the 10% rule ». So, you always take of 10% of your time in your planning. So, you have room to improvise, if you ask a question you didn’t expect, if you feel like slowing down, an idea comes in. Even if you’re on a big stage, sometimes the speaker before you goes over, and they come backstage like « Oh, could you cut ten minutes ».

So, what it does is it completely changes your whole approach, both your psychology, your physicality, your mentality. If ever you’re given a timeline like if someone says « Could you come and present?», like if Jeff were to say to you “Come to present for 20 minutes,” you would take 10% off that time mentally and you plan for 18.

Olivier Roland: Interesting. Don’t you think for beginner speakers, it can be a bit stressful for them because it will be like, “Okay, what happens if I finish before the timing is out?”

Victoria Labalme: If you finish before the timing’s out, you look like a total pro.

Olivier Roland: Oh, really? Actually, I agree with you.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah, because what happen to the… if someone gave you 20 minutes, you ended at 18, they’d be like « Wow ».

Olivier Roland: Actually, that’s a good point. Nobody cares if you finish a little bit earlier in a presentation in a conference.

Victoria Labalme: But they do care if you go over.

Olivier Roland: Absolutely.

Victoria Labalme: They care a lot. And even if one minute over and the same thing with an audience, like if I’m hosting a workshop. Let’s say I’m doing an all-day workshop that goes from 9:00 to 5:00. If I end it at 4:45, they’re like “We’re out early”.

Olivier Roland: Yeah, all right.

Victoria Labalme: She’s so well planned. It’s early done. Right?

Olivier Roland: And so you can do questions and answers too if you want to… I know you don’t like it too much but you prefer to end on a…

Victoria Labalme: That’s the number 3 mistake, is you never want to end on a Q&A. You never want to end on a Q&A, never end on a Q&A, never end on a Q&A and I’ll tell you why, because one of three things will happen and none of them is good.

Number 1, there are too many questions, and then it’s this feeling of dissatisfaction. You always have like « I have a question ». Number 2, there are no questions. That’s really awkward. And the speakers is like « Any questions anyone? »

Olivier Roland: I had that once; it’s a bit awkward.

Victoria Labalme: Right?

Olivier Roland: Yeah.

Victoria Labalme: And then you feel like a loser.

Olivier Roland: Yeah.

Victoria Labalme: Or the worst is someone doesn’t have a question, they just want to make you look bad, and they want to prove their point. And then, they stand up and you’ve crafted this beautiful presentation and you leave it to chance. Either there’s too many questions, no questions or someone pontificates and makes you look bad.

So, what you do if you have to do a Q&A as you put it just before the answer. You do your whole constellation and just before the end, you do the Q&A and right after the Q&A, you say “I’m going to end with my final quote, my final story, my final video”, but something that you controlled that brings back to the through line.

Olivier Roland: Awesome.

Victoria Labalme: So, you end with the inspiration that you want that audience to have.

Olivier Roland: You are still the guy, the pilot of the ship.

Victoria Labalme: Exactly, you control it.

Olivier Roland: Okay, Wow awesome. Thank you, Victoria.

Victoria Labalme: You’re so welcome.

Olivier Roland: Well, we have a lot of amazing content here. So, for people who want to go deeper you have also, we’ve talked about it a course.

Victoria Labalme: Yes.

Olivier Roland: It’s called « Rock the room ».

Victoria Labalme: Rock the room.

Olivier Roland: Rock the room.

Victoria Labalme: In fact we have… It looks like this, that’s the logo. You’ll see that if you go to « Rock the room », it says « rock the room » on the hat here.

Olivier Roland: And I mean, a lot of people in the mastermind group went through it and are saying it is fantastic.

Victoria Labalme: It is.

Olivier Roland: Even if I haven’t follow it yet.

Victoria Labalme: Yeah, but you will.

Olivier Roland: Yes, I will and so, if you want to have a look of the course and go deeper, here then is the link, just below the video and yes click and go have a look, it’s awesome.

Victoria Labalme: It’s awesome. It has saved people. People say, it’s cut their prep time by 50%, some say 70%. People say it’s made them thousands of dollars. I have Jason in our group said he’s won multi-million-dollar contracts using the strategies.

Olivier Roland: There is an interview of Jason in this channel. Jason, he basically created a business from scratch and he sold it for hundreds of millions of dollars, eight years after he created it. So, go check this video and if he says it’s good, it means, it’s good. And I also saw a testimonial from Joe Polish, right?

Victoria Labalme: Yeah, Joe Polish.

Olivier Roland: Joe Polish is a really famous entrepreneur marketer in the US. It’s really cool that you have that.

Victoria Labalme: It’s really strong and there’s a guarantee so you can’t lose.

Olivier Roland: Right, it’s like what? 14 days?

Victoria Labalme: It’s a 14-day guarantee so it’s completely worth it. I stand behind this product. I love it, people say it’s fantastic and it is. Rock the room.

Olivier Roland: Thank you a lot Victoria for everything you shared, it was awesome. So, you understood if you want to go deeper into this, you can access to the « Rock the room » program by clicking on the link below.

See you soon in another video and in the meantime, don’t forget be intelligent, be rebellious and be part of people who have more clarity about the message they want to convey to the world. And know also how to entertain their audience at the same time, teach them because that’s the key.

So, thanks Victoria again and see you soon guys.