I was traveling across the country again, getting ready to go to an event where I was coaching 21 speakers at this event. And I knew that as soon my plane hit the ground, it was on. We had rehearsals that evening, late into the night, the next day, and getting everybody ready for show day.

So off I go, and then things started to happen. The plane is late, the plane is delayed, we have people upset, passengers not happy, all these things happen, and it's getting later and later and later, and I know that once I arrive, people need me immediately to help them rehearse, so I'm anxious to get there.

I do get there, and once I get there, life just takes off full speed. I have a client back at home that also needs to rehearse, so I have to rearrange her time, and find time to work out when I'm gonna rehearse who and what room in the hotel and in the banquet room, and all this stuff, and I am just ... My mind just wants to pop because of all these things happening. All I need to do is get into my room and just breathe. But one thing after another starts happening.

I make it to the hotel, I finally get into the elevator, I get up to my room. I open the door, and I am just exhausted. And then I look, and on my bed is a giant Hello Kitty. From I would say the floor all the way up this high, and a couple of other Hello Kitties that are one-of-a-kind Hello Kitties. And the host of this event knows that I love Hello Kitties and I collect very hard to find Hello Kitties. And he has basically outfitted my hotel room with Hello Kitties.

That memory is something I will never forget, for as long as I live. And we have an opportunity as speakers to give our audience memories. It doesn't have to be a huge undertaking to give someone a memory that would last forever, and for me in this case, why did that work? Well for one thing, it was a unique situation. I wasn't expecting anything in my hotel room. I certainly wasn't expecting a Hello Kitty. He could've gotten me a big Snoopy or a big, just huge stuffed-up animal just to say, "Hey, I appreciate all your hard work." But he really knew me, and knew what I loved, and it was really unique to me that he went out of his way to source these Hello Kitties, probably from Japan, and have these waiting for me. And it meant so very much. And you can do the same thing.

Try to give your audiences a memory. Every single time you speak, whether you're speaking for 30 seconds or three days, give them a memory that they can have forever.

You have an opportunity to give the gift of a memory, anytime you're in front of someone. So try this. Why not give your clients a memory? Something they're not expecting. Or the next time you're speaking at an event, give the host something that they will remember, something that's really personal to them. It doesn't have to be expensive, it doesn't have to cost a lot of money. But it's something that's very thoughtful, that's very personal. And they will remember that and you forever.