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[H1680]How To Tell A Story

by Jimmy Cox, Jim

The tempo of storytelling should usually be faster than the normal speed of conversational delivery. Listeners like to feel the story is progressing. Action must take place. You can emphasize this feeling of progress by telling the story briskly. To use a rule of thumb, if it takes you four minutes to tell the story the first time you try, work until you can tell the same story in only three minutes.

Practice the Story

Stories improve as they are told and retold. Needless details drop out. Interesting additions are included. The fables, the folk stories, and the fairy tales that compose so much of our good literature, are very old and have been passed along by word of mouth from generation to generation. Do not think that it is possible to tell a story just the way you want it told on the first attempt. Not until about the tenth telling will you reach proper efficiency.

Avoid Unimportant Details

Do not clutter up a story with side issues, unimportant characters, and general confusion. Keep the story to its lowest common denominator. One woman would begin a story by saying, "I want to tell you about my visit to my sister in Chicago. She's my youngest sister (not needed for the story) - has a brother-in-law who works in Salt Lake City (way off the point). He's rich, believe you me. We want to go see him next year, if he's home (you are lost completely by now), but he may be taking his vacation in Alaska (as if you care). Oh, yes, I started to tell you about Bertha (by this time, you are looking for a way out). She's my youngest sister, did I tell you that? (You cannot remember and do not care.)

If one says he is a poor storyteller, what he is saying is that he does not know how to tell stories. Practice here makes perfect.

Be Enthusiastic About Your Own Story

We all know the storyteller who begins, "I guess you've already heard this one, haven't you?" Or the storyteller who appears so uninterested in his own story that we can't work up much enthusiasm ourselves. You do not wish to go too far and laugh too loudly at your own jokes or take yourself too seriously, but, as the stimulus, you cannot expect a response from your group unless you radiate enough energy to cause a reaction.

Half of the success in storytelling lies in the power of suggestion. If you suggest to your audience that this particular story is a good one, then you have won half the battle.

Summary

Remember that you will have to "borrow" most of your stories from someone else. Shakespeare borrowed nearly all of his plots and yet was very successful. If you hear someone else tell a particularly interesting story, jot down the essentials and then practice telling it yourself until you have put it into your story repertoire. The communicator who has a story to illustrate his point will never be at a loss to explain himself.

Everyone loves a story. As small children, before we could read, our teachers and parents used to read us stories. But even after we've acquired the ability to read, a story captures our attention and imagination. The most successful professional speakers are also known for telling engaging stories to their audiences.

A good website tells a story and engages the reader. The homepage of a website is probably the most important place to tell a good story. What you want to do is grab the attention of your visitor and keep them reading through the content of your homepage.

When you tell a story on a website, you are presenting the information with a beginning, a middle, and an end, as if you were telling a story to group of people seated in front of you.

Here is a simple plan to follow that will help you write better content for the home page of your website:

(1) Decide What the Purpose is for Your Homepage

This is probably the biggest mistake people make when putting together a website. Instead of targeting the homepage for a specific purpose, it becomes convoluted and the visitor becomes confused by multiple ideas that are presented in a disorganized fashion.

The information on the homepage may be excellent, but if it is put in the wrong order, without the right emphasis; the message is not clear.

Right now I'm working with a client who has excellent information throughout the whole website. However, that is the problem. In order for a visitor to find all the information they need to make a decision, they need to click through page after page to gather information. The homepage only answers some of the questions a visitor might have. It forces the reader to click from page to page to get answers. This is a big problem because people don't want to take the time to click from page to page.

The first thing I did was ask the client what they wanted to accomplish as a result of having a website. The answer they gave me told me what was most important to emphasize on the homepage.

(2) Grab the Reader's Attention

When someone lands on your website's homepage, they need to immediately know that they have arrived at the right place. So make sure you have a headline that immediately captures the attention of your website visitor.

Create a headline that lets the visitor know you understand their pain or problem. You want a headline that in essence says to them, "Stop right here, you've arrived at the right place to get the answers to all your questions. We know what your problems are and we have the solutions."

One way to do this is to ask a question. "Are You Looking for Innovative Sales Training?" is the type of headline that engages the reader and causes them to think.

Another type of headline technique is to use startling statistics such as: "Did You Know that One Out of Three Women Will Have Heart Disease in their Lifetime?" Headlines such as this will pique the reader's interest and make them want to learn more.

(3) Decide on a Logical Order to Present Information

A homepage contains many ideas. It is an opportunity for a company to give an overview of who they are, what they do, and why you should do business with them.

Because you're going to be presenting multiple ideas, it becomes very important that you have a logical order to your information. Here's where you use the template or outline for creating a story to put the content together for your homepage.

The content of the homepage needs to have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Each of these three pieces needs to be tied together so that there is a smooth flow and logical progression. One idea needs to flow naturally into the next idea without awkward breaks or disturbances.

Imagine you were telling a story to someone about how you discovered a new grocery store that had all sorts of interesting food. Just as you were getting to a really funny part, your cell phone rings. You stop telling your story and begin talking into your cell phone. The person who had been listening to your story with great interest, is now bored and walks away.

The same thing happens on a website. If you stick information in the wrong place on the homepage, it becomes like a cell phone ringing; the visitor becomes bored and leaves the site.

Conclusion

Use the storytelling writing technique for your homepage as a way to shorten the sales cycle. Give your audience the information they need to make a decision by keeping them engaged and entertained. Gently guide them to the right sales path without interruptions.

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About Author

Both Jimmy Cox & Michelle Howe are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Jimmy Cox has sinced written about articles on various topics from Web Development, Horse Racing and Investments. Discover The Secret To Build A Persuasive Speech Simply And Easily Using Proven And Tested Techniques!Click here for FREE online ebook!