After a presentation filled with graphs and charts, only the mathematically oriented will remember the specifics, but all of us can hear a really powerful story and have it make an impact on us. Persuasive storytelling is where the juice in your presentations.
Not long ago, I used to believe I wasn't very good at telling stories. It wasn't a shyness on my part or esteem issues, but I didn't really understand that my stories were actual stories, that my stories were the real deal, the lifeblood of persuasion.
We all have stories. It might not be the most obvious story, but something tangential to your life. . . maybe your grandparent's struggle, or a triumph over adversity or something very simple. If you are a financial adviser maybe your story is about how your family struggled financially when you were young. Or for realtors, maybe it's about how you changed lives when you found the perfect home for a client.
Your first objective in telling a story is to get the listener to agree with you. Once that happens, persuasion will follow.
The most important aspect of your story is 'the point'. What's the point? We've all been on the receiving end of endless speeches about someone's troubles or conflicts that had no resolution, no ultimate reason except to blather on. These are NOT the kinds of stories we want to tell our prospects or clients.
Another important aspect is that our stories have to have a similarity to the situation to at hand in addition to the important aspects of 'The Hero's Journey'. (If you're not familiar with 'The Hero's Journey' by Joseph Campbell, become familiar with it. It's available on DVD or in print.)
With a story, you don't have to start at the beginning. In fact, there's usually a lot of wasted words at the beginning of a story. A writing teacher I once knew had a general rule that the first paragraph or two of a story was completely dispensable. By starting in the middle, or even practically in mid-sentence, the audience is compelled to listen intently. 'What did I miss? What do I need to know for this to make sense? What's going on here? I can't wait to find out.'
You can also start out your story with 'the point' and work your way back. The outcome is what you want to use to teach, it's the ultimate goal, and so it's very important that the point be crystal clear.
One of my coaching club students actually 'reverse engineers' all of his stories, starting with the outcome and working his way back through the hero's journey backwards.
Ultimately, to write it out, you have to begin by beginning. Write, write, write. Once it's written, read it out loud. Then as you read, you'll see where it needs to be edited.
