Telling Killer Stories from the Stage

By Lisa Sasevich

From prehistoric cave drawings that portray the hunt to the latest innovation in movies, storytelling has been a constant. In fact, if you think about it, in every technological era, the inventions that help us better tell a story are just as enduring as those that assist us with more basic needs.

Given that the need for stories seems to be hard-wired in our brain, it's not surprising that they would be potent tools during presentations. Stories told well offer many benefits, including:

• Perking up the audience, which becomes more attentive.
• Emotionally impacting the audience, connecting them with their hearts.
• Enhancing your credibility by providing social proof of the benefit of your product or service.
• Conveying benefits far better than a list of facts.
• And, they're easy to remember. The story (and your offering) is what the audience will take away.

Before I tell you how to tell a killer story, first, let me correct a common error. When you're presenting information about your product or service, choose about three key points. A big mistake I see is people shoving 30 different points into a talk. That overwhelms and confuses the audience. Remember, a confused mind says no.

After you choose your three or so points, illustrate each one with a story that conveys a benefit about your product or service.

It's also important to prepare your stories carefully in advance to make sure you truly love telling them and that they touch your audience in the way you desire.

Here are a few additional ways to tell a powerful, interesting and effective story. To give credit where credit is due, these guidelines are a hybrid of teachings I picked up many years ago from trainings I participated in with Landmark Education and PAX Programs, Inc.

1. Start with real "material" from your or another person's life. This will usually be something that happened as a result of implementing your system or service -- something that would not have happened otherwise. For example, let's say you offer a weight loss program and one of your three points is your powerfully effective exercise component. You show that powerful effectiveness by telling the story about the family you worked with who all together lost 200 pounds. And you focus, especially, on the daughter, who went from having a difficult time at school to gaining friends and social standing and truly transforming her life.

2. Construct your story in a BEFORE and AFTER model. If the story is about yourself, think about how you were before you learned what you learned or did what you did. Using the weight loss example, perhaps you, yourself, lost 100 pounds. What was your life like before you lost all that weight and how has it changed?

3. Don't summarize! Savor the opening. Take your time. And provide memorable, pertinent details. For example, going back to your young client, perhaps she'd always wanted to run for student government but lacked the confidence to try. You fully explore her story, provide details about her unhappiness, and then, how after her success with your program, she ran for student body president and won! Tears rise in the eyes of your audience, who relate so much to that girl's struggle and celebrate her (as well as their own possible) success.

4. Did you make "the point?" After you think you have constructed your story well, tell it to several friends. Ask them if the point is clear, if they were able to follow you, and if the story significantly increased their interest in what you offer. If not, keep working on it or, perhaps, find a better story.

Remember, it's about making an impact, demonstrating the power of your offering in a way that touches the audience's heart. Because, as I wrote in a recent Nugget, from their heart is where your prospects should buy.