Storytelling Persuasion

'Facts and figures are forgotten. Stories are retold.' -Jeffrey Gitomer

Unless you're a really mathematically oriented person, you're not going to remember the charts and graphs of a presentation, and neither is your audience. If you give presentations to groups of people, while sometimes you may need to get specific, the real core, the real power of your presentation is going to be 'The Story'.

I used to believe I wasn't a very good story teller. I didn't have any shyness or esteem issues where my persuasion skills were concerned, but up until a few years ago, I didn't really think my stories were actual stories. I didn't understand that MY stories are the real juice, the lifeblood of my 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 object in telling a story is first to get the listener to agree with you. Once that happens, persuasion is inevitable.

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.)

Your stories don't have to start at the beginning. A writing teacher I once knew said that the first paragraph or two could be entirely dispensed of. Start in the middle or even mid-sentence. The audience will be compelled to listen to know what they missed.

Another way to do this is to start with 'the point' of the story and work your way back. Since the point, the outcome, or what you want to teach, is the absolute goal, it's most important that this is crystal clear.

A member of my coaching club actually 'reverse engineers' his stories so that the very first thing he works out is the outcome. From there he works back through the journey that got him to the goal.

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.

About the Author

Kenrick Cleveland teaches techniques to earn the business of wealthy prospects using persuasion. He runs public and private seminars and offers home study courses and coaching programs in persuasion techniques. You are welcome to reprint this article - but get your own unique content version here.

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