“My dad once swallowed a stick of dynamite in a bar bet.”

This was one of the stories I heard shared by a participant at a Dan Kennedy seminar on using stories to make your marketing more fascinating and persuasive.

They were exploring how to mine your past for fascinating stories you can turn into great marketing stories that made people WANT to listen to you.

Now…here’s the deal….

You don’t have to have stories as bizarre as this to make your presentations more interesting, your ideas more fascinating, or your message more inspiring.

But if you want to make a difference in your world….

if you want people to really CARE about what you have to say and not brush it off…

If you really want people to LISTEN when you talk in a meeting or in a presentation…

You need to talk in ways that wake people up and create an experience, an emotional response.

Well told stories and clever analogies do just that.

Before I give you a really practical tip on how to find stories and analogies to use, I want to give you a heads up about two things…

1. If you’re in Maine, NH, or Massachusetts, and are interested in amping up your ability to communicate powerfully, check out a new seminar I will be giving on Saturday, May 4^th from 10-3 in Scarborough, Maine titled

The Fascinating Inspiring U Worshop

http://storiesthatchange.com/fascinating-inspiring-u-workshop

2.  will be giving a free webinar on this topic on April 24^th from 2PM-3PM EST

The Fascinating Inspiring U Webinar

http://storiesthatchange.com/fascinating-inspiring-u-webinar/

OK…here’s the tip:

You don’t have to have wild and wooly stories to make an impact.

One of the most common questions I get from people is “Where do I find useful stories? Where do I find stories I can use as teaching stories?”

The answer….

Your life.

Past and present.

Here’s a simple, but powerful practice that will help you become more tuned into useful little moments from everyday life that you can use as teaching stories and analogies.

Here’s an excerpt from a pre-work assignment I gave to a group of coaches on how to use storytelling.

Notice things that happen to you this week  that trigger an emotional response or caught your attention for some other reason. Jot them down on index cards or a notepad, so you remember them. Some of the most useful stories come from the most subtle, easily forgotten experiences. When you jot down your notes on the experience, include just enough detail you would need to recall the situation if you came back six months later and read your notes. You don’t want this to be a big chore, because if it is, you probably won’t do it. Make it simple and easy…so just enough detail.

 

Notice and record situations that:

1. Surprised you—you found yourself thinking “Hmmm…never would have guessed that!” or “Hmmm…I never thought of it that way!”
2. Made you shake your head—maybe someone doing something really clueless, maybe you doing something dumb
3. Amused you—something that seemed ironic, even better…some humbling self-awareness.
4. Opened your eyes to a perspective totally different to your—Especially if you were convinced your point of view was the right one.
5. You saw someone do something really well.

Play with them and see how you might use them –  See if you can come up with how any of your experiences could be used as an analogy or teaching story related to any of the ideas or issues you talk about, whether in formal presentations, informal discussions, meetings, or if you’re involved in sales, sales presentations.

 Do that and you will catch a bunch of interesting stories that you ordinarily wouldn’t even notice.

If you want to get better at this whole business of communicating in a powerful, fascinating way, check out the program descriptions:

The Maine Workshop:

http://storiesthatchange.com/fascinating-inspiring-u-workshop/

The Webinar:

http://storiesthatchange.com/fascinating-inspiring-u-webinar/

 

Or…if you want to bring this material to your group or get personal coaching, email me david@storiesthatchange.com