It’s not you, it’s me! ‘What are you on about now, Cheryl?’ I hear you thinking.
Well, I don’t mean me, Cheryl, personally. I mean that’s what the audience should always be thinking when you are delivering your story on stage, or on camera.
Let me explain.
A Story of Self-Pity
Storytelling is a very important element of public speaking, but you’re not there to win an Oscar. Your story isn’t really about your past and the challenges you were faced with. I mean, of course it IS about you, but only in as much as that relates to your audience.
It’s different if you are aiming to be an inspirational or after dinner speaker. Then your purpose is to inspire and entertain.
But if your aim is to at some point sell your stuff, and by doing that, help people, then your story needs to be their story.
What do I mean by that? I mean that the audience needs to recognise themselves and their challenges in your story. If they can see that, they can also see that you overcame that challenge and therefore you might just be able to help them too.
So, how do you start?
Start With the End in Mind
In order to craft the perfect story, you have to think about it in reverse. What is it that you’re now an expert in? What do you do to help/benefit other people?
Then you need to think about WHY you’re the expert. How did you discover it was your purpose? What made you want to work in that field? Perhaps you felt as though something was missing from the world, and you wanted to find the solution that the past you never had.
And when you deliver this as a speech you want to go in the following order – the problem, the journey you went on to find a solution, and then of course your solution. Anything that isn’t part of this structure doesn’t need to be included.
Setting The Scene
Now there’s a reason why this formula works so well. If you know your audience and have picked the right problem or challenge, then the audience will resonate with you. And for all the right reasons.
They won’t relate to you because of how you look or how you talk or present yourself, but it will be because of your experiences. And because you only bring up the experience that is relevant to your audience, it means that the audience members will be naturally more drawn to your solutions too – to the point where they’ll want to buy!
When you cut out all the ‘filler’, you have a flow and a clear structure in your mind so you don’t navigate off course or get too carried away to the point where you bore the audience!
We Can Help You!
If you’re finding it tricky to create your perfect story, or even knowing where to start to speak about your product or service, follow us on Confidently Come Speaking, or send me a DM for more info!
Cheryl xx
P. S – If you liked this blog and want to read more blogs surrounding female empowerment, you can find last week’s here: ‘The Magic Behind Your Product‘
“I’m on a global mission to help 10 million disheartened souls, who are at a crossroads, to STOP asking why me? And START saying why not me!”