Gary Genard's

Speak for Success!

"Be a voice not an echo." - Albert Einstein

Smart Speakers Use this Technique to Persuade Listeners. Do You?


I’ll never forget how I learned one of life’s great lessons: Seize every opportunity that comes your way to get an education. Or to say it another way: Don’t be stupid enough to let educational opportunities go by so that you stay stupid.

Here’s how my learning experience took place:

I was in high school. Well, not that day I wasn’t. My friend Ron and I had decided to accompany a guy everyone knew as Wild Willie on a drive from Boston to Hartford. Willie was a high-school dropout who loved cars and street-fights, and was headed to the Pratt & Whitney company to apply for a job. Naturally, this exciting quest soon acquired two eager passengers.

Foot of Lead + Roads of Ice = Trouble

That January day was bitterly cold, and not long after we set out on the three-hour drive it began to snow. We reached Hartford without incident. But the roads on our return journey were now snow-covered and treacherous.

Wild Willie drove in his usual fashion, though, which meant like a maniac. Somewhere along Route 84 we spun out at 60 or 70 miles an hour, hit a guardrail, then spun completely around and hit it a second time. The Williemobile now resembled an accordion. Miraculously, no one was hurt. But we were suddenly without transportation in another state, in a now-blinding snowstorm, without winter clothing.

A Connecticut state trooper gave us a ride to the Massachusetts line and dropped us off at a restaurant plaza there. (I am not making this up.) We managed to hitchhike to Boston, where I phoned my dad to drive the three of us home. You can imagine his first question on getting such a call from his son on a school day.

Willie didn’t get the job, by the way. But I learned a lesson that has stayed with me a lot longer than anything I'd have picked up in class that day. Something to do with staying in school and the value of an education, as I recall.

What's Your Story?

That’s a true story. Would it work as part of a speech to high-school students on the importance of staying in school? Probably. (For more on positively influencing your audiences, download our cheat sheet, "4 Characteristics of an Influential Speaker.")

The reason? Nothing grabs an audience and keeps them engaged like a good story. Whether you're looking to sell, persuade, motivate, or inspire, you'll move your listeners most powerfully through the human stories you tell. Each of us sees his or her own life as the story of our existence—a chronological tale of our time on Earth. As such, we measure the phenomenon of time in a forward direction, as our story unfolds in our minds.

Stories give all of us—speaker and audience members alike—a sense of control in a world where we desperately need control. Storytelling, then, is an essential tool to place in your public speaking toolbox. That's something we tell all of our leadership communication clients at Public Speaking International. That message, and the practice of it, is central to our use of theatrical techniques for business training. 

But stories play another crucial role for you as a communicator: they show you at your very best. When you’re actively involved in telling an interesting tale, you shine in terms of liveliness, commitment to your message, passion, involvement, and the sheer force of your personality. 

So tell the story of your company, organization, product, or idea. Discuss the real needs of the people involved in this story, and how they were met or still need to be met. Speak of challenges faced and obstacles overcome; the hopes and steadfast commitment to a dream that succeeded at last; the continuing desires of the people whose story you’ve just told; or anything else that puts human beings at the center of your message.

Effective leaders tell stories about the things that really matter to their listeners. So should you.

Takeaways from this blog:

  • Nothing grabs an audience and keeps them engaged like a good story.
  • To sell, persuade, motivate, or inspire, use stories to profoundly move your listeners.
  • People see their own lives in terms of a story, so they'll easily relate to yours.
  • When you're telling a story, you come across at your most dynamic

complete guide to effective public speaking

 

 

Tags: leadership skills,storytelling,leadership communication,theatrical techniques for business training

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