What’s In a Story? 3 Ways to Bring Your Story to Your Speaking

August 9, 2011

I am preparing for my next Keynote Coach Retreat in Calgary on August 19 and 20 and I have been speaking with my attendees by phone for their preparation call prior to the retreat.

I am always impressed by the caliber of women that are attracted to the 2 day Keynote Coach retreat and this time I have to say that the women attending are soulful, successful and serious about growth.

One of my conversations involved the use of stories, I ask participants to prepare a 10 minute presentation for the retreat that they will be presenting to the group. I have found that every one of us has a story or stories that must be told and it is with our stories that our audiences connect and relate.

There are a few ways to successfully bring stories to your speaking and some questions to ask yourself when choosing to share specific stories. Here they are:

1. Relevance- a colleague of mine had a disagreement about this one- she thinks telling a touching story without having a teaching point or reference is acceptable when speaking. My viewpoint is that without context an emotional story can be viewed and felt as manipulative by the audience and we have to ensure there is a relevant point along with the story. It’s okay to tell a story of hardship growing up but how does it relate to your overall message? How can you bridge your story of hardship with what people in your audience may have experienced or are experiencing? The purpose of story is to connect and share and enlighten- check to see if your story does this and then feel free to share it.

2. Repeatability- people will forget your name and your face but they will rarely forget a story you told. Check your stories to see if they are easily repeatable- can someone else tell your story to others in an easy way? Years ago when I started speaking full time I used to tell my story of having to fish for my dinner in Alaska, use a ‘honey pot’ and teach a seminar in a bingo hall with angry participants. To this day I have people who saw me present that story tell me that they have never forgotten the story. The story made it into Richard D. Carlson’s “Don’t Sweat Stories” because it was so funny- the series of events couldn’t have possibly happened- but they did. The relevance of telling the story was about staying present and using untapped coping skills when in high stress situations. Everyone can relate to that!

3. Right story, right time- just because we have stories that work with certain audiences it does not mean they will work with every audience. For my corporate audiences I often share my story of being in several bank robberies in my early banking career. The story often resonates because I relate it back to working under pressure, doing what we are told as Baby Boomers and afraid of being fired. When I am presenting to women entrepreneurs I tell my story of the obstacles growing up and how those helped me to be a successful entrepreneur. I have dozens of stories available and I always choose the right ones for each audience. It’s important to continue to create new and current stories especially if an audience may have seen or heard you before.

Now more than ever we need to be sharing our stories and I am thrilled that I can be of service to women who want to speak to grow their businesses. When we women can bring stories to our business savvy and communicate those stories with connection, passion and energy we can indeed leave a positive footprint on the audiences we speak to.