When you’re giving a presentation, or even just talking to someone one-on-one, you only have a limited amount of time to get your point across. In this post, we’ll give you some tips on how to engage your audience and get them moving towards taking the next step towards action. Follow these simple steps, and you’ll be sure to keep your listeners’ attention!
Admittedly, it’s pretty difficult to come up with your personal story. It can be difficult to tell a story in 90 seconds, let alone try to tell it in 90 seconds. I know this is true for me and my clients. My theory is this: If you can pair your story down to the basic elements in 90 seconds and get it crystal clear, then you can expand it to a much longer story and engage your audience.
At the end of the day, the purpose of you telling your personal story, whether it’s at a sales presentation, on a stage, or a webinar, is to endear yourself to your audience so they get to know, like, and trust you. After you finish your presentation, they will want to take the next step with you. This might be buying your program, or signing up for a discovery call. Whatever it is that you are offering, you want them to take advantage of it. The best way to do this is to make sure that they know, like, and trust you. The power of your personal story is going to help you take your game to the next level.
Three steps to transitioning your personal story
I have a story that I often tell. It’s about a hard time in my business life. I used to not want to tell it because it was embarrassing. But when I started telling it, I found people connected with me better. They realized I was human too, and this made them more likely to do business with me.
- Have your story.
There are many different ways you can relate your personal stories to your business. A lot of times I was able to do this very effectively when I work with my clients one on one. Foremostly, you need the idea of your personal story. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a tragic story or a happy one. It has to be transformational. One where you learn something about yourself and you can relate to your business. Here’s an example:
“One of my signature stories was where I recall having to ask my father for a loan to keep my business afloat at the age of 40 ….”
There’s the story right there. And it was under 10 seconds.
- Get all the facts of the story written down in chronological order.
This helps you understand which parts of your story are relevant, and it can also give you a better understanding of the overall sequence of events. In addition, getting all the facts of the story written down in chronological order can help you figure out which parts of the story are most important to you. By doing this, you can determine which parts of your story are worth sharing with others, and which parts you can leave out. In short, taking the time to write out your personal story in chronological order can help you create a more compelling and engaging tale.
- Add color and texture.
Add more detail to the story so you genuinely bring your audience into the story with you. You’re going to have the most impact on them when they start to envision what you are envisioning as you’re telling the story. It’s a very powerful technique.
Once you have these three steps down, you will then have a complete outline of your story. What’s next is for you to rearrange it a little bit so it fits the hero’s journey or the three-act structure storytelling technique. Then, refine it down to 90 seconds.
Most speakers speak about 100-125 words per minute. This means you’re going to need about 150-170 words as part of your story. I highly recommend writing this out so you can pare it down and count the number of words.
Let me show you how it’s done.
Here’s the outline of my story.
- My business was very busy yet at the end of the month, I didn’t have any money left over and I was always struggling to pay bills, knowing where the money was going. My savings account kept dwindling.
- And then one Sunday afternoon, I was looking at my bank account and I realized that on Friday, rent and payroll were due and I was $10,000 short. I panicked. I slid into a state of despair as I was looking at my computer screen. And at the age of 40, I started crying, not quite sure what to do so that I could keep my business open.
These parts show the starting point of what was going on.
- Landlords need to be paid and employees don’t like to work for free (even though a lot of us as business owners do work for free a lot of the time, especially as we’re building that business up)
- I had to make the hardest phone call of my life. At 40 years old, I had to ask dad for money, a very humbling experience. He agreed to loan me the money at 12% interest and with my house as collateral and an eight-page loan document.
A true and quite funny story. As we go through, we will add color to this.
- He agreed to loan me the money. “Why the interest dad?” I asked. “I want to teach you a lesson, son.” He answered. And boy, that lesson stuck with me over and over again! I realized that I did need help that I couldn’t do it alone and that it was okay to ask for help.
- I paid my rent, paid my employees, and with the remainder of the money, I invested in a business coach: someone to guide me and help me.
- I was able to turn my business around by focusing on sales and programs, which were my core business. I paid my dad back within six months and start to enjoy my business.
This was about 278 words as part of that story. It’s a pretty good rough cut. One of the best ways to get your story out is by writing it in chronological order and making a list for yourself about what’s happening inside you. You’ll be able to start relating to everything that has gone on with those events, which will help keep people interested.
Now, let’s refine it.
The opener needs to have a little bit more oomph to it so it draws the audience in. It needs to have about 50 – 60 words. Add some color to it as well to bring the audience in.
How about this as the opener?
“It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon yet. I was stuck in my tiny hot office in the back of the fitness center. Really, it was the electrical closet with the transformers buzzing in the background. I was staring at my computer screen and tears started streaming down my face. It was my bank account. Payroll and rent were due on Friday and I was $10,000 short.”
So, that’s the inciting moment. It brings people in. Notice how I laid out the atmosphere of it with mention of the tiny, hot office as really an electrical closet with the transformers buzzing in the background. Hopefully, as you are reading, you were there with me in that office, could feel the heat, and hear the noise.
Moving on to the second part, you need to include a hero’s journey. This is where you introduce a guide: somebody who moves you along. For this story, the guide is my father. See here how I introduced him, adding in some bits of my thought process at that moment.
“I had to make the hardest phone call of my life. At 40 years old, I had to call dad for money. After some discussion, he agreed to loan me the money at 12% interest and my house for collateral. Talk about teaching me a lesson.”
That’s about 45 words. We introduce the guide and the potential solution that dad’s going to loan me the money.
Now the third act is where we need to get some kind of resolution. Remember when you are telling this story, you should tie it back into your business. The story is interesting and could help you make connections, but it is not useful if it does not relate to what you do.
Here we go with the closing of it and the hook back into the business:
“This experience did teach me a valuable lesson: that it’s okay to ask for help. It’s okay to not know everything. That as an entrepreneur, we need support. After paying rent and payroll, I invested the rest in hiring a coach. It was one of the best investments I’ve ever made. In six months, I not only paid back my father, but I completely turned around my business and started to really love it again.”
The impact I want to instill with my audience is, it’s okay to ask for help. We all go through challenges in our business. A lot of times having a coach there to help us work through those issues is going to help us in the long term.
In total, the story contained about 175 words in that talk. Let’s read it again and put the timer on to see if we do it in 90 seconds.
“It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Yet, I was stuck in my tiny hot office in the back of the fitness center. Really, it was the electrical closet and the transformers were buzzing behind me. And I was staring at my computer screen and tears started streaming down my face. It was my bank account. Payroll and rent were due on Friday and I was $10,000 short.
I had to make the hardest phone call of my life. I had to call dad at 40 years old and ask him for money. After some discussion, he agreed to loan me the money. The keyword there is loan at 12% interest. And I had to put my house up for collateral. Talk about teaching me a lesson! That experience did teach me a very, very valuable lesson: that it’s okay to ask for help that a lot of times as entrepreneurs, we don’t have to do it alone.
And with that extra money after paying rent and payroll, I actually invested in coaching and that was one of the best investments I ever made because within six months, not only did I pay my father back in full, but completely turned around my business and started to really love it again. “
All right. There you go. That’s the story. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you enjoyed the process as well of going through and breaking down your story. I want you to put together your story like this, pare it down, add some color to it, and then start to perform it in 90 seconds.
Whether you’re at a networking event, if you’re doing a webinar to start it off, another way of getting closer to your audience is through the power of your personal story.
That’s all it takes—three steps to compel your audience to take the next step towards action. Now that you understand how personal storytelling works, we encourage you to experiment with this format and see what kind of results you can achieve. Remember, the key is to be genuine, authentic, and honest in your story. Once you have crafted a story that feels true to you, add color and texture for an even more powerful effect. I hope these tips will help get your business booming in no time at all. Are you ready for an impact call? I would love to hear about your success stories using personal storytelling as a marketing strategy.
You’ve got 90 seconds to impress your audience. Can you do it? Your story is unique and engaging, and it will set you apart from your competition. By sharing your story, you will build trust and credibility with your audience. Have questions? I’m here for you. Schedule an IMPACT CALL with me and we’ll get the answers!
