How My Talks are Different
Salespeople often forget this simple truth about prospective clients:
- There is absolutely NO reason for the other person to open up to you if you start out firing cold questions at them like, “So, what's your business goal for the year ahead?”
- You need to know how to use storytelling to CONNECT and warm the climate first.
Next to your stories, your best friend is your ability to make small talk about your observed commonalities and something you sincerely admire or appreciate about the other person.
And that's the message I communicate in my keynotes and workshops to the members of associations and societies who seek guidance on how to tell stories so people will buy from them.
AROUSE EMOTIONALLY
You've got to arouse the prospect emotionally through your stories to pave the way for them to even consider talking to you about your product or service.
- But if you do a quick survey of the books, courses and videos out there on storytelling, you'll find they mostly talk about the kind of stories you must tell, not about how to warm the audience - the prospect - up.
- The concept of creating connection is invisible.
- Often the audience - and how you are to deliver a story effectively to them - are barely mentioned. It may not even be mentioned at all - as if speaking occurs in a vacuum, or in front of no audience.
And that's how I differ from the rest of the pack.
I tell my breakout and keynote audiences that every word and action they create in any kind of business storytelling setting, be it in a meeting, a presentation, a webinar, or a negotiation, must be transmitted through a perception of “how is this going to affect my target audience? How is this going to make my listeners feel and think?” to resonate with power and impact.