The legendary speaker, Bill Gove, had a simple formula for effective speaking, “Tell a story and make a point.” But like most simple formulas, that can be devilishly difficult to do well.
Tossing in a story merely because it’s on roughly the same subject is not what effective speakers do. An ill-fitting story is like a cheap toupee, it does more to distract than to enhance.
Even worse are the old chestnuts that everyone has heard a dozen times before, like the boy throwing the sand dollars back in the ocean “because it makes a difference to that one,” or the guy that “doesn’t have to outrun the bear. He just has to outrun you.”
Effective stories are those that come out of the experiences that first led you to, or continue to remind you of, the point you are trying to make.
In my younger days, I was a white-water river rafting guide. One of the first lessons I learned on the river, and learned the hard way I might add, was that when you find yourself hurtling directly towards a large rock in the river, you have to quickly move your boat to either the left or the right. One might be a better choice than the other, but hesitating and doing neither is the worst choice of all.
If I’m giving a speech, and the point is that in business, or in life, it is usually better to commit decisively to a choice than it is to dither and delay, then the story of how I learned that, and of the cold, nasty, violent swim that followed my hesitation, can serve as a cautionary tale to illustrate the point.
I guarantee that story will make the point a lot more clearly, and stick in the minds of my audience a lot longer, than a logical explanation of the importance of prompt action. And every time they think of the story, they’ll remember the point; when confronted with a problem, make a decision and act on it.
If you believe what you are saying is true and important, then you must have learned it somewhere. Don’t just give them the result; take them through your journey with you. Show them how you learned the critical importance of customer service. Show them how someone first taught you that the first sale has to be to yourself. Show them how you first discovered the three simple rules of successful investing.
Use your stories to illustrate your points, not just to fill out the speech or get a cheap laugh.
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