ryanlerch_Alice_In_Wonderland_-_10_-_mouse_speaking“Now Johnny, don’t be telling stories.”

Such is the rebuke of mothers the world over to little tykes who are prone to embellishments. Yet at this month’s National Speakers Association (NSA) Mountain West Chapter meeting, such admonitions were thrown to the wind with wild abandonment. November’s meeting was all about telling stories. It was about why we should be telling them, when we should be telling them, and how we should be telling them. Heck, we were told to always be truthful in principle, but sometimes the facts need a little help. What would our mother’s say?

It was a powerful meeting of learning the art and science of the story. The afternoon session was conducted by Ty Bennett, a master storyteller who has used the power of stories to build a business of over $20 million in revenue. A feat he accomplished while still in his twenties. That’s what a good story can do for you. Ty now helps others learn how to tell stories that produce results in business.

Ty began his presentation with a story (of course). He told how Howard Schultz came to be the CEO of Starbucks Coffee. When Mr. Schultz was asked about the business Starbucks was in, his reply was they were in the people business serving coffee. Ty then went on to say we are all in the people business, no matter what service or product we may have to offer. We use stories to connect with and influence the people. Be it in our business or our personal lives.

We are all in sales – even if we aren’t. In other words, we all find ourselves trying to influence others for a variety of reasons. How about we go to the corner café for lunch today? We need to put this item into the budget for next year. Can I get your help with this project? This product is going to solve your problem. Johnny, quit your story telling (whoops, scratch that last one – Johnny can tell all the stories he wants when at our chapter meetings).

The right story can provide credibility for us and for our ideas. In every one of these situations, the right story can persuade someone to take the action we want to see happen – be it agree with you on where to go to lunch or closing a sale. An effective story, i.e. one that influences, is made up of three parts according to Ty. The right mind set, a set of skills, and the right tools.

The right mind set is one that is audience focused. The skill set involves engaging them through the story’s set up, the introduction of a struggle or challenge that must be overcome, and the final resolution. A good story engages the hearer through curiosity. They want to know what is going to happen. A good story also puts them in the story. As they hear it, they say to themselves, “I get this, I can relate.”

Finally, Ty introduced a tool set for putting together a good story. He introduced the two “C”s, the two “D”s, and the two “M”s – curiosity, character, dialogue, detail, movement, and metaphor. Given the time constraints of the evening, Ty focused on the two “D”s – dialog and detail, giving additional examples of what these two skills look like and how they are used to create powerful stories.

The evening session was conducted by Dan Clark, international superstar speaker and storyteller if ever one walked this earth. A protégé of Zig Ziggler, Dan’s speaking career has been stratospheric. He speaks to audiences throughout the world using stories to inspire and teach important ideas.

Whereas Ty focused a great deal on the “how” of storytelling from a more technical aspect, Dan’s focus was more on the emotional attributes of a story. Good stories provide a way for us to connect emotionally with our audience. Using stories, Dan made us laugh and cry. More importantly, he got his points across.

Effective stories have a point, a reason why the story is being told. It might be to teach a lesson, to illustrate a principle, to enlighten, to inform, or any number of reasons. Dan said he uses stories not necessarily to represent an actual event or set of facts but to illustrate a truth. Like a parable, he often uses a story to illustrate ideas such as compassion, empathy or honor.

Dan emphasized that we take action because we feel something, not because we know something. We are driven to action by emotion. Dan had us all on an emotional rollercoaster with his stories – laughing one minute, crying the next and right back to laughing. All of which might have made us feel manipulated had he not been emotionally sincere with us – which was another point he emphasized – the important of sincerity when telling a story.

In summary, I will end with a very short story. There was a reader who was reading about the fabulous skills leaned at the NSA Mountain West Chapter meetings. Unfortunately that reader never joined or attended those meetings. So they never learned the skills of influence through storytelling or any of the other skills needed to build a wildly successful speaking business. So instead of becoming a superstar speaker, they became an accountant. Don’t let that be you.

Hope you are there next time!