Using Narrative to Send a Message

Using Storytelling as a Persuasion Tool
(Excerpts from an article entitled "To Persuade People, Tell Them a Story"  by Dennis Nishi)
-http://tinyurl.com/m8cyvpy

Find ways to connect with your audience on an emotional level, says Mr. Atkinson. Neuroscientists have discovered that most decisions—whether people realize it or not—are informed by emotional responses. Do some legwork to find significant events in your audience's lives or your own that you can base your story on or use to reinforce your points, he says.
This can include dropping in anecdotes about taking care of a sick family member or a memorable customer story, says Mr. Smith, now a corporate trainer and author of "Lead With a Story: A Guide to Crafting Business Narratives That Captivate, Convince, and Inspire." 

Mr. Smith's book mentions a story told by a single mother to P&G about the trade-offs that she made to support her children. Her experiences, more than anything else that year, convinced P&G executives to lower their price on shortening.

Mr. Atkinson suggests organizing your story into three acts and starting by establishing context. You want to let your audience know who the main characters are, what the background of the story is, and what you'd like to accomplish by telling it, he says. You might open, for example, by describing a department that's consistently failed to meet sales goals. 

Move on to how your main character—you or the company—fights to resolve the conflicts that create tension in the story, Mr. Atkinson says. Success may require the main character to make additional capital investments or take on new training. Provide real-world examples and detail that can anchor the narrative, he advises.

The ending should inspire a call to action, since you are allowing the audience to draw their own conclusions about your story versus just telling them what to do. Don't be afraid to use your own failures in support of your main points, says Mr. Smith.

Whatever you do, don't preface your story with an apology or ask permission to tell it. Be confident that your story has enough relevance to be told and just launch into it, says Mr. Smith. Confidence and authority, he says, help to sell the idea to your audience.
 

Speaking Tips

Speaking Tips for Engaging Your Audience
(Excerpts from an article entitled "Captivate Your Listeners with these Speaking Tips" by Rita J King
-  http://tinyurl.com/kakrhoe

International Reach is hosting another training social! On November 21st at 5pm Alex Zielske will be facilitating a workshop on public speaking skills. Here's a few speaking tips as a preview!

What's the hook? 

•  What is the goal of your presentation? Why does the audience care about the topic? What do you want them to get out of your presentation?

Keep it concise!

• Trying to cover too much information will loose your audience. Think of a few key points you want to make.

Don't Memorize

• Memorizing a speech word for word is difficult and it makes it more likely that you will get flustered and mess up. It also sounds less natural to the audience. Know the main points and fill in the gaps with a natural flow of words.

Practice!
 Practicing makes you more prepared. Be sure to practice out loud to your friends, family, cat, ect. Practicing in your end takes less time and you'll under estimate how long your speech is.

For more public speaking tips, be sure to come to International Reach's Training Social !! 

See you there!