Telling Stories
Author: Kurt Mortensen

Paint the picture for your audience. The more you can create
the setting—the sights, the sounds, the smells, the
feelings—the more your audience will be drawn in. Remember, you
want the experience to become their experience—something they
can readily identify with. As a persuader, you've got to take
them there.

As you prepare yourself, keep in mind all the ways in which you
can really produce a mental and emotional imprint. You want your
prospects to see your story in their minds' eyes, playing out
like a movie. You want them to really take the story home, to
have a place in their hearts for years to come. When you reach
their hearts and involve their minds, you will be persuasive.

After stepping back to allow the big picture to sink in, you're
ready to begin crafting your story. In this first phase, it is
important to walk yourself through all the basic questions: Who
is my audience? What do I want them to take away from this
experience? No matter how basic the questions may be, don't
shortchange yourself from having a good brainstorm. You'd be
amazed at the brilliant ideas that come once a chain of
thoughts is set into motion—ideas that would not have come if
you hadn't broken from the routine and allowed yourself a good
time-out. In order to get the ball rolling, it may be helpful
to consider the questions at the end of this chapter.

We've already spoken about the great importance of engaging
your audience as much as possible. One of the best ways to do
this is to provide them with generous details. That is, make
your story as vivid as possible. In the courtroom, lawyers make
their stories so rich in sensory detail that the jury literally
sees, hears and feels the event. The more concrete and specific
your descriptive details, the more persuasive your story selling
will be. Using specific details pulls your listeners into the
story and makes the story seem real to them. Here's another
twist on introducing as much detail as possible: Consider the
different ways in which you can capture your audience's senses.
Get them to see, hear, feel and even taste and smell the
elements of your story. The more involved your prospects feel,
the more they will take the message home.

When you tell a story, your body and your voice become the
stage, the actors, the costumes, the music and the props. For
this reason, it is really important to take apart every element
that contributes to the presentation as a whole and analyze it.
The most obvious piece of story-selling equipment is your
voice. It is the most direct and apparent mode of
communication. I'd like to talk about using the right words, as
well as how to use them. The right words are captivating; the
wrong words are devastating. Effective words make things come
to life, create energy and are more persuasive. Contrarily,
ineffective words dull and alienate. Numerous studies have
shown that a common trait successful men and women share is
their skilled use of language. Speakers who possess greater
verbal skills are seen as more credible, competent and
convincing. Speakers who hesitate, use the wrong words or lack
fluency have less credibility and come across as weak and
ineffective.

How we say the words we choose is just about as important as
the words themselves. Our voice is a powerful instrument that
can either motivate the troops or lull them to sleep. The next
time you watch the news, notice how the anchors use their
voices. News anchors are often trained to inflect their voices
downward at the ends of sentences because doing so suggests
confidence and authority. On the other hand, upward inflections
tend to imply lack of confidence or doubt. One research study
showed that judges communicate their bias and attitudes via
their tone of voice. Juries in California were twice as likely
to convict trial defendants when the judges already knew the
defendants had prior convictions. In spite of the law
prohibiting judges from disclosing such information, jurors
still detected the judge's leanings based on her/his voice's
lack of warmth, patience and tolerance.


About The Author: Everyone persuades for a living. Whether
you're a sales professional, an entrepreneur, or even a stay at
home parent, you must convince others to your way of thinking.
Find out more at http://prewealth.com/mistakestoavoid and get
my free report "10 Mistakes that Cost You Thousands."