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Greetings! |
November 2011 Newsletter |
Boardroom Storytelling: the new currency
...in Business! |
Opening:
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Everyone in business shares one universal goal and that is, to succeed! |
Promise:
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If you aspire to climb the corporate ladder with increased responsibility and matching salary, you need to differentiate yourself from the average presenter by realizing the power of telling purposeful personal and business stories. By engaging your audiences both emotionally with stories, and intellectually with facts, you can win over investors, convince your customers, and/or motivate your team, resulting in increased production, sales, and financial profit for yourself and your company. |
Roadmap:
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We will examine why and how purposeful stories have a place in the boardroom and can boost your business by persuading anyone to follow up with your intended call to action. |
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It is no secret that the oldest, most powerful form of communication and learning is storytelling. Although leaders are now starting to realize the power of storytelling in the boardroom, it’s unfortunate that for so long, dry abstract, one-way methods of corporate communications with mind-numbing power-point slides filled with text and technical data, have been the norm within the business environment.
There are two ways to connect with your audience, intellectually, with data/content, but more importantly, emotionally, with flesh and blood stories. Stories have the capacity to capture the big picture; information within a context of a story. If you want your target audiences to integrate your ideas and create behavioral change, then as business people, we need to become master storytellers, by crafting purposeful stories from which points follow and flow logically from their emotional triggers.
Why do business people speak?
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Here are a few reasons: |
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to convince, persuade |
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to motivate, inspire |
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to share a mission statement/vision |
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to sell a service, product or idea |
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to inform |
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to help others learn |
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to connect their teams |
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to win others over and galvanize to action |
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to land a job promotion...and so on |
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Purposeful storytelling has the power to effectively accomplish all above reasons for business people to speak.
Think about this: How many times have you been so fascinated by a great story that you were reading or watching and just couldn’t wait to hear what happened next? How many times, have you changed your mind about something because of a convincing story? How many times have you altered your thinking and behavior because you were inspired by a story? If stories have such an emotional impact and can result in altered positive thoughts, feelings and actions, then couldn’t they be readily applied to business and have a similar impact in the professional world? |
Effective, purposeful, masterful storytelling has the power to:
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engage emotions by reaching audience’s hearts (emotional connection) as well as their minds. |
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convince and persuade audience to shape and change thinking/attitudes/behaviours/actions. |
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be teaching tools and help people understand, learn, remember since stories create meaning and clarity which is absent in using only left brain, intellectual communication. |
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hold people’s interest, curiosity and attention by engaging them in re-living the stories. |
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humanize the presenter by revealing his/her personality and character which, in turn, makes him/her relatable, likeable and similar (by knowing you, they will be attracted to you). |
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establish presenter’s authenticity, trustworthiness, credibility (people do business with those they like/trust). |
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make the message stick as it’s embedded in clear vivid mental images of characters, who are seen, heard and their emotions felt. |
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When stories are well crafted, the lesson of the story has a profound effect on the listeners and causes them to think or act differently. Stories lend themselves well to business leaders as they allow the presenter to share what he/she learned, then transfer the lesson/point to THEM with a "How About You" type question and finally, challenge THEM to implement the lesson. |
Since storytelling is now the new currency in business presentations, doesn’t it make sense that business leaders need to harness the power of storytelling to inspire, motivate, and persuade people to accept their invitation, challenge or intended outcome? |
Note: The late Steve Jobs, though he was a techie genius and spoke to high tech audiences, avoided creating power-point speeches that were a mechanical recitation of specs and data; he talked in a conversational manner to his audiences, not at them, emphasizing real-life stories of how Apple products changed lives of customers who used their products. He also revealed the non-business side of himself by drawing his own life stories and inspiring audiences, not only with his products, but with his life. |
Toronto Champ Camp by Craig Valentine |
1999 World Champion of Public Speaking!! |
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Day 1: Storytelling. Learn the most important skill in speaking. |
Day 2: Coaching. Take your speaking to new level. |
Walk in with an idea, walk out with a Masterpiece! |
These will be two of the most important days for your speaking career! |
When: December 10-11, 2011 |
Where: 88 Palace Pier Court (top floor, party room) Etobicoke, ON M8V4C1 |
Seating will be limited to 35 -37 attendees…seats are selling fast! |
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Testimonials from two people who signed up immediately for this Champ Camp after hearing Craig speak:
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I recently attended Craig Valentine's presentation "Presenting with Impact and Persuading with Ease" and without any hesitation, I signed up for his 2 day boot camp. Craig Valentine is an awesome speaker who thoroughly owns the stage, delivers content with incredible gusto and gives you easy to apply speaking tips and techniques. If you are serious about taking your speaking to the next level, Craig is your go to guy.
— Florence Grunfelder, CPCC
Certified Professional Life Coach and Money Maven
www.funfearlessandthriving.com
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As I listened to Craig speak last week, there was no doubt the next logical step in my development was to sign up for his Champ Camp. Two days to mentor with Craig! Sign me up - NOW! When life offers you a teacher, be a sponge and soak up the learning!
— Lisa Cook, Team Leader, Moneris
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Are you a business leader, salesperson, new or veteran toastmaster seeking a competitive EDGE?
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Receive 20% off if you are a Champions’ EDGE Member or Certified World Class Speaking Coach
Email me at: kathryn@kathrynmackenzie.com to receive Craig's coupon code |
The 2 day intensive CHAMP CAMP is only $495.00 for 2 full days with Craig Valentine
Save time by shortening your learning curve and $$$ by attending a local camp!
REGISTER NOW!!
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Join me next month when we discuss the letter C as it relates to STORYTELLING skill! Until then, Happy Speaking!! |
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