October 2011
Greetings!!
A Storytelling Newsletter Three "A" Keys to make your Stories COME ALIVE!
New series of newsletters on STORYTELLING continuing on with the ABC theme as before! Storytelling is an art. Most speakers tell stories without really working on or developing their stories to be great ones. As a business presenter, a professional speaker, or a toastmaster, we need to tell stories within our content to truly resonate with our audiences. We need to work and rework the structure, content and delivery of them to make them come ALIVE. In this series of newsletters, you will receive keys to help you craft your stories to a degree of excellence, resulting in being highly regarded by others as a master presenter who has the ability to create change in others.
World Class Storyteller and Master Speaking Coach, Craig Valentine, 1999 World Champion of Public Speaking, coming to Toronto for an intensive Champ Camp weekend. Reserve your spot today, details below!
When: December 10 & 11, 2011
Day 1: Storytelling
Day 2: Coaching
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Quotations of the month: "It is not only the voice that commands the story but the car." –Italo Calvino  "Stories, yours and mine, are what we all carry with us on this trip we take, and we owe it to each other to respect our stories and learn from them." –William Carlos Williams |
Opening: Do you have the ability to tell compelling stories? What are your audiences hearing, seeing, and remembering from your stories?
Promise: Utilizing these 3 “A” keys, you will captivate your audiences, hold their interest, have them reflect on their own lives and ultimately, learn a life-long lesson, since you will have engaged both their hearts and minds.
Roadmap: This month, we’ll discuss the significance of Activating, Assimilating, and Animating by re-living rather than re-telling your stories, consequently, making them come Alive for your audiences.
Activate
What do you activate? The most important part of a presentation is the thinking process that’s going on in the minds of the audience…when you tell stories, are you simply informing the audience or inspiring them to better an aspect of their lives? Are you intentionally creating curiosity?
Why do you need to activate the audience’s thinking? We speak to create change in others. In order to inspire and influence others’ thinking, their minds need to be activated, interested, curious to keep them captivated and interested to discover how a conflict in your life was resolved. Though it’s your story, the message needs to be You (audience) focused. They need to realize that your story will benefit them.
How do you activate their minds?
- Before a story, tap into their minds with a question so they can reflect on their own experience, then and only then, transport them into your story, by inviting them in.
- Throughout your stories, continue to activate their thinking by touching base with them periodically by asking You-Focused questions. For examples on how to do this at the start, during and at the end of a story, click here on a past newsletter.
- At the end of your story, have them reflect on the point of the story and give them a feasible call to action. Your stories can serve as great anchors to drive home your point/message…if they remember your story, they will remember your point!
Assimilate
What is assimilate? To assimilate is to make yourself similar to your audience.
Why assimilate? Assimilating to your audience, humanizes you and helps you connect or bond with them on an even, equal level.
How do you assimilate?
- You do so by re-living your obstacles, challenges, or hardships you’ve experienced and have overcome. The opposite of doing that is making yourself appear special, one of a kind, superior, a know-it-all…the result? They would be turned off and you would definitely not create a bond, connection or endear yourself to them.
- Ensure then that you make the process you’ve learned as special and that they too can accomplish whatever you wish them to accomplish. Maybe the process came to you via another person, an event, or possibly an inanimate object, like a book from which you learned this lesson.
Animate
What is animate? To animate is to breathe life into your stories.
Why animate? Animating allows you to bring your stories to life by re-living them and inviting your audience to re-live them with you. Simply re-telling them using 3rd person narration will leave your audience on the outside looking in, not being involved or engaged, possibly boring them.
How do you animate? You animate by bringing them into your scenes with such phrases: “If you had been there you would have seen…” or “Imagine being in that room…” Use characters relevant to your audiences and let them be:
- seen by stating only a hint as to their physical appearance as in: “the strict rigid professor…or “the sophisticated, stately woman…” Give only a hint, so they imagine the person as they wish.
- heard through their dialogue by stating the character’s exact words, using their unique tone. Note: The heart of a presentation is story; the heart of a story is dialogue. Ensure that your characters, not you, are the stars, gurus, sources of wisdom; give them the best lines. Demonstrate the body language-posture, facial expressions, that the character used while uttering their exact words.
- known by stating something interesting and pertinent about their background- why would the audience care where the character went in life, if they don’t know where he/she started?
The audience will then relate to and connect with your characters as they can actually envision them.
- Find an opportunity to express your own inner dialogue: state your inner thoughts on the situation, so your audience will hear exactly what you were experiencing emotionally and intellectually.
- Animate your own facial reactions to a character’s words, before giving your verbal response.
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Join us next month when we look at the letter "B" as it relates to STORYTELLING skill...until then.
Happy Speaking
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Kathryn@kathrynmackenzie.com 416.489.6603 |
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