How to be More Persuasive Telling Your Story

by | Nov 3, 2023 | BLOG, Branding, Business Tips, Sales Tips | 0 comments

And image of three women having conversation. One woman looks Asian. The other woman is white and is wearing a blue coat. And the other lady is a dark woman with curly short hair and is wearing a gray dress.

How can you be more persuasive by telling your story so people get to know, like, and trust you?

Today I am doing what I tell my clients to do, but never get around to it myself.

I am rewriting the ‘About’ page on my website to a formula I teach that not only highlights what you do but also the history behind what you do with an important WHY.

Because…

✅People want to connect with people. Not businesses.

✅People want to understand who you are and why you understand them.

✅People want to know you can solve their problems.

Being able to demonstrate all that in a story about your life and experiences, ensuring you create enough interest to have people continue reading is a skill that should be pursued.

How you can be more persuasive in telling your story?

Story Construction Techniques

  1. Choose a moment.

The most powerful stories are built around specific moments of challenge, change, and growth.

What is your moment?

  1. Tell it from your perspective

How did you feel?  Use emotive words.

  1. Look for opportunities to build into your stories.

In The Art of Possibility, authors Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander share an example of internal narrative and how it melds perception:

A shoe factory sends two marketing scouts to a region of Africa to study the prospects for expanding business. One sends back a telegram saying,

SITUATION HOPELESS STOP NO ONE WEARS SHOES

The other writes back triumphantly,

GLORIOUS BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY STOP THEY HAVE NO SHOES

To the marketing expert who sees no shoes, all the evidence points to hopelessness. To his colleague, the same conditions point to abundance and possibility. Each scout comes to the scene with his own perspective; each returns telling a different tale. Indeed, all of life comes to us in narrative form; it’s a story we tell.

How can you create opportunities for learning in your stories?

  1. Change the story.

“I’m a customer service rep and I answer emails all day to customers who have product issues” is merely a weak frame for the work you do.

“I’m a customer champion and I empower our customers with answers, help them solve their pains, and facilitate communication with our engineers, designers, and marketers to make our product the best” is a totally different set of frames, and with it comes a totally different set of behaviours.

And that’s the crux: You can’t just tell the story—you must live it, too.

  1. Choose a story that matters.

Stories are difficult to change because of the parameters, or frames, we put around them; often it’s difficult to imagine what could be when all you know is what has been.

The greatest challenge is choosing a story that matters, a story that facilitates who you want to become and the kind of life you desire to lead.

  1. Write as you speak.

When you’re struggling to write copy or a blog, talk it out. Better yet, walk around and talk into your phone. (a tip is to record it on the Otter.ai app and it will transcribe what you say) Faced with a blank page or computer screen, most people panic. But if you just start talking — not like a marketing machine, but like yourself — words will flow. Use that natural voice to bring character and emotion to all your stories and marketing.

 

“It’s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.”

Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

A good story well told helps you to: 

  1. Communicate with clarity and confidence.
  2. Achieve emotional resonance with your audience.
  3. Be more persuasive and influential.
  4. Consistently act in alignment with your mission.
  5. Attract the right people, whether they be customers, employees, volunteers, or donors.
  6. Inspire people to buy into your mission or get behind your cause.
  7. Add value to your products, services, and company.

Register for the upcoming FREE Webinar on November 30 at 7pm AEST. The topic is ‘5 Key Strategies to Amplify Your Personal Brand Authority & Engage More Value Clients’.

Click to attend and learn more about how you can unlock the power of YOU and your brand story!

Email janeen.vosper@speechperfect.com.au to discuss in person.

Buy Janeen’s book ‘Good Girls do Sell’ here.

 

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