3 Keys to Remember for a Successful Storyshowing

Sharing stories is an effective route of conveying information as it provides mental visuals which impacts the way the audience receives your message. In a recent research study, NYU Psychology Professor Jerome Brumer found that we are 22 times more likely to remember facts when it has been wrapped in a story. When you share your story, it creates relevance for the audience.

Successful story showing requires a strategic and thoughtful approach. If you can’t properly deliver a story, then your point will not appeal to your audience. You need to make your listeners hang on to every word you say in order to truly get your message across. Here are a few essential ideas to remember for a compelling and effective story showing:

• It’s not about you: it’s all about the listener, so always keep them front of mind.

It is extremely crucial to actually make a connection with your listeners. Whether you’re convincing an investor to bring in money for your business or just simply sharing the values of your company, making your story relevant to the listeners will make them open and receptive to what you have to say.

• Be in the emotion game: you might need to exaggerate parts of your story to inspire more emotion — high highs and low lows.

Once you get the audience’s attention, you want to heighten their interest tugging on their heart strings. To make your listeners remember your story, ignite strong emotions and give them a few emotional hooks to cling to. Don’t be afraid to show the happiness or sadness, enjoyment or anger in your voice. Exaggerate emotions but don’t try and fake it. Just make your listeners feel what you genuinely feel.

• Show very clearly that there is an outcome of the journey, of the story.

Your outcome could be what you learned from your experience, or what you ended up to be. By the end of the story audiences see what has made you who you are today, or what your service has achieved, or how your product has changed lives. If you show your story well, they will connect with you and your story might help them to transform too.

Story showing goes beyond informing– it should take listeners to new heights, transform how they think and persuade them to take action.