Speaking Tips: How to Create An Irresistible Personal Story to Emotionally Engage Your Audience
A client of mine was getting ready to deliver her first speaking presentation that was meant to create desire in the audience for her services, a.k.a “sell”, rather than simply teach valuable content. She said to me, “Bonita, I have no idea how to write my personal story to emotionally engage my audience, and build credibility so they listen to me. Do you have any tips for me?”
This was a great question.
You see, crafting your personal story is a great way to quickly build rapport and trust with the audience, so they relate to you and know early-on you’re the right person to solve the problems they’re struggling with. (Related to your speaking topic.)
Improperly crafted, your story will alienate the audience, which is something you don’t want to happen.
Here are the 6 key components you need to create a personal story so you quickly engage your audience, and build trust and rapport with them.
6 Key Components
One of the most powerful secrets to attract the right clients, create connection, establish your credibility, and move people to buy from you all in a very short period of time is the telling of your personal story. (Which, by the way, is not your biography.)
You want to craft and share your personal story in a way that connects with your ideal clients. The typical format for your story is what’s known as the Hero’s Journey.” The six key pieces of it are:
1. Happily Ever After
Always start your compelling story on a HIGH note, how great things are going for you now, related to the topic you are speaking about. Before you take your clients to the point where you struggled with the same thing they’re struggling with now, they need to know you’ve “made it to the Other Side.”
2. The Struggle
This is where you started from on your Hero’s Journey. What was it that you struggled with before things got better? This is the place where you’re experiencing the same challenges and problems your audience is struggling with.
3. Rock Bottom
This is when you experienced your most difficult moment. All of us, at some time or another, have reached a point where we reached our “enough is enough” point, when we “hit bottom.” When was this point for you? Tell your audience about it, they are very interested in knowing and learning about this from you.
4. Turning Point
This is what you did to turn your situation around, to start the upswing? What decisions did you make?
5. Transformation
What did you start doing differently? What were the results? What did you invest in? What investments and action steps do you want to model for your clients?
Remember, this presentation is meant to sell your services. You want to plant the seeds of what you want your audience to do, which is invest with you.
6. Happily Ever After
it’s back to how great things are for you now, right now. Add inspiring details on how success has transformed your life and business, as well as client successes.
Your personal story quickly establishes trust because it provides proof to your audience you’ve walked the path they want to take, you’ve cleared the way for them to follow on their own journey.
Your story also makes you relatable. They need to know that you’ve struggled, and you’ve been right where they are, right now. This is so they know, that you know, what they’re going through.
Creating your personal story is a beautiful, powerful way to emotionally engage your audience when speaking, so they know you are the right choice to hire to help them solve their problems.
I’m offering a FREE teleseminar how to speak and attract clients who want to hire you on the spot. Stay tuned for information how to register for this FREE training on this topic!
