Craft Your Irresistible Story

Craft Your Irresistible Story

December 6, 2015 By

Ever felt like your tongue was stuck to the roof of your mouth when asked what you do?

Where to start…how to explain? What do you say?

Your mind is a whirlpool of thoughts as you feverishly grope for the magic words that will make it so intriguing people can’t wait to find out more.

And to your horror, all you  come up with in those crucial moments is a dark heavy blankness.

See the problem?

It’s OVERWHELM.

If you’re an entrepreneur seeking to shape your message and image in the mind of your clients, it can be frustrating, sometimes downright painful.

The good news is there’s a surprisingly simple solution that can dramatically change the way you deal with this confusion –

You tell a story.

You see, you have the most powerful device known to man: You.

Your life experience, your story, your message.

A story that is personal carries a universal message. Your story, allows others to see, feel, and experience another world – your world. In it, they find themselves.

Stories are mesmerizing.

They are how humans have passed on wisdom, knowledge and culture for as long as we’ve been around.

Think back to some of your earlier memories from school, and it’s likely that the lessons you actually remember were based in stories.

Think of all the years of generations who have passed on their values from generation to generations and they would stay intact, and you will realize that there’s something kind of magical about a story structure.

When all parts of the story are assembled it can be ingested and then recalled by the person who is receiving it. The appeal of the different aspects of a story coming together as one creates a message that’s easy to digest, remember, and retell.

But.

Your story is powerless if it stays inside of you. If you never pull that story out and share it with the world, it will serve no one.

So, if you want to make your business and your marketing more memorable, then your marketing needs to tell a story.

Stories are one of the best ways to connect with customers and encourage them to take action.

In business, we often focus on objective data, facts and figures, product features, charts, technology and engagement through social media. However, storytelling reaches people on an emotional level. Stories communicate to the listener exactly what you do and what you stand for.

Start crafting your compelling stories, both about yourself and your business.

Most Common Storytelling Mistakes and What to Do About Them

  1. Making up a story or embellishing. Tell the truth – it is stranger than fiction.
  2. Telling an oft-told tale or stock story. Relate something unique about how you came to where you are
  3. Boring your listener with stories that are overly long or too fact-filled. Embrace your vulnerability and have a heart-to-heart talk
  4. Packing in too much information. Include only the essentials…and it doesn’t have to be in chronological order
  5. Hiding failures in an attempt to appear successful. Hey, our failures are often the juiciest parts of a good story

So, what’s your story?

Filed Under: business storytelling, marketing messages, storytelling, website copy
Time: It’s Not How Much You Have, It’s How You Chunk It!

Time: It’s Not How Much You Have, It’s How You Chunk It!

March 8, 2015 By

Grand visions can be as daunting and disheartening as they can be inspiring and motivating. The secret to making your vision come to life is to break it down into small doable action steps that will gradually get you to where you want to be.

No matter how many new technological innovations are created to improve our efficiency and productivity, we all have just 24 hours in every day. Nobody was given a 25 hour day. Ever.

And while you can’t add more hours to the day, you CAN make better use of the hours you have.

It’s called time chunking, and it’s a whole new way of looking at your goals, visions and ambitions.

Chunking is a way of breaking down larger goals into more realistically achievable steps. The process helps you to identify all the smaller tasks that are involved in achieving a bigger aim, and create a timeline to get them done.

As you move forward with a series of realistic mini goals, you are constantly rewarded with a sense of achievement that keeps you motivated, excited and on track.

Begin with the End in Mind

Say your vision is to create an online home-study course. Think about the different steps you need to take to develop this product and actually make it happen.

If you’re a visual person, create a visual map of your goal. Using the example of creating an online course, you would draw a circle in the middle of a whiteboard or large sheet of paper and fill in your goal: your online course. Now map out all the steps out you need to take to achieve this goal, such as:

  • Choosing your target market
  • Getting clear on your topic
  • Creating content
  • Marketing your course
  • Launching your course

With your list of all the smaller tasks you can begin to create a timeline for them. Each step should be something that is comfortably achievable in the time slots that you have available.

Solid Time Chunks

If time chunking is going to work for you, it’s imperative that you book these solid time blocks in your schedule and protect them from distractions or things that seem urgent but aren’t.

Begin by assessing which of your tasks need “solid” chunks of time and which need “split” chunks.

Here are the two types of tasks to reserve for your solid time chunks:

  1. Big Thinking. Tasks that need a running start and that require creative or strategic thinking, such as planning and writing your e-course. Each time you stop and start these tasks, you lose time as well as thinking power.
  2. Production Line. Any task that follows the same sequence of steps each time. For example, processing emails, paying bills, invoicing and shipping tasks can be handled much more efficiently if you get them all done at once. All the tools you need are in front of you and you’re “in the groove” of that particular task. Use a checklist to guide your work.

Split Time Chunks

This is “found” time, such as waiting on hold or in line, traveling by public transportation, or if you arrive early for a meeting. Keep a list of tasks you can do wherever you are. Important note: Be sure to have a system in place for transferring information back to your desk, computer or project folder if you’re working remotely.

Here’s what you can check off your list during your split time chunks:

  1. Project Details. For example, booking or confirming a meeting time or picking something up from the printer. Phone calls and brief email responses (that you identified when you “processed” your email during a solid time chunk) also fit into this category.
  2. Miscellaneous. Tasks that may not be associated with a specific project but still need to get done, such as ordering office supplies or replying to general inquiries and customer service requests.

The real power of chunking is in the creation of small, achievable steps. When you stay focused on your one next step, you are confident about what you know you can achieve and secure in the knowledge that you will get to the other tasks in their allotted time-slots.

When you do the right task in the right chunk of time, you’ll be amazed at how much more productive you are! Your “to do” list will get shorter, you’ll enjoy more peace of mind and you’ll stop wasting time trying to recapture your creative flow.

Filed Under: begin with the end in mind, chunking, grow your business, storytelling, time management
Let Your Magnetic Ending Linger…

Let Your Magnetic Ending Linger…

July 26, 2014 By

“There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.” ― Frank Herbert

A magnetic ending lingers long after the story’s been told. Endings are where things finally begin to make sense. At the end of a scene you’ll know you’ve done well when the reader absolutely must press on. Two kinds of endings are particularly powerful. The zoom-in endings and the zoom-out endings. With the same magnetic appeal of a camera zooming in or out on the image captured in its lens, endings should either bring the reader up close or pull back and provide a wider perspective.

ZOOM-IN endings invites intimacy, emotional contact that draws the reader or listener closer, sometimes uncomfortably close as they get entangled somewhat in the emotional experience.

The reader gets to feel the emotional pulse.

Zoom –in Devices:

  1. Disclosure in Dialogue: Enacting a dialogue is a great way to move your story forward. But it can also be used to create drama and intensity in your scenes. A dialogue with a surprise element is a great way to end a scene. It zooms the reader’s or listener’s focus in on the speaker and builds suspense for the next scene.
  2. The Cliffhanger: Cliffhangers leave the reader on the edge, uncertain of the outcome. A character is left in grave danger; an action is cut short at the precipice of an outcome, or an unexpected event alters reality. Draws the reader so deeply into the action that there is very little chance she will put down the book at that point, desperate to go on to find out what happens to her. Cliffhangers trigger a rush of excitement; the blood races, the adrenaline pumps and should be used sparingly.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: storytelling, writing Tagged With: , , , ,
Free Flowing or Structured Outline, That is the Question

Free Flowing or Structured Outline, That is the Question

July 16, 2014 By

Many authors bristle at the thought of having to write an outline before they write. They fear it will make their writing stiff and stifle creativity and flow.

I know, we all like to feel blissfully free. An outline can make you feel restricted. You want to write with spontaneity, just capturing the words as they flit across your brain. After all, you want your words to be authentic, congruent with who you are, a genuine expression of yourself.

Using an outline does not cramp your style. It does just the opposite – it releases it and empowers it. That’s because it provides the necessary structure to hold what you want to say effectively in a focused and organized why. The reason you can enjoy a hot drink is that there’s a solid structure in place – your cup – to hold the liquid. With nothing to hold the hot coffee, all you have is a mess, a hazardous flowing mess.

Susan Harrow, author of Sell Yourself without Selling Your Soul offers a terrific template for developing stellar stories. I think you’ll love it as much as I do:

  1. Explain the situation.

  2. Develop the action.

  3. State the result.

  4. Close with an epiphany.

  5. It’s concise as it is brilliant.

Here’s another template. This one I learned years ago, when I first started writing. My first writing mentor gifted me with these excellent guidelines. Though more than ten years have passed, I still remember it. To share it with you, I did a quick google search and discovered that her advice actually came from William E. Blundell, author of The Art and Craft of Feature Writing: Based on The Wall Street Journal Guide. [Read more…]

Filed Under: storytelling, writing Tagged With: , , , , , ,