FIVE STORYLINES TO CRAFT A STORY THAT RIVETS YOUR AUDIENCE

To help give your speech some extra zing and truly hook your audience in completely, you should consider using one or more of these storylines in your speech:

1. Great Aspirations: Our heroes want to make the world a better place and know there must be a better way. Working nights and weekends, they create something that people love more than their wildest dreams.

2. David vs Goliath: Goliath has a head start, incredible resources, and a cast of thousands. But David takes him on and defeats him, showing that the underdog can succeed.

3. Profiles in Courage: Injustice, pain, and suffering are making our heroes’ lives miserable. Despite these woes, they persevere and accomplish great things.

4. Personal stories. “Epic” is not always necessary. “Illustrative” is enough - talk about your personal experience doing something, or using a product.

5. Immersing people in the experience. Pay attention to detail. When telling a story, immerse people in the experience. When it comes time to pitch, make the setting as realistic as possible.

While these storylines are all very compelling, remember not to make the focus of the speech all about yourself. Connect with the audience by making a point to address them directly.

For example, I might have a slide with a headline that says:

“I believe in you and my purpose is to help you reach your goals.”

Then follow through on that promise. You do this by giving your audience members a solution to some problem they have (such as helping insomniacs finally get some sleep) or helping them to get more of what they want (more clients, more traffic, more revenue, more recognition, etc).

By addressing your audience with the word “you,” and focusing on their wants and needs, you establish a direct connection with them. Treat your audience members as kindred spirits and they will trust you have their best interests at heart, and they will reward you with their attention.

Asking the audience questions and getting them to participate is another great technique to connect with them. A great business speaker might ask the audience something like: “How many people in this room would like to grow their business 10 times bigger than it is right now?” And then he or she would ask for a show of hands.

Tony Robbins, a master speaker who has riveted audiences for several decades, asks big, deeply personal questions of his audience which are hard to resist. For instance, Tony might ask something like: “Who here has ever felt disappointed by their partner’s behavior?” Or sometimes he’ll be direct. Tony will make a point, and then say “How many here agree with me on this?”

Through the act of asking simple questions such as these, you are able to get the audience to agree with you. This subconsciously evokes compliance on their part, and they find themselves drawn over to your side (because you place yourself on theirs).

Conclusion

For some reason, public speaking is one of the big things that people fear the most. You may feel uncomfortable at first, but feel the fear and do it any way. Breathe and let this feeling pass through you. You have to become comfortable with being uncomfortable to truly become a black belt at marketing.

Whenever you find yourself in an uncomfortable situation, or anxiety is taking hold, I recommend the practice of journaling. It is often the abstract hobgoblin of fear that harms us the most more than anything specific.

You will find that fear is a cowardly bully: if you chase it, it runs.

When I’m giving a speech, I inherently realize that the audience’s focus is not really on me, it’s on my content. This helps me detach from my ego and feel comfortable as I present my content (my speech) to the audience. And if your content is good, half the game is already won.

When I’m on stage, I find a place among the crowd to rest my eyes where they feel the most comfortable, and spend about 70% of my time focusing there.

Finally, study great speakers you admire (such as Tony Robbins) by watching their videos on YouTube. Then see yourself on the stage, standing confidently, delivering powerful points, and capturing the audience. Afterwards, you bow gracefully to their applause.

Do this, and it will inspire you to live out your vision. View your fear not as a threat but welcome it as a growing pain that will help you become the person you dream about becoming.