Last updated on July 22nd, 2014 at 09:23 pm
The Number One Secret To Standing Ovations and Getting Booked Over and Over
If you’re a motivational speaker, you know that your success depends on your ability to connect with your audience. And the number one secret to connecting with your audience is NOT the content.
It’s not the marketing. And it’s not who you know.
It’s the STORY.
Your ability to connect with your audience is totally dependent on whether your audience connects to your message – your STORY.
The two stories you should be telling
As speakers we tend to focus solely on our story. But there are two stories you should be telling – yours, and THEIRS.
While your story is important, it’s not enough. I see many speakers telling their stories and never once include the audience. As speakers we are there for THEM.
We are there to teach them, encourage them, inspire them, empower them. And if you can find a way to make your speech about them, even when it’s about you, you hit the target.
But if we don’t know them, how do we tell their story?
While we don’t know their exact situation, there are certain situations that are universal to everybody.
And so when you tell your story about your experience in that area (not where you succeeded, but where you failed or experienced pain) then you start to tell theirs.
While you are telling your story, they are traveling into their own life and experiencing their story. It’s quite powerful.
Finding Stories America Loves
The key to finding stories that relate to your audience, is to think about experiences that we all have in common, or experiences that you already know will elicit an emotion. (Think of the posts you see on Facebook and what kinds of posts get a stronger reaction/comment thread.)
I put together a list of the types of stories that America loves.
I say America, because it’s part of our culture.
If you’re speaking outside the US, then you have to look at their culture and their frame of reference. By the way….this also works when you’re writing humor. Write humor based on the odd things we all experience together.
Stories America Loves
- Stories of humble beginnings
- Rags to riches stories
- Stories of overcoming great odds
- Stories about animals
- Stories about children
- Stories about children with disabilities
- Stories about a cause they are concerned with
- Stories about relationships
- Stories about first love
- Stories about other firsts – first car, first job, first date
- Stories about their culture
- Stories about their people
- Stories about their group/industry/members
- Stories about their history
- Stories about marriage
- Stories about parenting
- Stories about history
- Stories about famous people / celebrities
- Stories about people who impacted your life personally
- Stories about times that you really messed up
- Stories that point out your weaknesses and foibles
- Stories about your childhood
- Stories about your culture
- Stories when you had a tough decision to make
- Stories when things didn’t go your way
- Stories of your success after great hardship
- Funny stories
- Suspenseful stories
- Stories about your failures and what they taught you
I’m sure there are more stories that I’m not thinking of. But this list should give you an endless amount of stories.
Good luck!
Kelly
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Kelly Swanson is an award-winning storyteller, comedian, motivational speaker, Huffington Post Contributor, and cast member of The Fashion Hero television show airing on Amazon Prime. She is also the author of Who Hijacked My Fairy Tale, The Land of If Only, The Story Formula, and The Affirmation Journal for Positive Thinking. She was a featured entertainer for Holland America Cruise Lines, keynote speaker for the International Toastmasters Convention, and has keynoted major conferences and corporate events from coast to coast. She just launched her one-woman show Who Hijacked My Fairy Tale in theaters, and it is being booked all over the country. In July of 2022, she was inducted into the National Speakers Association Speaker Hall of Fame.
Note: Articles by Kelly may contain affiliate links and may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on an affiliate link.
