Contents

1. Where to find your story in your life ........................................................................................................ 2

2. How to concise a story in 1-2mins ............................................................................................................ 2
3. Uncover humor into your story ................................................................................................................ 2
4. How to hook audience into your speech .................................................................................................. 2
Check deadly mistakes for new materials .................................................................................................... 3
5. Check re-living room of your story............................................................................................................ 5
Mix dialog and narration........................................................................................................................... 5
Put your audience members somewhere in your scene .......................................................................... 5
Check VAKS ............................................................................................................................................... 5
Give your characters a hint ....................................................................................................................... 6
6. How to practice your new materials ......................................................................................................... 7
7. Refine your story. ...................................................................................................................................... 7
8. 7 Storytelling Reminders ........................................................................................................................... 8

Process to make a great story

1. Where to find your story in your life

2. How to concise a story in 1-2mins
3. Uncover humor into your story
+ Tools to uncover humor

4. How to hook audience into your speech

+ Tools to hook audience
+ Tools to bring great stories together

Check deadly mistakes for new materials

Mistake #1: They dont tap before they transport. Before you transport an audience into
your story (your world), its helpful to tap into their world with a question or statement that is
related to them.
Mistake #2: They dont mix narration with dialogue. So often I see speakers use almost
all narration or almost all dialogue. If you use all narration, you create a news report. If you
use all dialogue, you create a stage-play. Both are deadly when it comes to speaking. The
key is to use narration to set up the dialogue.
Mistake #3: They dont use reactions between the dialogue. It is often the look before
and after the line that makes the line work. Unfortunately, many speakers are in such a hurry
to get to the next line in their speech that they neglect to squeeze maximum benefit out of the
line they just gave. When you deliver a line and then show the other characters reaction to
that line, it helps the audience SEE your story and feel the emotion.
Mistake #4: They dont establish conflict earlier enough. Conflict is the hook to your
story. The quicker you get to it, the quicker you grab your audiences interest.
Mistake #5: They dont get to the story fast enough. Many speakers do what I call Preramble. They use too much set up before getting into their story. The story is the energizer
for the speech. Get to it as fast as you can. A long set-up leads to a quick let down.
Mistake #6: They dont hint to the results their audience will receive. At the very
beginning, if your audience members cannot sense whats in it for them to experience your
story, many of them simply will not come along. I see too many speakers giving verbal
autobiographies that leave the audience members thinking, What in the world does this have
to do with me?
Mistake #7: They dont make their characters real with relevant hints. If we cannot see
and sense a character, then that character is not real to us. Give hints to what a character
looks like and hints to any relevant characteristics. The more real the character is to us, the
more we can identify with the character, relate to the story, and connect with the message.
Mistake #8: They dont escalate the conflict. Establishing the conflict early in a story
creates a nice hook. However, to maximize that conflict, its important to escalate the conflict
to the point where something has to give. When you do this, you hook the audience so
effectively that they thirst to know the tool you used to overcome the conflict. After all,
perhaps they can use that tool too.
Mistake #9: They know it all. When you lift yourself up, you let your audience down. Too
many speakers tell stories where they are the one who came up with the solution to the
conflict. The key is to make sure you give credit to others who passed on wisdom (or
solutions) to you that you are simply passing on to us (the audience). As a result, we

audience members wont see you as being special but as being similar to us. Thats exactly
how you want to be viewed.
Mistake #10: They dont show the change after the cure. Once you share the Cure to the
Conflict, its absolutely essential to show how the character changed as a result of the Cure.
If there is no emotional change in the character, then there is no story. If you take use
through the problem, take us through the payoff. The payoff is what gets the audience
members 80% across the bridge in terms of buying into your message.
Mistake #11: They dont call back to the person who made the difference. They make
themselves the Guru. When you get to the end of your story and repeat your message (your
Foundational Phrase), its a good idea to call back to the person (the Guru) who taught you
the lesson. This helps us remember that you are not the know-it-all, rather you are a similar
person to us who received a solution that you are now sharing. Calling back is a small
change that makes a huge difference to your likeability.
Mistake #12: They speak like they write. Because so many speakers begin by writing their
speeches, they tend to speak like they write. My strong suggestion is to speak like you talk,
not like you write. You should not use words in your speeches that you do not use in
everyday life. Why? Because theyll make you seem inauthentic. When you speak like you
talk, we get to see the real you.
Mistake #13: They dont milk the moment. After I gave my assistants line, Its because
youre black, what happened? My audience started to laugh. So what did I do? I milked the
laughter. Instead of simply going to the next line in my story, I stayed in that moment and
looked at my hands and then felt the skin on my face while looking around as if to ask, Wow,
Im black? My audience laughed more. Dont rush; resonate.
Mistake #14: They dont make the message/or message universal. Its something that
everyone can use it. Example: Raise your hand if youve ever felt too something to
someone. Every hand goes up. Then I ask, What was it? Ive heard answers likeIve felt
too fatToo seriousToo white Too gay Too standoffish
Mistake #15: They dont shift the energy. If your story is fast and loud, make your point
slow and low. If youre story is low and slow, you might consider making your point in a faster
and more energetic way. Why? Contrast keeps the connection.
When I get to the end of the story and begin to make my point, its not enough to shift from an
I-focused story to a you-focused message. I must also shift from the energy of the story to
the energy of the point.
The energy is different for each. For example, I take a breath and bring it down before I
say, I had a professor named Dr. C. who always used to say, Youre always too something
to someone.Later on (not included on the audio here) I bring it down even more when I
say, Since youre always too something to someone, whats the solution? How can you
move forward? [long pause]Be too goodfor it to matter.. Dont rush; resonate.

5. Check re-living room of your story

Mix dialog and narration
You Must Master the Stems:
He looked at me as if to say,
Shes looking at me like,
She glanced back at me like she wanted to say,
Hes looking like she wanted to say,
She goes like,

Put your audience members somewhere in your scene

To bring your audience into a re-living room
Imagine being in my passengers seat as I drove up to the KFC (you are in my
passengers seat)
If you had picked up my phone in the year 2000 you would have heard (you are on my
phone)
You should have been with my wife and me as we took our 6 month old daughter Tori to
the doctors office (you are walking into the doctors office with us)
If you had been walking towards me in the Chicago airport
If you were with me in 2007
If youre sitting beside my friend and me on a sofa
* Important: You do not always have to make bringing them into the scene the first thing you do
in the story. Sometimes I introduce characters and tap into my audience with a question before I
actually bring them into my scene. However, when you put a story together, always ask, Where
in my scene will I place my audience members?
* Another important: Do not keep using the same phrase each time you bring your audience
into your scene.

Check VAKS
Visual question: What could you see in that scene?
Answer: The black sofa.
Auditory Question: What could you hear?

Answer: You could hear my wife. That is why I specifically used the word heard so that I
could reach the auditory learners.
Kinesthetic question: What could you feel?
Answer: My audiences usually say, I could feel the leather. Sometimes they say, I
could feel the love. I usually respond with, Love and leather always go together. LOL.
Smell question: What could you smell in my scene?
Answer: The cookies. In fact, you might even have been able to taste them, which of
course is another sense.
* Important
-

Make sure you set your scene quickly so you do not take away from your story.
Try not to make the VAKS too poetic

Give your characters a hint

Give characters a hint

Example
A petite lady in a pink red came to me, looked me in the eyes and said

Give it in dialog
Example
John, youre positive > hint: hes a positive person
Oh wow, I like the new look. When did you become a blonde? > hint: shes blonde
I saw you in the newspaper. Brother, that is wonderful what you were able to
accomplish. > hint: its your brother

Give it in posture if you can show it, dont say it

Give it the in voice
Example
Russell had his father say to him hey, Russell. Combined with Indians voice and
dialect, you can know his father is Indian and youre right.

* Important: One Caveat Regarding Posture and Voice: Do not go overboard with the posture
or with the voice.
Eg: you dont need to take the child voice. Only use words and expressions in the eyes, body
language speaks laugher than voice.

6. How to practice your new materials

7. Refine your story.

Secret: end the story today.

8. 7 Storytelling Reminders
1. Tap into your audiences world with a question before you transport them into your
world with a story.
2. Dont give the cure before you build the conflict.
3. Too much narration = a report. Too much dialogue = a stage play. The right mix = a
very compelling story.
4. Its not the line, its the look before and after the line that tells the story
5. If we dont see a change in your character, then you dont have a story. Show the
change after the cure.
6. Just give a hint to describe your scenes and characters. People buy into what they help
create so if you go into too much detail, theres nothing left for them to do. Save those
details for your novel.
7. Dont just establish the conflict; escalate it using at least two escalation events).