By Vaibhav Vadera, Toastmasters International
At a motivational and educational speech delivered to GCSE students in the West Midlands, one of the stories told by the speaker involved a childhood friend, who had a different perspective on life. This friend lived life on his own terms and went on to play guitar for one of the biggest punk rock bands of the 1980s. It was a motivating story of grit and determination, except for the fact that the audience were completely unaware of this band. The speaker was met with blank stares. Whispers of “who” and “what band is this” swept over the audience. The young audience had never heard of this band.
It became quite clear that although the speaker was highly skilled at his job, his stories weren’t tailored for the specific audience.
A quick search on Google yields endless pages of why humans love stories and scientific evidence that shows your audience is more likely to retain factual information if it is presented with a story. A great story can make you laugh and even cry. It can be so exciting that you want to tell your friends the same story over and over again. Stories can be riveting. You don’t need me to tell you that. However, when you are a speaking to an audience, it is crucial to pick the right story for the right audience. Otherwise, the audience will switch off if they struggle to relate.
So here are four tip to help decide which stories to tell.
- Build your story gallery
Before you start delivering your story, it is important to have a curated gallery of stories that you can choose from. Here’s one way to do this. Pick an emotion. Let’s take joy, for example. Take a moment to think about the most recent time you felt a sense of joy. Then write this memory down. Include everything that happened before you felt that joy, and everything that happened after you experienced that feeling. (It may help to ask Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?)
Guess what? You now have a relatable story about joy.
Next, practice telling this story. Record yourself and see if you can deliver it in a more engaging way. Then think of another time you felt joy and build another story. Repeat the same activity with different emotions both positive and negative. By the end you will have a few go to stories that illicit different emotions.
Once you have a gallery of stories, you can pick and choose different stories to include as part of your next speech. This will give you the option of altering the story for different audiences if you are planning on delivering the story on more than one occasion
- Put yourself in the audience’s shoes
Now that you have a gallery of stories, you can start thinking about your audience. Consider who is in your audience and their values, interests and challenges. Try to really empathise with how they may be feeling. This will help you to decide what story best fits them. Notice how I said “them” and not “me”?
Think about why should they listen to you? What is in it for them?
When you empathise with their struggles and challenges, they will want to hear more from you. One story may work for one particular type of audience, but may have a different impact on a different audience.
For example, when I am speaking to an audience of men, I am going to tell raw, personal childhood and adulthood stories to show that is it acceptable to display emotions as a man. However, when I am talking to business leaders, my stories are going to be geared around overcoming hardship and being resilient despite facing uncertainty.
- If all else fails, mix it up
If you are still struggling with finding the right story that will have a lasting impact on the audience, then try mixing existing stories up. Try telling the story in a different way, perhaps from a different perspective or with a different narrative structure. Let’s take for example the classic children’s nursery rhyme ‘Humpty Dumpty’. Here is the original:
Humpty Dumpty sat on the Wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All of the king’s horse and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again
Now what if we took the same classic story and retold it from the viewpoint one of the King’s men. It might look something like this.
I saw Humpty sitting on his own
Suddenly he fell and we heard a big groan
My friends tried to help him, he looked battered and blue
We tried and tried, but there wasn’t much else we could do.
And if it was told from Humpty’s perspective.
I needed a break, it was a hot day
I sat on the wall, but my leg gave way
A crowd gathered to see what they could do
Sadly I have a broken leg, and a bruised ego too.
Although this example uses a nursery rhyme, the point is still valid. You can tell the same story in different ways. Don’t assume you are stuck with delivering your information in the same way. Mix it up, try a different angle. You may well be surprised by the results.
- Trial and error
You might not know the right story to tell straight away. You might not deliver it with the impact that you had originally intended. You might struggle to get started with a story gallery. That’s all ok! Don’t be hard on yourself.
Sometimes, it is a process of trial and error to find just the right story or combination of stories. You can practice with recording yourself in front of a camera or in front of friends. You probably will have moments when the audience might not understand a joke or a reference and that is completely fine. Just pause, compose yourself and carry on. You will get there eventually. Over time you’ll be recognised for your great speeches and your storytelling.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vaibhav Vadera is a member of Toastmasters International, a not-for-profit organisation that has provided communication and leadership skills since 1924 through a worldwide network of clubs. There are more than 400 clubs and 10,000 members in the UK and Ireland. Members follow a structured educational programme to gain skills and confidence in public and impromptu speaking, chairing meetings and time management. To find your nearest club, visit www.toastmasters.org