Are you overloading your stories?
When crafting your stories, do you know the answer to these questions:
How much material should you include?
How much is too much?
Excessย information is a common problem in business storytelling. That’
s because audience attention spans are shorter than ever. Too much detail is like overloading a truck; it slows down your process, and puts you at risk of losing progress.
As a result, itโs imperative that you grab their attention as fast as possible.
Once you do that, you need to keep their interest until the end of your story. That is, if you want them to take action on your message.
The first step to opening your stories
Create an opening which establishes the scene, but doesnโt get bogged down in details. For example:
โThe night I met Patti, I was attending a Chamber holiday party.ย It was aย festive atmosphere;ย people wereย talking excitedly, and you couldย feel the joyย ofย old friends re-connecting. I was standing by the dessert table, taking in the sweet scents of cake, pastries and cookies. It was so strong I could almost taste them.
‘While I was enjoying the moment, I noticed a womanย quickly walking toward me, almost running.ย She wore a beautiful tailored business suit, hadย nicelyย cut hair, and jewelry that sparkled from the lights above. Not gaudy or ostentatious. This was a woman of means.
‘But, the expression on her face betrayed her appearance. She walked up and said, โMichael, i understand youโre a speech coach!โ
‘After glancing at her name tag, I said, โYes, Patti, I am. Can I help you?โ
‘She said, โI hope so! Iโve done somethingย reallyย stupidโฆโฆโ
One minute to captureย interest in your stories
In 140 words, the scene hasย been established. The main characterย is introduced. Your senses haveย been engaged. In one minute, the listenerย is drawnย in, and they’re curious about what is coming next.
The key to this opening is that youโre immediately intrigued and interested. This is a commonly-usedย technique in Hollywood.
Long, drawn-out openings will lose audience interest and attention. Most speakers donโt understand this. They believe they have to over-explain their scenes. They want theย listener to understand everything before introducing theย action scenes.
This information may be interesting, but doesnโt add to the emotional connection of the scene. If you offer excess information, youโllย probablyย bore the audience.
Is there a “right” amount of details?
No. But a common number that works best isย three. This number is commonย in speaking. That’s because it creates a rhythm that feels comfortable to the audience.
There are three examples in the story above:
“It was aย festive atmosphere;ย people wereย talking excitedly, and you couldย feel the joyย ofย old friendsย re-connecting.”
“I was standing by the dessert table, taking in the sweet scents ofย cake, pastriesย andย cookies. It was so strong I could almost taste them.”
“While I was enjoying the moment, I noticed a woman quickly approaching me.ย She wore aย beautiful tailored business suit, hadย nicelyย cut hair, andย jewelry that sparkledย from the lights above.”
Notice the natural flow of the narrative to describe the scene. Three details for each part of the scene isย typicallyย enough.
Want to capture the attention of your audience, and keep their interest?ย
Quicklyย describe your scene, and get to the introduction of your key characters.
Use the tips provided here, and youโre well on your way to accomplishing this.
RECOMMENDED RESOURCE
Sell More With Stories: How to Create Interest in 60ย 
Seconds
For many salespeople, one of the biggest challenges is quickly attracting new clients
Why?
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If youโd like to double, or even triple, your number of new clients, then the new Kindle series ‘Sell More With Stories‘ is for you. In the first book of the series –ย How to Create Interest in 60 Secondsย – youโll pick up tools that help you:
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– Enjoy the process of attracting new business
– Work only with people you want to
– Feel more confidence and satisfaction in your work
To gain these benefits, invest in Book 1 of the ‘Sell More With Stories‘ series:ย How to Create Interest in 60 Seconds.ย Visit:ย http://amzn.to/2kPzJXg
s because audience attention spans are shorter than ever. Too much detail is like overloading a truck; it slows down your process, and puts you at risk of losing progress.
Seconds
Michaelโs mission is to help leaders, managers and sales professionals communicate with more confidence, impact, and influence. This passion is born from his own communication difficulties early in his career.
Fortunately, he discovered that public speaking is like riding a bike, swimming or driving a car - itโs a learnable skill. Once he discovered this โsecretโ he became a voracious student of the craft. He took courses, studied some of the worldโs best speakers and storytellers and continues to study presentation and business storytelling skills.
He is hired by companies and organizations, leaders, managers and sales professionals, and TEDx speakers to help them become more confident, impactful and influential communicators.
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