How to Create Stories Like Hollywood

Aug 5, 2018 | Public Speaking Tips, Sell with a Story, Speech Writing, Stand OUT! Speaking Tip, Tell a Story, Make Your Point, Write a Meaningful & Memorable Message | 0 comments

How to Tell Stories That Create an Instant Bond

Michael Hauge is a long-time screenwriting and story consultant in Hollywood. Each month, I have the privilege of co-hosting a webinar with Michael. We teach storytelling skills to speakers.

Actually, Michael teaches the skills. I add an occasional comment and listen to his wisdom. For the next six weeks, you’ll pick up his process. You’ll gain insight into crafting stories with the same impact of Hollywood blockbusters.

Why Tell Stories?

Michael’s biggest takeaway is that there is one purpose to telling stories – to create emotion. If you don’t do this, people will quickly tune out.

How do you do this?

Start with showing the everyday life of your main character – the hero of your story. As Michael says…

“The opening 10% of your stories must draw the audience into the initial setting. It must reveal the everyday life your hero has been living. And it must establish identification with your hero. This means making her sympathetic, threatened, likable, funny and/or powerful.”

The purpose of this is to make the character relatable. It’s easier to create a bond with a hero if that person is like the audience.

My Story of Wanting to Drive a Race Car

In my story ‘Full Throttle’ I open with an experience I had with my Dad when I was 10. He took me to the Indianapolis 500 auto race. I loved it so much it created a lifelong affection for the event.

My ‘everyday’ life experience, in this case, is an annual trip with friends to attend the race. This is relatable because many people have some type of annual ritual with friends or family. It could be a favorite vacation place, a sporting event, or ‘boys/girls weekend.’

Another Connecting Aspect of Your Stories

There’s one more aspect of this story the audience can relate to. Every year I attended the race, I had one question:

“What would it be like to drive one of those cars that fast?”

That question never left me, and I always fantasized about driving an Indy car.

How is this relatable to the audience?

Because everyone has secret desires! It could be a fantasy vacation place, an athletic achievement, or the ideal job. The shared experience in this part of my story is the unfulfilled dream.

In just a few lines, I have a connection with the audience. Not because of the specific details of the story – an auto race or driving a car fast. It’s the underlying aspect of those details – an experience with a loved one and a long-held dream.

Use Openings in Your Stories to Quickly Connect

There is a key aspect to Michael’s first step – create a fast bond with your audience. In the first 10% of your stories, share common experiences. You’re then ready for the second part of Michael’s process.

What is that?

You’ll have to wait until next week to discover that secret.

Do you see what I did there, I employed yet another storytelling tool – create curiosity.

See you next week…..

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How to Create Stories Like Hollywood ultima modifica: 2018-08-05T09:13:40-04:00 da Michael Davis

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"Michael transformed our everyday managers into conference presenters by coaching them and by challenging the traditional methods they were using to present. The outcome was phenomenal.

Our conference was elevated to a new level of professionalism. Michael will be retained to help make our trainers become better communicators, both visually and verbally and to assist us with next year’s conference. We highly recommend him and Speaking CPR to assist with your next event."

Robert Gerbus, President, Trans Ash, Inc.

Speaking CPR

2018-05-10T09:44:06-04:00

Robert Gerbus, President, Trans Ash, Inc.

"Michael transformed our everyday managers into conference presenters by coaching them and by challenging the traditional methods they were using to present. The outcome was phenomenal. Our conference was elevated to a new level of professionalism. Michael will be retained to help make our trainers become better communicators, both visually and verbally and to assist us with next year’s conference. We highly recommend him and Speaking CPR to assist with your next event."

https://speakingcpr.com/testimonials/robert-gerbus/

“As a former Green Beret and professional storyteller, I give dozens of speeches every year. I am very selective about who trains me.

Michael Davis exceeded every expectation and was one of the best coaches I ever worked with. His quiet professionalism, and unsurpassed knowledge of storytelling helped make my Ted X Cincinnati talk extremely powerful.
I would recommend Michael, as a story and speaking coach to anyone with a high stakes talk to give. Michael will help you take your speech from good to great!”

LTC (Ret.) Scott Mann, Green Beret, Storyteller, Trainer, Coach, Author

Speaking CPR

2018-05-10T09:45:38-04:00

LTC (Ret.) Scott Mann, Green Beret, Storyteller, Trainer, Coach, Author

“As a former Green Beret and professional storyteller, I give dozens of speeches every year. I am very selective about who trains me. Michael Davis exceeded every expectation and was one of the best coaches I ever worked with. His quiet professionalism, and unsurpassed knowledge of storytelling helped make my Ted X Cincinnati talk extremely powerful. I would recommend Michael, as a story and speaking coach to anyone with a high stakes talk to give. Michael will help you take your speech from good to great!”

https://speakingcpr.com/testimonials/ltc-ret-scott-mann/

“We are privileged to have Michael Davis of Speaking CPR as one of the Speaker Coaches for our TED x Cincinnati event. I had the opportunity to be on several of the calls with Michael as he worked his craft with his speakers. I was impressed with how genuine, exuberant, and in touch he was with each speaker.

He truly has a gift in connecting with the heart of each person he works with and helping them to unleash their story into their talk. All of the speakers raved about his work with them. Each of them has had broad experience in speaking, but they all felt that working with Michael raised the bar on their ability to speak. You can listen to all of his speakers, Anthony Munoz, Richard Bernstein and Graeme Joffe, at http://www.tedxcincinnati.com/talks/.”

Allison Wonders Gars
Speaker Coach Manager, TED x Cincinnati

Speaking CPR

2018-03-20T17:08:04-04:00

Allison Wonders Gars
Speaker Coach Manager, TED x Cincinnati

“We are privileged to have Michael Davis of Speaking CPR as one of the Speaker Coaches for our TED x Cincinnati event. I had the opportunity to be on several of the calls with Michael as he worked his craft with his speakers. I was impressed with how genuine, exuberant, and in touch he was with each speaker. He truly has a gift in connecting with the heart of each person he works with and helping them to unleash their story into their talk. All of the speakers raved about his work with them. Each of them has had broad experience in speaking, but they all felt that working with Michael raised the bar on their ability to speak. You can listen to all of his speakers, Anthony Munoz, Richard Bernstein and Graeme Joffe, at http://www.tedxcincinnati.com/talks/.”

https://speakingcpr.com/testimonials/allison-wonders-gars/

“Investing in Michael is one of the best investments I have ever made. I speak on the subject of diversity in the workplace, which can at times be a difficult topic to discuss.

Michael taught me a repeatable process that allows me to create a foundational concept, a logical structure, an opening that grabs the audience’s attention, and a conclusion that encourages my audience to take action that will save them time and money.

I found Michael easy to work with, flexible with his schedule, and a wealth of information about the art of speaking. If you need to improve your presentation or speech, I highly recommend you consider hiring Michael. It is one of the best investments you can make in your own growth.”

Natalie Holder
Founder, QUEST Diversity

Speaking CPR

2018-03-20T17:33:18-04:00

Natalie Holder
Founder, QUEST Diversity

“Investing in Michael is one of the best investments I have ever made. I speak on the subject of diversity in the workplace, which can at times be a difficult topic to discuss. Michael taught me a repeatable process that allows me to create a foundational concept, a logical structure, an opening that grabs the audience’s attention, and a conclusion that encourages my audience to take action that will save them time and money. I found Michael easy to work with, flexible with his schedule, and a wealth of information about the art of speaking. If you need to improve your presentation or speech, I highly recommend you consider hiring Michael. It is one of the best investments you can make in your own growth.”

https://speakingcpr.com/testimonials/natalie-holder/

Speaking CPR