“To be a person is to have a story to tell.” ~Isaac Dennison
Storytelling is one of the most important tools of persuasion. From a very early age, we’re naturally wired to hear stories. It’s not only a way to communicate but to incorporate into business.
If you told nothing but stories–no pitch, no features or benefits–just stories, you could be very successful in business.
When you tell a story, it puts your listener–your prospect or client–into a receptive state where they accept with ease what you’re telling them. They bypass the resistance that has been built up in our cynical times. And when you can touch the heart of a prospect, it makes them feel important. These feelings can be tapped into with stories.
In order to persuade people, you need to have the faith and belief of your prospects. Facts do not accomplish this rapport.
Today most people have highly attuned B.S. detectors as a result of being confronted with a constant barrage of messages and requests. People don’t like to feel they’re being persuaded or sold, but when you use stories to get your message across, this gives your potential client the ability to make up their own mind in the way you want them to.
The two main questions your prospect will need answered before trust and rapport are established is who are you and why are you here. Once these are answered, trust can begin.
When you’re talking to an affluent prospect they are not going to automatically trust you. Who are you? Why are you there?
This is a powerful strategy and when storytelling is combined with other physical and verbal rapport strategies that I teach in The Persuasion Factor and in my Elite Coaching Club.
If you feel like you need more support, you can wait to read all of my future articles in the coming months or you can get on the fast track by starting with my Persuasion Factor program.
Your stories, when told well, suck people in and mesmerize them. As opposed to a direct authoritarian model of communication (teachers, lecturers, experts), storytelling is an indirect permissive form of communication.
What’s your story? Are you from humble beginnings? Have you overcome adversity? Did you beat the odds in some facet of your life? Is your story a fairy tale?
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