Note to our readers: The last issue of the Ezine had a misprinted article. The article below is what should have appeared in the February 27th edition. Our apologies for any confusion!
When you’re speaking for the purpose of sales, your rag-to-riches story is central to your presentation. Again, this is the tale of how you got to where you are today.
If you present your story honestly, with real emotion, you not only create a connection with your audience that greatly increases sales, but you help them understand what you’re teaching in a deeper, fuller way.
Here’s how that works:
By this point in your presentation, you’ve done Steps 1-5. You’ve grabbed the audience’s attention, told them what you’re going to do and laid down the ground rules, established your credibility with testimonials and case studies, and transitioned to your story. Now, it’s time to tell it.
Typically, in a 90-minute presentation, I will spend about 20 minutes telling my story, which is about being sucked through a dam.
When I tell that story emotionally, I condition the audience to be emotional about it too.
Then I move on to the topic I’m teaching, but I return to my story to drive home the main points.
When I do that, I actually re-elicit the emotions the audience felt when they heard my story the first time, and then they become emotionally involved in what I’m teaching as well.
For instance, if I’m talking about changing beliefs in the subconscious mind, I might say, “Before I got sucked through the dam, I was a very angry person. My subconscious mind was in total control of my life. I was reacting to my environment all day long.”
Remember, people listen with their ears, but they hear with their emotions. So they’re not just casually listening to me, they’re really hearing me. Thus, instead of the subconscious being a dry topic, their emotions are involved in their learning, and they’re understanding the subconscious like never before.
I’ve been testing this for years, and get emails all the time from people telling me that they knew parts of what I was teaching, but because of the way I explained the material, it was completely fresh, as though they were hearing it for the first time.
And students who thought the subconscious was too complex or difficult to understand, finally “get it.” They come to me really empowered by the possibility of applying that understanding in their lives.
For the teacher and the student, that’s exciting.
And do you think that translates into sales? You bet it does.
When you skillfully weave your story into your teaching, you give your audience a huge gift that can transform their lives.
In their minds, they’re already lining up in the back of the room.
And that’s exactly what you want your audience to be thinking as you transition to the close.
