5 Targets For Successful #CorporateStorytelling
Five key success targets differentiate a winning speaker from a forgettable message: Passion. Change. Engagement. Success. Retention. Anyone can stand up in front of others to lead a meeting, guide a session, or deliver a keynote, but these five factors will turn any average appointment into a winning, memorable engagement.
1. Why are you passionate about your topic, and about sharing it with others?
Our passion inspires passion in our audience. And our apathy receives apathy in return. Speakers who demonstrate low energy or seem bored by their own story lack connection, lose listener interest, and are quickly forgotten. To get listeners involved and invested in our message they first have to see how much we care about it and about their success thanks to hearing it. Get excited about the information you’re there to share.
2. What's unique, compelling, and change-driven in Your message?
The purpose of every great engagement is to create positive, meaningful change. If nothing changes, what was the point? When our audience thinks, ‘Yup, been there, done that.’ we've lost the message plot. Our best content presents a better approach, an intriguing new process, or an inspiring path to a brighter tomorrow that our lister connects with, latches onto, and begins getting excited to achieve as we’re speaking.
3. How wILL YOU engage Your listeners and involve them in Your story?
No one wants to be lectured. Our favorite university and high school courses were those that constantly engaged us in the lesson and valued our participation through dynamic conversation. Rather than talk at our audience, we want to connect with them; This means asking questions, getting feedback, encouraging their questions, and learning about one another throughout a shared meeting, session, or keynote experience.
4. Which specific success goals CAN YOU PROMISE THAT Your audience WILL achieve?
Our best story is developed and delivered with a clear vision of the listeners' next great achievement/s. If we don't know the precise intent of our own words, our audience will be confused by what those words are trying to accomplish. Keep value goals for the listener crystal clear and within reach. When we aim for their personal and/or professional goals, our value as a speaker grows exponentially.
5. How will you be memorable, create impact, and extend your talk into new relationships?
The point of our message is not just to be heard, but to be trusted, remembered, and acted on. Being memorable is a result of balancing information with information in equal and accessible measures. A great speech lands, then lasts, leading to new relationships and opportunities that live on long beyond any single engagement for days, months, even years.
