Stories are to speakers, what colour is to an artist.

How spiritual speakers can craft a compelling talk (technique 2/5)

How did you learn when it’s not ok to criticize someone?

Did your parents say, ‘Don’t criticize others for something you yourself are doing.’?

Or did they say, ‘People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.’

Or, ‘That’s the pot calling the kettle black.’?

Have you ever heard the expression ‘sour grapes’?

It originated from a story about a fox who couldn’t reach a bunch of grapes in a vineyard, so out of embarrassment, frustration, hurt pride, and spite, he declared that he didn’t want them anyway because they were sour.

This story has an unbroken chain of custody that can be traced around the world, in both written and oral tradition, for over 2000 years!

‘He’s spiteful because he can’t reach his goal, so now he’s pretending he never wanted it anyway,’ doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, does it?

That’s the power of story.

Long before we were able to learn maths, physics, and other kinds of abstract knowledge, we learned through story.

We learned where the best berries were, where dangers lay, and why we should listen to elder caregivers and protectors.

Stories were a way of encoding meaning and instruction by reconstructing a past event. They were a way of sharing knowledge with tribe members who weren’t physically present for a given occurrence, but who could benefit from the experience.

Stories speak to an ancient, instinctive and vivid part of our minds. What we learn through story goes in much deeper, and much more clearly, than what we learn in the abstraction, or by direct command or instruction.

For spiritual speakers, then, getting good at telling stories is vitally important, if we want to educate, and entertain our audiences, and move them into action.

Think about the stories that have stuck with you - the movies, books, jokes, and aphorisms that still make you smile. What was it about them that burned them into your mind?

Take mediumship, for example, its entire purpose is to tell the story of the communicator. A story which is laden with emotion, meaning, detail and evidence. These are often considered the most compelling messages.

Stories also help spiritual speakers take an abstract, theoretical concept - like the stages of the spirit world, or a 7-step system for manifesting your dreams - and make it concrete.

This is the purpose of amazing case studies and stories from the other side. They reach us in ways that theory can’t touch.

The story of how I manifested a book deal with Hay House by being cheeky and sassy to David Hamilton PhD, is one of the stories people tell me has stuck with them. It comes back to them when they need a boost in the process of manifesting their own dreams. Such is the power of story.

Often, spiritual speakers are speaking in the context of their business. They have a product or a service to sell, and part of why they’re speaking is to invite the audience to buy something or to work with them further.

This is where testimonials come in. A good testimonial - a good ‘rags to riches’ story from someone whose life was transformed by your services - will do more to captivate your audience than your theory, or even a discount (!) ever will.

There is both an art, and a process, to telling a good story. In their incredible book Made to Stick, brothers Chip and Dan Heath spent years studying what makes ideas stick in the minds of readers and / or audiences. They came up with this:

S - SIMPLE. A great story focuses on a simple, compelling idea.

U - UNEXPECTED. A great story somehow subverts the audience’s expectations and has a twist in the tale.

C - CONCRETE. A good story is rich in vivid detail. The speaker must show, rather than tell, the narrative, with vivid details and images.

C - CREDIBLE. The audience must ‘buy’ the story. It cannot disrupt their expectations too much by seeming too unlikely, or too convoluted.

E - EMOTIONAL. People understand and remember stories that move them emotionally.

S - STORY. To take a good idea and make it great, always aim to present it in a story.

If you are a spiritual speaker or writer, I highly recommend you get a copy of Made to Stick and read it cover to cover. Then go back through it, and make notes.

I did, and it totally changed my life and business. The advice in this book is responsible for how I grew my Facebook to 51,000 fans in 2 months, how I fill my courses and coaching programs, and how I get booked to speak on stages and podcasts. This book will take your good, unique ideas, and show you how to transform them into breathtaking narratives that stick in the minds of your audience.

When designing a story to include in your talk, it’s best to work backwards, starting with your desired result. Answer the following questions to help you with this.

• Q1: What action do you want your audience to ultimately take at the end of your talk (ie. book you for a reading, buy your course, sign up for coaching, buy your book, recommend your event to their friends)?

• Q2: What one idea do you want your audience to understand to help them make this decision (ie. your approach is different / better than others, your approach will improve their lives in the following way…, previous clients have accomplished this one specific thing, here’s how it happened to me and what I did about it etc.)?

• Q3: What story could you tell - real or fictional, moral or case study, about you or someone else, that neatly makes this one single point?

• Q4: What aspect of the story will surprise your audience or meaningfully subvert their expectations?

• Q5: How is the set, setting, protagonist, or moral of your story reflective of the audience’s desires, fears, problems, or life experience?

• Q6: Where in your story could you add more vivid detail to help the narrative come alive. How could you engage the audience’s senses?

• Q7: What is the emotional core of your story? Is it a rags-to-riches story? A story of redemption? Bravery? Adversity? Humour? Awe?

• Q8: What do you want your audience to ultimately take away from the story? What’s the point?

Spiritual speakers - have a crack at these questions. See if you can craft a story that checks the boxes of a sticky, compelling idea.

When you hit upon a good story, it becomes the heart of your talk, and you can use it on stages, in seminars, and on podcasts and interviews, to help your audience get to know, like and trust you. And to help them understand what you do and what you stand for.

The quality of your stories might just be the difference between ten sales or none, ten speaking gigs or none, ten podcast appearances or none. The stories you tell are truly that important!

Email me or leave me a comment below if you have a question or comment about the power of storytelling.

Ps. Soon I’ll be announcing a small number of 1:1 coaching spots for spiritual speakers. You will be able to choose from the following topics:

• Crafting and filling a transformational seminar that changes lives and sells your services.

• How to get booked (and paid) to speak on big stages.

• How to be an exquisite podcast guest and get booked to speak on huge podcasts you admire.

You will be able to choose from a 3-hour intensive, or a full-day 8-hour intensive.

Applications will open in my next post. Look out for the link!

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