The 5 C's of Story Telling

A great speech that is memorable and impactful almost always has a great story. Stories, also know as anecdotes, add the element of entertainment to the speech. If you look at the Bible, it's a book that is filled with stories that teach lessons. 

Unfortunately, a great story explained in the wrong way loses it's meaning and can even confuse and cause the audience to disconnect. The goal of a good story is to help you lead to a point or explanation indirectly. 

In this weeks top 5 speaking tips, I'll be sharing the World Class Public Speaking secrets of great storytelling. Here they are...

1. Characters. When you have different characters, it allows you to create the dialog between them. The heart of the presentation is a story; the heart of the story is dialog. 
2. Conflict. Creating conflict allows for the building of suspense in your story. The conflict eventually reaches a breaking point where the cure (solution to the problem) is revealed.
3. Cure. The cure is the turning point for the main character. It’s the moment in the story where the solution to the conflict is revealed. The cure can happen in many different ways. One of my personal favorites is the process approach to problem-solving. In one of my speeches, I used the following process: (i) set a vision, (ii) create a strategy and (iii) develop a culture.
4. Change. The implementation of the cure. The character in the story realizes that they have to do something different in order to reach a different result. 
5. Close. Close is the most important part of the story as it gives the characters and the audience closure. Close is also the opportunity to reiterate the main message in case there was any confusion on what it should have been. It's also a great place to include a call to action. 

 Weekly Exercise: Think back to a time or situation in your life that was monumental to you. Use the structure above to put that experience into a story format. Here's a quick example of how you can create a quick outline of your story.

Characters: Me and my team.

Conflict: Me telling the team that their jobs are being outsourced.

Cure: The process to get through the change.

Change: Implementing the cure, set a vision, create a strategy and develop a culture.

Close: Servant leadership is the key to motivating a team through a challenging time.

Thank you for checking out this week’s top 5 speaking tips.

If you feel like this could help a friend please don't hesitate to like and share.

To learn more about John Ribeiro visit www.zero2hired.com.