The Three Key Ingredients of a Memorable Personal Brand Story: Character, Conflict, Conclusion

Our brains are hard-wired to remember a good story.?

The average attention span of an adult today is between 7 and 12 seconds, which puts the pressure on us to captivate and hook our audience from the get-go.?

Before written language, lessons were passed down through storytelling. Neuroscience has since shown that when we hear stories, neurons in our brains are activated. These are triggers that help us remember the information we’re receiving.

But there is definitely a skill to telling a good story.?

A well-constructed story is compelling. It involves character development, conflict, and resolution – it’s what gets your clients enthused to lean in and purchase your service. Our brains release a neurochemical, oxytocin, that tells us it’s “safe to approach.”?

What Zac’s research found was that to motivate a desire in the brain, the story must sustain attention. To do this, you need to develop tension, or conflict, in the narrative – what is the character going through that elicits empathy from your audience? If you can capture this, your audience will share the emotions of the character – that’s you! When the story ends, they’re likely to mimic the feelings and behaviors of the character.?

In entrepreneurial terms: The tension you create in the narrative and the resolution is the behavior that your audience will want to mimic. You’re the character in your story. Your audience shares your narrative and wants what you have. If you’ve done your job creating a strong tension-grabbing narrative, your audience will use that to follow through.?

Now all powerful and memorable personal brand stories have a few key ingredients that help bring a story to life. I call these ingredients the 3 c’s.

The First C, is Character. When creating your Personal Brand story this element is easy as the Character is YOU. At the beginning of your story, you’ll want to introduce who you are and provide the background details that set the narrative for where you were before your conflict event happened. What were you doing leading up to the single major event that sparked the creation of your current business?

The 2nd C is Conflict. To create interest and intrigue it requires some build up of suspense...people don’t relate to butterflies and rainbows. This is where you’ll need to get personal. You need to be vulnerable and share the difficult experience that ultimately was your breakthrough moment. This conflict should be an experience that your target audience can really relate to. It should leave them saying, “I know what that feels like” or “that’s my struggle now!”???

And the 3rd key component is the Conclusion. The most powerful endings clearly state the result of your conflict and reveal the a-ha moment, the breakthrough, the change in perspective, or revelation that led you to your current mission and business venture.?

This is where you share what you’ve learned from your struggle, how you solved the problem, and how you are now equipped to help others overcome and achieve positive results, too.?

Now, remember, the purpose of your personal brand story isn’t to be overly promotional?- the goal is to tie your experience back to the pain points of the audience and reveal how you could be the solution.?

And the same is true for employees. Follow all the same principles of storytelling to connect with your ideal connection and network. When you’re branding yourself, your audience is whom you want to show up for and connect with in the world. Remember, you’re never going to be “the one” for everyone.?

Once you have your story, showcase that on social using multiple formats. For example, use reels on Instagram or create a short video to post to YouTube, LinkedIn, and on your website. If no one hears your story, it’s the same as not having one.

When your audience can relate to and learn from you — a real person — you become more memorable and trusted. And your audience will become more interested in getting to know and working with you!

If you found this helpful, I am happy to tell you I have many more personal branding tips, tricks, and frameworks to explore. If you want a deeper dive into building a personal brand that will catapult your success, check out my Globally Rated TOP performing LinkedIn Learning Course,?Learning Personal Branding.?

Wishing you the absolute best in your personal branding journey,?

Chelsea?