Is your future worth two minutes?

That’s how long it will take you to the power of your back story to connect you to your prospects without having to sell.

A story can drastically speed up the process of learning who you are, and therefore trust you.

Your story makes you instantly believable.

Instead of having to discover who you are over a long period of time, a story can speed up rapport faster than a cheetah on Red bull.

Stories put people into trance.

Why?

When you were a child as you were read stories, you went into an altered state of mind.

A good story fits neatly into the indirect, permissive model of persuasion not the old-fashioned direct dictatorial model.

A story can drastically speed up the process of learning who you are, and therefore trust you.

Instead of having to discover who you are over a long period of time, a story can speed up rapport faster than a cheetah on Red bull.

A good story fits neatly into the indirect, permissive model of persuasion not the old-fashioned direct dictatorial model.

According to a New York Times and CBS News Poll…

63% believe that in dealing with most people, you can’t be too careful.

37% believe that most people would try to take advantage of you if they had the chance.

It also showed that the people taking the poll believe that of the people they know…

85% would try to be fair. That is, of the people they know.

Use a story to let people know who you are and why you’re here to help them and your trust worthiness skyrockets in seconds.

What you can learn from reading or watching fiction.

Every great work of fiction has a main character (or heroine) that is the focal point of the story.

There is also the villain.

The stronger the villain the better our hero has to be and the better the story.

Both the heroine and the villain have likable character traits.

However, the hero has a lot more and they are structured in such a way that we the reader or viewer can’t help ourselves liking and caring about him or her.

The opposite is true of the villain, we can’t help ourselves not liking him or her.

And so, we have conflict, without which there will be no story worth following.

You must decide who your villain (aka common enemy) is going to be.

It could be your ex-partner in business or in life. It could be the government. Pharmaceutical companies, your bank, your own self-sabotaging behaviour, etc.

What it must be is the same common enemy your reader shares with you otherwise your story won’t work.

Spend some time reflecting on your history and see if you can find a villain both you and your reader have in common.

Next we’ll look at the types of traits that will make people want to get to know, like and trust you.

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Note: You’re doing all of this to do away with the need to sell yourself or your product or service.

The time you spend thinking about this will pay you back immensely.

Character traits.

There are three types of “heroes,” and their corresponding emotions.

The hero is superior to the reader and produces admiration. Although they are not perfect, they’re confident about their skills and act without hesitation.

They have no ambivalence, no self-doubts. We don’t identify with them; we fantasize about being them.

They give us a taste of who we could really be.

The Average Joe is equal to the reader. This results in sympathy because we recognise ourselves in them, and thus identify with them, their desires, and their needs.

These characters struggle to rise above their doubts, limitations, and obstacles.

The Underdog. This character is inferior to the reader.

They are the unlikely hero.

The odds are against them.

There outmatched by antagonistic forces and overwhelmed by them.

We’re inclined to protect, help, or console them as the story progresses.

The Underdog is an appealing protagonist.

He makes us feel free emotions? - compassion for their lack of self-esteem or resources to be successful.

We admire them for their determination to try and overcome their obstacles and take control of their lives.

We hope that they’ll succeed, even though the odds being so stacked up against them - will this person pull it off?

And if so, how?

Pick one of these three as your character before crafting your back story.