Story-Selling Secrets
Tell Me A Story
“In the cold hours of a winter morning Dr. Thomas Barbee Ducker, chief brain surgeon
at the University of Maryland Hospital, rises before dawn. His wife serves him waffles
but no coffee. Coffee makes his hands shake.” 1
You don't know it yet, but that short paragraph reveals some of the most powerful
communication secrets you will ever learn. They can make you money. They can enrich
all of your relationships. They can change your life.
That is the opening paragraph to a short story entitled, “Mrs. Kelly's Monster.” You'll
find it in a book you deserve to own, Jon Franklin”s “Writing For Story.”
Franklin is not a fiction writer. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner for his work in
literary journalism. He specializes in telling true stories dramatically. If you are in a
client or customer based business, you'll watch your profits soar as you master the skill
of dramatic storytelling. I like to call it story-selling.
As children, most of us have asked or begged our parents to “tell me a story.” You may
not have said it lately. The basic human need to hear and experience stories is very much
alive in you and all of us. It is a universal craving.
We watch movies; we laugh and cry with them. We read fiction. We love and respond to
stories in the news, in advertising, in sports, even in our religions. People have gone to
war and died for the stories that express their faith. But that's another story.
Let's discover the story-selling arsenal in Jon Franklin's brilliant opening paragraph. An
arsenal that you can own and use right away to enrich your business.
Curiosity/Mystery
We all love a mystery. We are all hooked by unanswered questions. Franklin arouses our
desire to know why Dr. Ducker rises before dawn. And, why is it important that his
hands don't shake today?
Yes, we can quickly surmise that he will perform brain surgery today. Okay. On whom?
Is it a routine case or a special one? If it's routine, why bother to give us so many
specific details?
Rule: You can arouse curiosity by the things you don't say.
Vivid
Many of us use conceptual language to talk about our products and services. We assume
that our prospective clients and customers will put pictures to our words. Wrong.
Conceptual language is cold. It is head language. It does not give people something to
identify with. Most importantly, it does not arouse emotions. More on this later. For
now, it's key to remember that people make all buying decisions emotionally.
There is no conceptual language in Jon Franklin's opening paragraph. He uses specific
details to immediately paint a picture for us. He makes us see, feel and taste our
introduction to Dr. Ducker. The language of the senses is one of your most powerful
selling tools.
Immediate Engagement
Notice how the author thrusts you into the story. It's a deliberate shock effect. If I push
you into a pool of very cold water, you will pay attention instantly. You will become
present.
There's a term in Neuro-Linguistic Programming called a pattern interrupt. It is used to
change a person's state, often to make them more open and receptive to new
information.
Think about it this way. You have a product or service to sell. You believe in it. You
know how it can benefit the people who buy it from you. And, you can't wait to tell them
everything you know.
You are disappointed and confused when the people who hear your words do not share
your excitement.
Rule: This can be a game-changer. People always have their own stories blaring inside
them. Your information about your awesome product or service is your story. Before you
can introduce it, you must interrupt the other person's story. Let's called that story noise.
You must become skilled at quickly stopping their noise. Then, they will gladly listen to
you.
This is not manipulation. It is a kind intervention. People want to discover new things
that will improve their quality of life. The thing is that daily living weighs them down
with so may preoccupations. When you know how to stop their mind chatter for a short
while, you are actually relieving them.
Not convinced? Okay, when you go to movie, do you want it to bore you or entertain
you? Entertain, of course.
A great movie uses a powerful opening hook that immediately takes you out of your
day-to-day world, your worries, your problems, and thrusts you into the world of the
film. Then, it follows through, keeps you engaged, and allows you to escape your
mundane concerns for two hours or more. You feel enriched by it.
I often say after watching a great film, “That was satisfying.”
If you want to compel people with what you have to offer, begin by listening to them.
Empathize with their world. Then, reflect that world back to them by painting vivid
images of new possibilities they have never seen before.
Learn to compassionately interrupt their noise. You will sell more while you transform
and dramatically improve people's lives.
How does Jon Franklin interrupt your noise in the opening words of “Mrs. Kelly”s
Monster?” He throws you into the middle of an action that has already begun. He doesn't
give you a lengthy backstory about Dr. Ducker. He doesn't introduce his resume.
He drops you into the doctor's home in the wee small hours of the morning. He makes
you a willing voyeur, an eavesdropper.
Then, he wins your full engagement with another powerful storytelling technique. He
pulls you out of the action without resolving anything. Syd Field, a renowned
screenwriting teacher, calls this technique, “In Late – Out Early.” It creates a strong
desire to know more. It's a kind of cliffhanger.
News broadcasters use it all the time to keep you watching their show after a
commercial break.
Practice these strategies in your story-selling, and watch your profits grow.
By taking you out of the scene early, Jon Franklin sets the stage for...
...Conflict
You don't want to create conflict with your prospects. But you do want to create conflict
for them.
Consider this excerpt from Jon Franklin's “Writing for Story.”
"A story consists of a sequence of actions that occur when a sympathetic
character encounters a complicating situation that he confronts and solves." 2
The "complicating situation" is conflict. How important is it? No conflict - no story.
No story - no engagement. No engagement - no connection. No connection NO BUSINESS!
Let's discover exactly how Franklin rivets our attention with vivid detail and intense
conflict.
His first paragraph grabs you and teases you with a strong introduction to Dr. Thomas
Barbee Ducker, a brain surgeon. He piques your curiosity, then snaps you out of the
doctor's world.
He follows with another brilliant maneuver in this second paragraph:
"In downtown Baltimore, on the 12th floor of University Hospital, Edna Kelly's
husband tells her goodbye. For 57 years Mrs. Kelly shared her skull with the
monster. No more. Today she is frightened but determined." 3
Wow! With three sentences, the author involves you in the life of another character, Mrs.
Kelly. And, he fans the flame of your curiosity by bringing a third character to life, the
monster.
The monster is the aneurism in Mrs. Kelly's brain. It's also the story's evil protagonist.
Today, Dr. Ducker will do battle with the monster. Major conflict! Major human drama!
Are you hooked? I am!
Franklin develops his story like a great movie. He paints a picture of a character in one
location. He's vivid and specific. He doesn't tell you too much. Then suddenly, he cuts to
a different scene with another character. Awesome storytelling!
We jump ahead a few paragraphs:
“As Dr. Ducker leaves for work, Mrs. Ducker hands him a paper bag containing
a peanut butter sandwich, a banana and two fig newtons. Downtown, in Mrs.
Kelly's brain, a sedative takes effect." 4
Small, vivid, specific details that all have a purpose the writer will reveal in due
time. A peanut butter sandwich is ordinary. Franklin will put it to extraordinary
use.
Now, let's enter the operating theatre and watch Dr. Ducker at work:
“Patiently, Dr. Ducker separates the aneurism from the surrounding brain tissue.
The tension is electric. No surgeon would dare go after the monster itself until
this swelling killer is defused. Now." 5
Here's a secret. You can read this story over and over and get involved every
time. It doesn't matter that you know the outcome. Oh, that's right, I didn't tell
you the outcome. I will. Soon. Maybe.
The reason you will always get involved is because the outcome is not as
important as the journey, the battle. That's what strikes a chord of our humanity.
Let's get back to the front lines:
"The neurosurgeon stares intently at the veins, surprised, chagrined, betrayed
by the x-rays. The monster. The monster, by microscopic standards, lies far
away, above and back, in the rear of the head. Dr. Ducker was to face the
monster itself on another day, not now. Not here.
“But clearly these tangled veins, absent on the x-ray films but very real in Mrs.
Kelly's brain, are tentacles of the monster. Gingerly, the tweezers attempt to
push around them. Pop, pop, pop . . pop . . . pop . . . . pop . . . . pop." 6
Like it or not, you are in the midst of this battle. The stakes are high, and you
feel them in your gut. Why? Because the writer is appealing to your gut, not your
head. He doesn't just make you see what's happening. He makes you hear it.
He engages you in a multi-sensory experience.
Okay, okay. I'll reveal how it ends.
"Her brain was too scarred. The operation, tolerable in a younger person, was
too much. Already, where the monster's tentacles hang before the brainstem,
the tissue swells, pinching off the source of oxygen. Mrs. Kelly is dying." 7
Three paragraphs later:
"He lays the sandwich, the banana and the fig newtons on the table before
him, neatly, the way the scrub nurse laid out the instruments." 8
Cut to the end of the page:
"It is 1:43, and it's over. Dr. Ducker bites, grimly, into the sandwich. The monster
won." 9
All great stories, the ones that touch our lives and burn in our memories, are
driven by conflict.
Hamlet meets the ghost and must avenge his father's murder. He can only
accomplish his goal by confronting his doubts, his fears, his loved ones, and
the powers of the state. Major conflict!
E.T. is stranded on earth without a space ship. He must outwit his would-be
captors and discover a way to get home on a faraway planet. Big conflict.
What if he had a spacecraft that he knew how to fly and could easily get to
it? No story. Refund my money!
Rocky Balboa is a down-on-his-luck nobody who wins a title shot against the reigning
champion, Apollo Creed.
What do a prince, an extraterrestrial, and an amateur boxer have in common that you
and I are drawn to their stories and identify with them? In fact, we identify so strongly
that I even cried watching “ET.” Yes, I cried watching an animated creature on a screen!
The different plights of all three characters strike a chord in our humanity. Everyone of
us has reached for something beyond our grasp, something that had great meaning to us.
That reaching, that longing is...
...UNIVERSAL - Engaging stories all have a universal quality. Our job as salespeople
and marketers is to arouse the timeless universal elements that unite all people. When
you do that, you create deep rapport. Rapport leads to trust. Trust leads to like. Like
leads to sales and profit.
Learn to tell authentic stories that make people know, like, and trust you, and they will
beat a path to your door.
Now, let's review two of the important gems we discovered in “Mrs. Kelly's Monster.”
1) The Payoff – Remember the peanut butter sandwich? I'll bet you do. That
seemingly insignificant detail ties the entire story together like an elegant bow. It
opens and closes the drama and leaves us satisfied. We can sigh with sad relief at
the end of this noble battle.
All of your sales messages, from elevator pitches to stage presentations are
stories. Make sure that every detail in them serves a purpose. For instance, if
you open with a humorous anecdote, make sure that it relates to the rest of your
message.
I've heard presenters begin with a joke that had nothing to do with the theme of
their presentation. The audience feels cheated even when the joke is funny. It feels
arbitrary. There is no payoff.
2) Heart vs. Head – If you only take one lesson from Jon Franklin, let it be this one.
Stories sell; facts repel. Many sales professionals drown their prospects in an
ocean of facts. They turn their hoses on and deliver “data showers.” Have you
ever experienced one? Not fun.
What are the facts in Jon Franklin's story? A woman suffers from a brain aneurism.
A surgeon operates on her. He fails. She dies. Memorable? No. Why? Because
those facts do not touch us; they do not engage our emotions.
They are random pieces of data similar to what we hear on the news every day.
They have no flesh, blood, or bones. They are not alive.
Now imagine that the “story” of this brain surgery is in a medical journal. It
describes the procedure at length in medical jargon. It will put us to sleep. Jargon is
data. It does not involve our humanity.
Look at the word, aneurism. We know what it means (in our heads); it doesn't touch
our hearts. However, a monster with tentacles attacking Mrs. Kelly's brain stirs our
emotions.
I've trained many bright financial planners. Their products and services have the
power to transform and save lives from financial ruin. They can literally revive and
make dreams come true. Yet, many of them lull people to sleep with cold jargon.
When they learn to communicate their offers with authentic human stories, their
businesses explode.
SHOW, DON'T TELL
Everything you've read so far in this report drives home the key idea of show, don't tell.
Now, let's focus on it more closely so you can master it and make it an unconscious and
irresistible communication/selling tool.
Imagine that two people tell you they are golf pros. The first one explains how he makes
a perfect drive and hits the ball three hundred yards. He sounds confident; he uses all the
right words.
Then, the second one steps up to the tee with his driver. He positions himself, swings,
connects dead on with the ball, and sends it flying two hundred and seventy-five yards,
where it lands on the green.
Which person immediately wins your trust and belief? The second one, obviously.
Let's use another example. You walk into a department store and a salesperson holds up
a new kitchen knife. He describes in detail all the magic it performs.
Another salesperson with a different knife stands next to him and does a smooth flawless
demonstration that proves the power and versatility of his knife. Which one will you buy
when both make you an offer? Both knives have the same cost. Again, the answer is
obvious.
I'm going to hammer this point home because it is huge. And, I'm passionate about it
because of my career as a professional actor. Great actors communicate their powerful
messages through their actions much more than their words. They get to your emotional
core with the things they DO, not the things they SAY.
There is a famous saying, “Your actions speak so loudly, that I cannot hear your words.”
When you coach with me, you will learn ninja communication secrets by watching
movies. That's right. Not to mention that you will have fun.
You can and should start right now. Watch this opening scene of Sergio Leone's, “The
Good, The Bad And The Ugly.” You will be shocked at how much screen time passes
without a single word. Yes! No dialogue. Just pictures and actions that are telling you a
story and hypnotically drawing you in.
Watch it a few times. Take notes. Think of ways to apply it to your sales communication.
You will thank me when we meet.
Now, go back and reread the sections from “Mrs. Kelly's Monster?” Even though it is a
story written with words, notice the pictures and actions that are showing, not telling.
A great way to discipline yourself to vividly show rather than tell is to...
...USE YOUR SENSES – All 5 of them
Rule: Make people see, hear, taste, smell, and feel the things you say to them.
Create the habit of using sensory language when you deliver any message. This will
make your personal as well as your business communication more dynamic.
Jon Franklin is a master at sensory communication. His word pictures and sounds burn
into your memory. Remember how he described the tweezers pushing around the
tangled veins in Mrs. Kelly's brain? “Pop, pop, pop . . pop . . . pop . . . . pop . . . . pop."
10. You hear the veins popping. Ooo!
Here's an exercise that will train you to speak and write with specific language of the
senses. First, write your thought, your message, with conceptual language (head
language). Next, rewrite it with words that appeal to the senses.
For example, you are in the health and wellness business, and you have a natural product
that helps people lose weight. You are talking to a prospect, Mary.
Head statement: “Mary, this natural shake will help you lose weight quickly, easily, and
safely.”
Sensory statement: “Mary, imagine how it will feel when you are at your son's wedding
reception next month, and he smiles proudly when he sees you in that sleek black dress
that only fits on a hanger right now.” Get the picture?
Notice, that the sensory statement focuses 100% on Mary. It doesn't even mention the
product.
Volumes have been written on the power of storytelling to enrich your business. I
encourage you to explore the many great books on the subject and apply what you learn
from them.
This report captures and presents all the vital elements of authentic story-selling. If you
just study these and master each one of them, you will soar ahead of your competition.
Here's a convenient recap of what you've learned so far.
STORIES THAT SELL ARE
BEGINNING – MIDDLE – END
I saved the first for last. Why? Because I can.
The concept of beginning, middle, end should be elementary, my dear Watson. But it
isn't. I've experienced enough unfocused sales presentations that wander aimlessly
toward some vague conclusion to know that many presenters never clearly define what
they want to say or how they will say it.
The result is confusion in your prospective buyers' minds. And, a confused mind, will
not take action. Confused people will not buy from you.
When you understand that your sales message is a story, and that all good stories have a
specific structure, you will insure that all your stories have a clear beginning, middle,
and end.
I used to teach scene study classes. I always knew when an actor understood her role,
her scene, and her purpose or intention in the scene. I knew it in my gut at the moment
the scene ended. A strong scene creates a feeling of closure, of finality. You can feel it in
your body the same way you feel the conclusion of a great symphony.
Is this related to sales? Absolutely! When you tell your sales story confidently and
clearly, the person hearing it feels satisfied when you conclude. They will be in rapport
with you. They will like and trust you.
Your conclusion should present a clear course of action, a command to buy what you
are offering. When you believe in what you are selling, and you know how it will benefit
your prospect, you will easily give the buying command without hesitation, and your
prospect will be grateful that you did.
There are many ways to begin, develop, and end a story. For now, learn the most
common and effective story formula. It is the foundation of all great stories, from classic
literary works to thrillers and pulp fiction novels.
Jon Franklin built his gripping true story, “Mrs. Kelly's Monster” with this formula. It
develops in an arc that looks like this.
At the beginning, your prospective customer/client faces a problem.You identify it,
describe it vividly, empathize with the obstacle that keeps your prospect stuck in the
problem, then offer your solution.
You paint a vivid picture of what life will be like for your prospect when she implements
your solution. You tell her exactly how to get the solution and guide the person toward
victory for both of you (problem solved & sale is made).
Of course, in “Mrs. Kelly's Monster,” the monster has the victory. But that is not your
story.
I have one more gift for you. It is a simple powerful formula for creating your
persuasive sales story. It summarizes all the strategies you've learned in this report.
I call it the 3 E Formula.
THE 3 E’s - YOUR DYNAMITE STORY CREATION FORMULA
This formula we’ll help you to bring all of the elements of a great story together. It is
simple and easy, but don’t underestimate its power.
EXCITE - The very 1st thing you want to do is excite your listener/reader about what
she will discover in your story. It all begins with a strong hook that instantly arouses
curiosity.
ENGAGE - Okay, you’ve grabbed a person’s attention. Now, your job is to deliver on
the promise of excitement. You will use sensory language, strong conflict, universal
human appeal, mystery, and urgency to keep the person fully engaged in your story.
You must make people feel that this is their personal story.
ENROLL - What’s the good of engaging the person if you let them go empty-handed at
the end? The final stage of your story is your close. You must guide and firmly direct
people to a buying decision.
Remember. When you believe with all your heart that your product or service will
improve life in some way for people, you have a moral obligation to sell to them.
My wish for you is that you study and master everything in “Story-Selling For
Business.” Then, create authentic stories that influence people to buy what you offer
them, and that your sales enrich the lives of your customers and clients.
Contact me at (416) 466-4379 Office & (416) 569-9446 Cell. Message me at
lousclub@gmail.com. Ask about my coaching and courses that will take your sales to
exciting new levels of success.
Inspiring Your Imagination & Enriching Your Business,
Louis Di Bianco
WHO IS LOUIS DI BIANCO
Louis Di Bianco is a triple threat sales professional who has more than earned his 10,000
hours of experience that qualify him to guide you to new heights of success in your
business.
Louis has achieved success and recognition as a teacher, a stage, film and TV actor, and
a presentation coach to sales professionals and business executives.
His teaching spans more than three decades. He has taught 7th grade students, adults
reinventing themselves in private education programs, university students in three of
Canada's most prestigious schools (Concordia, York University & University of
Toronto), processional actors in Louis's Acting for Camera classes, and business people
whom he has coached one-on-one and taught in large presentation workshops
Storytelling is at the heart of all great sales enterprises. Articles supporting this have
been written in the New York Times, the Harvard Business Review, and other leading
business publications.
Major corporations are investing big money hiring Hollywood screenwriters to teach
their sales forces the art of dramatic story-selling.
Louis's highly successful acting career, especially his work in front of the camera
(where you get it right or die), has been the ultimate training ground for his mastery of
dramatic storytelling.
He has appeared in numerous feature films, movies of the week, and TV series, even
starring for three years in an award winning Canadian sitcom, “Rent-A-Goalie.”
His credits include “Moonstruck,” “Mafia Princess,” “Boss of Bosses,” and “Vendetta.”
The last three are true stories brought to the screen. Their prestigious casts include Tony
Curtis, Christopher Walken, and Chazz Palminterri.
Today, Louis is passionate about his entrepreneurial work as a sales professional and
inspiring teacher and coach to business professionals. His goal is to enrich and transform
the people he teaches by helping them discover their true communication power.
Louis has written a book for salespeople called “Persuasion Genie.” He has taught the
skills and concepts in the book directly to some of his clients. Others have achieved new
levels of success from reading and applying what they learned in the book. Here's what a
few of them have to say.
TESTIMONIALS
FOOTNOTES
1) Jon Franklin, Writing for Story (Plume, 1994), p. 28.
2) Franklin, p.71.
3) Franklin, p. 28.
4) Franklin, p. 29.
5) Franklin, p. 34.
6) Franklin, p. 36.
7) Franklin, p. 39.
8) Franklin, p. 39.
9) Franklin, p. 39.
10) Franklin, p. 36.