This post is about one of my 45-second pitches at my BNI Chapter, BNI City Business. You can read the introduction to this collection here.
23 February 2024. The meme is the message. Another joke I had sitting in my collection that I wanted to use, and the topic followed from there. The original intention was to highlight the importance of listening in exit planning and business valuation.
I couldn’t find a decent hook for the pitch, so the day before, I reworked it to align with this week’s topic, What Do I enjoy About My Work? My final pitch was straightforward: “To be an effective storyteller, you need two things: A story to tell, and an audience. I enjoy being the audience. I enjoy listening to the stories of business owners, the stories of their journeys. And only then can I look at how I can work with them, be their coach, and be their trusted advisor.”
I find that whenever Storytelling is a method gets pitched or explained, it is solely from the point of view of the storyteller. Storytelling is a powerful tool to get ideas across. And the more effective you are at telling a story, making i a good story, the better, But, you also need to be focused on your audience. You should look at your story from the perspective of your audience.
Have a listen to Dr. Ivan Misner’s BNI Podcast #588, which is an interview with Charlie Lawson (BNI National Director for the UK and Ireland) titled, “Want Referrals? Don’t Bore Me To Tears.” Charlie Lawson is also the author of two great little books, The Unnatural Networker and The Unnatural Promoter. I strongly recommend both books to business owners wanting to lift their game when they need to network, particularly in the BNI format.
In the podcast, Lawson gives a great example of using a story to make your pitch compelling. Use a hero story about how you (or your business) made a real difference to a client. The formula, simplistically, is (a) describe how the client felt before you turned up, and then (b) describe how they felt after you worked your magic. You don’t give a detailed explanation of what you did, or how you did it. Focus on the feelings of the person you helped. That story becomes so memorable that the storyteller owns that business category in your mind.
Say you’re an electrician. When did you save the day for a client, going above or beyond? Your story might start “I had a customer call me early on Saturday morning, absolutely distraught that their fusebox had blown, sparks everywhere, and now they had no power. And at 6pm that night, they were hosting their daughter’s baby shower.”
You then explain how you helped, “I had a team there within an hour, basically rewiring the entire fusebox to the current code, and had it done and signed off by 2.30pm so they could start the shower preparation.”
Finally, how they felt. “The customer and her daughter were over the moon. Both had tears of joy and relief, and told me we had not only saved the day, but had also kept them both from an absolute meltdown. Maybe they’ll name the baby after me.”
Once you hear this story, the next time someone asks if you know a great electrician, who will you remember? Who will you recommend?
As Dr. Misner says, “Facts Tell, Stories Sell.”
These types of stories are so effective because they evoke strong emotions in the audience. Without those emotions, it is just a story. Your audience, as much as anything you do, is what makes the story effective. They remember it, they repeat it.
A story that is only told once probably isn’t much of a story, is it?
And for completeness… where the title comes from, if you didn’t pick up on that reference.
