3 Ways To Instantly Measure Your Impact As A Storyteller

You think you're a networking ninja, do you?

Let's set the scene.

It's 11am on a cold Wednesday morning...

You have a black coffee in your left hand and 46 business cards in your right.

(Business cards... what are those things again!?)

You're schmoozing your way through a networking event and there's nothing that can stop you.

Before you know it, you've stumbled into a conversation with a bigwig executive.

Congratulations, you're officially in the lion's den.

You're laughing, you're joking and all of a sudden, you begin to feel brave.

You interrupt the flow of the conversation and say...

"Haha... it's so funny you say that Natalie, you won't believe what happened to me at last year's conference..."

1 minute goes by...

2 minutes go by...

3 minutes go by...

And all of a sudden, your personal story comes to an abrupt end.

You look at Natalie straight in the eye...

Waiting for her acceptance, validation and approval.

The question is, did your story truly land?

There are only 3 scenarios that can occur at this exact moment.

What are they and what do they mean?

In today's newsletter, we're going to uncover 3 ways to instantly assess the impact of a story.

Let's get into it!

Did your story land?

Scenario 1: Natalie quickly changes the subject, or makes up a superficial excuse to exit the conversation as quickly as possible.

Scenario 2: Natalie picks out a memorable point in your story and comments on it or asks you a question about it.

Scenario 3: Natalie smiles, tilts her head and instantly exchanges a personal story in return.

Scenario 1 is where you need to go home and hide under a pillow (joking... kinda).

Scenario 2 is where you give yourself a pat on the back and focus on being interested in her, so you can earn the opportunity to be interesting in her eyes.

Scenario 3 is the holy grail of connection.

3 unorthodox tips for obtaining scenario 3

1. The longer your story is, the more attention you demand from Natalie. Keep it less than 45 seconds to ensure you don't break rapport.

2. Don't forget to A.B.S aka Always Be Smiling. In an initial interaction, a light-hearted and fun story always lands better when you display true warmth.

3. "... here's why I'm telling you this..." Say these exact words before your story ends to tie your message back to the conversation and showcase relevance. There's nothing worse than an irrelevant story.

In summary

Whether you're at a networking event, party with friends or meeting a new client for the first time...

The above holds!

Tweak your stories, until you're hitting scenarios 2 and 3 without fail.

Your future self will thank you for it!

Much love,

Ravi

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P.S. Whenever you're ready, here is 1 way I can support you:

1. [B2B SALES TEAMS & ORGANIZATIONS ONLY] Book me for a storytelling keynote or workshop: Whether it's in person or virtual, to an intimate audience or a room full of thousands, learn more about how your audience can become influential storytellers at your next sales kickoff, offsite or conference.