WHY YOU NEED TO TELL YOUR ‘WHY’ STORY

Doing so allows prospects and clients to see you as the obvious choice — not a commodity.

By Deirdre Van Nest

When you speak before a group or meet with a prospect, your audience is immediately assessing if they like you, if they can trust you or if they want to work with you. You could explain why you’re the obvious choice with facts, figures and credentials, but the most powerful way to connect with your audience is to show them you’re the obvious choice by telling them a compelling “why” story.

A “why” story shows why you care about the topic you are speaking about, and more importantly, it shows why you care about helping your listeners get great results with the advice and services you offer.

Think about speeches or presentations you heard years ago and still remember. Chances are that the people who made those presentations were gifted storytellers who brought main points to life by telling memorable stories.

Cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner suggests that we are 22 times more likely to remember a fact when it has been wrapped in a story than when it is not.

I can tell you from personal experience that storytelling will strengthen your communications with your team, prospects, clients and everyone else. People won’t remember facts and figures after a while, but they will remember a compelling story that explains why you care about a certain topic.

As a financial advisor, you know that people often buy on emotions first, and then back that decision up with logic. So why do so many advisors continue to use language that is technical and filled with jargon that prospects and clients don’t understand? This needs to change. If we’re going to truly serve the modern consumer, we need to start speaking to them in a way that appeals to their emotions and inspires them to take action to get their financial house in order.

Advisors often tell me: “But I have so much information to pack into a half-hour presentation. I can’t possibly add any stories.” But if your presentation is packed with facts and figures, how much of that information will people really remember? Not much, and they certainly won’t feel it. That means they aren’t likely to take action after you have completed your presentation.

I guarantee that you will make a bigger impact on your audience if you give them a few facts and weave in compelling and memorable stories, especially stories that demonstrate the powerful “why” behind your interest in the topic and your desire to help them.

MY “WHY” STORY

In many of my presentations, I tell a “why” story to convey why I am passionately committed to working with financial advisors to become skilled, “Crazy Good” speakers. My story is about the tragic car accident that took my mom’s life when she was just 32 years old and seriously injured my father. I was 10 when it happened.

It takes me four minutes to tell this story. I often conduct an exercise in training sessions to show the impact this story has on my ability to connect with advisors and build trust with them. I ask them to score how much they like, connect and trust me before they hear my story about my parents, and to score me again after hearing it. In every case, they give me higher scores on likability, trust and connection after they heard my personal story. I am able to increase connection, trust and likability in four minutes, and you can, too.

When I ask them why, they say my story hit them emotionally. It enabled them to see why I am involved in their industry. I am no longer just a businessperson standing up there on a stage. When I tell my personal “why” story, people see that a tragedy from my own life has motivated me to help them work with their clients. They see that I genuinely care — and why. I could tell people I care, but it wouldn’t have the same impact as showing them I care by sharing a deeply personal story.

I didn’t realize the power of my personal “why” story during the first 10 years of my career. During that time, I was doing great and having fun. Clients I worked with were seeing positive results from my training, but I always felt like something was missing.

Over time, I realized that what was missing was me . I would get up on a stage and give people great content, but I wasn’t giving them my heart. I wasn’t sharing my humanity. I was too busy trying to prove myself when what I really needed was to just be myself.

I thought no one cared about the “vessel” that was delivering the content. Instead, I thought people just wanted the facts and the content. It started to bother me, and I decided I needed to start telling my audience why I cared and why I was speaking to them.

I experienced the true power of this epiphany — this shift in my mindset — on Jan. 11, 2017. I was leading an advisor training session in Minneapolis. I told the story about my mom and dad for the first time, and I was terrified. I didn’t know how the participants were going to react. As soon as I finished my story, an advisor said: “I just want you to know that you have so much credibility with me right now. I trust you.” Another advisor said: “You get us. Thank you for understanding what we do and for caring.”

Afterwards, people started hugging me. The next day, when I went to talk with the general agent, I was still getting hugs. I realized then that advisors really did care about the “why,” the intention, and the heart behind the person who was delivering the content.

From that point forward, my career began to skyrocket. My speaking fees went up, and I was more in demand as a speaker and coach. I began to teach my private advisor clients how to craft and share their “why” stories, and they started experiencing the same thing.

You can use this same strategy in your business because your teams, prospects and clients care about your why too. If you want to be seen as the obvious choice to your clients and prospects, you must tell “why” stories.

Crafting Your Story

Here’s a high-level overview of what to focus on as you craft your story:

• Paint a vivid picture for your audience by using words effectively.

• Describe a specific scenario using sensory details. Describe sights, sounds, smells and feelings.

In my story, you’ll notice that I painted a picture, and most likely, you were able to see the scene. Remember the acronym VAKS. It stands for visual, auditory, kinesthetic (or feeling) and smell. Use at least a couple of these elements to draw your audience into your story, and let them picture the scene in their minds.

• Describe the people in your story. Give a few details about them that will resonate with your audience and make them care about your characters. Remember that when your audience connects with your characters, they will connect with you.

• Focus on the central problem. Stories often get confusing when the storyteller describes multiple problems. Stick to one central problem.

• You need to focus on two types of outcomes in business storytelling. The first is wrapping everything up and explaining what ultimately happens to the characters in your story. The second is connecting your story with the content you’re going to be talking about and why your story compels you to do the work you do.

DO IT NOW!

An exceptional speech or presentation is 90 percent preparation and 10 percent delivery. My challenge to you is to take some time now to write down your personal “why” story. Wouldn’t it be incredible to tell a story about someone you know personally who didn’t prepare for the future and lost everything? Or a story about someone you know who did prepare and avoided that tragedy?

Whatever topic you choose, have a personal “why” story that shows the depth of your care, con cern and commitment. Unless you specialize in one product, you will have different “why” stories that relate to the various topics you will be discussing and the clients you serve.

For example, if you’re a manager, you need a compelling “why” story to share with your team about why being a financial advisor is such a fulfilling career. You need a different “why” story that inspires your team to reach their goals. If you’re an advisor, you need “why” stories for prospects and “why” stories for clients.

When you are working on your next presentation, devote at least four minutes to a powerful story that captures your audience’s attention and generates strong emotions. You will have to be a bit vulnerable to let your humanity show, but it is worth it.

If you are ever tempted to leave your humanity at the door and just focus on the facts and figures, I want you to remember that the people you are speaking with really do care about the “vessel” that is delivering the message — you.

Deirdre Van Nest is the go-to expert for financial advisors on improving communication skills. She is a top rated international keynoter and the creator of the CrazyGood Talks® Blueprint and the Emotionally Engaging Advisor™, two communication systems that have taught thousands of financial advisors how to cut through the noise, bring in business faster and make quick emotional connections with prospects and clients. Learn more at www. crazygoodtalks.com/emotionallyengagingadvisor.