Stories let you plan with all your emotions. You don’t end up with left-brained mental plans. that you won’t carry out because you hate them so much.

Learn more with the workbook, Plan With Stories. It’s an experiential form of plannng with specific types of stories.

Storytelling for Selling.

What if you want to tell a story to cut to the chase: you want to make the sale.

Your goal in telling the story is to make the client more determined to buy your service. You want the client to say, “I want what they’re having.”

Your story can’t be a fairy tale. It can’t be a hero’s journey

Your client’s backstory

Why do clients come to you? There’s always a story behind their appearance on your calendar. What was their “last straw” moment? What have they tried? Why can’t they solve problems themselves?

Even more, there’s the elephant in the room. Let’s face it: any relationship comes with baggage. And your clients bring their own. What happened the last time they visited a provider like you? If their experience was ba, they’ll have trouble trusting you. If they had a five-star experience, they may bring unrealistic expectations.

Download my free ebook on backstories here.

Your origin story.

Many people think this is the only story they need. After all, you get asked all the time: How did you get started?

The truth is, they don’t want to know the real nitty-gritty. Maybe you got into your field by accident. Maybe it seemed lucrative. Maybe you got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. So what?

You can use your origin story as an opportunity to expand your marketing. Instead, you can…

…Show why you’re passionate about what you do:
“My parents suffered from this problem and I want to make sure nobody else does.”
“I watched so many people struggle. I wanted to help.”

…Show why you’re an expert.
“I’m a former artist who now works in finance. My insights in art have helped me because…”
“People asked me to help them and I found that I was good at…”

Your three essential stories.

We frequently talk about “your story,” as if you had one story to tell everywhere. But the truth is, you need to prepare at least three stories. You need to be ready to tell stories for networking events, podcasts, and speeches. You need to be prepared with very special stories when your client arrives.

You don’t always have time to prepare those stories, so you may want to start practicing now. I’ve prepared a free guide you can download instantly when you click here.

Finding your best story…and your guest’s best story.

What if you to share a good story…but you just can’t think of one?

Or what if you need someone else’s story? When you’re interviewing podcast guests, you don’t want them to tell the same old stories they’ve shared a hundred times.

And when you’re conducting research for your company, you want to draw out your subject’s most vivid experiences. You want to hear their stories.

You need to be prompted — or you need to give someone else the prompts — for a good story. But the truth is, most story prompts are written for personal occasions. They’re written for bedtime stories, campfire stories, or good times with your best drinking buddies.

I’ve created a list of 30 prompts for “strictly business” stories. One for every day of the month! Just $9 when you click here.