(Book Excerpt From The Power of Storytelling – https://bit.ly/17T5ctj)
Great storytellers focus on the audience. They have done their homework, they know who they are speaking to, and they pay close attention to how the audience is responding, whether through their words, their laughter, or through their eyes and body language.
Only when you truly know your audience can you make your message about them. That is what creates influence, and the most important facet of making it about them is to tie your message into their primary motivations. If you find out what drives them, what their hot button is, and make your message align with that drive, you are golden.
Researchers have identified four primary categories that motivate people. I call them the four P’s: Pleasure, Prestige, Payoff, Productivity. As we examine them, it’s easy to see how each has universal appeal.
Pleasure – People naturally seek enjoyment. They want to be happy. They want their life to be fun. Is the benefit you’re presenting to them going to provide it? If so, people will be driven to buy your product, follow your strategy, or subscribe to your ideas.
Prestige – Status and power are tremendously appealing. Show people that they will be viewed as more credible, looked up to, seen as leaders, and they will respond readily to your message.
Payoff – This is the money motivator. When what you are presenting offers the potential to affect a person’s bottom line—it will make them rich!—you will definitely have their attention.
Productivity – When you show people how they can accomplish more in less time, with increased output, you not only open the door to a more attractive lifestyle but to myriad ways for them to increase their pleasure, prestige and payoff.
Take care to tailor your stories so they appeal to the four primary motivations and watch what happens. You will see your audience engage and respond at a whole new level.
(Book Excerpt From The Power of Storytelling – https://bit.ly/17T5ctj)