Create Simple Personal Stories to Influence Others
How should they perceive you?
Before your next meeting, date, presentation or interview do you know how you want to be perceived? If you do not decide beforehand then they will be forced to make their own decisions about you.
This lack of preparedness can of course be detrimental because their decision most likely will be based on their own past experiences. Your choice of vocabulary, body language, and tonality may trigger certain negative memories which can have permanent consequences. So, know exactly how you want to be perceived before you engage an individual or a group.
Pick A Key Quality.
The simplest method of deciding how you want to be perceived is to make a list of key qualities that relate to your outcome for a specific situation. If you have an interview for example, you will want to choose qualities such as hard working, dependable, and responsible. If you are on a date you might choose qualities like lovable, honesty, and trustworthy.
Each situation will usually require multiple qualities. Choose between three and five, but usually keep it small because you will need to memorize short stories which convey those qualities. One story can of course include multiple qualities if they are similar. Hard working and lovable may not fit well together. It is up to you to experiment with what works and what does not.
Remember your past successes.
After you have a short list of the qualities you would like to convey, dig deep into your past. Everyone has a few success stories. If you have made it this far in your life it is not because of sheer luck.
Perhaps you were there for a friend when they really needed you. Maybe you put in a little extra at work in order to get a project finished on time. The more you practice this, the easier it will be to match a particular memory to your intended quality.
Once you have your stories, make sure they give the correct message and your chosen quality is clearly communicated.
Write It Out.
Your memories may be crisp, but you will want to tell a well-honed story. This requires you to write it down so it flows nicely. Use powerful persuasive words and phrases. Create powerful metaphors that elicit images and emotions. When you are happy with how it looks on paper, read it out loud a few times. The story should not be any longer than a few minutes. Give each sentence a purpose. Leave anything out that does not relate to your chosen quality.
Practice a little and then practice some more.
A two to three minute story does not actually take that much time to memorize. It might be helpful to write out your key qualities on a stack of index cards. Take five to ten minutes a day and choose a random card to practice. Remember, once you have a short personal story of influence mastered, you can use it for years to come.
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admin :: Jul.14.2007 :: metaphor, persuasion, storytelling :: 3 Comments »
What an interesting post–and a great way to boost confidence. I love practical applications of the craft of writing.
Thanks Charlotte!
I’m always looking for new ways to use writing to make real and transformational changes in people’s lives. There are so many opportunities to do so.
Thanks for the tips! Never really thought about it in so much details. My English is not very good and I am trying to improve it.