Joe the Plumber
I can read your mind. Not another story about Joe the Plumber, you’re thinking. Good news. This isn’t about Joe, the nation’s newest household name invoked again and again during the final presidential debate. It’s about you and your ability to make a point that people actually remember, repeat and respond to.
Let’s start with this premise: you’re boring people with mind-numbingly dull factoids. Oh, you don’t mean to. But your messages are often mundane, so you’re being tuned out. Ignored. Overlooked.
What’s the antidote? A well-placed story, like the plumber parable. That’s why both candidates latched on to Joe, even though he later sprung a few leaks. Suddenly, complex, hard-to-comprehend issues like tax plans and health care options were vivid. Big, bald Joe had a repeatable narrative – for each party. Here are a few tips to help you tap into your inner storyteller to communicate your business goals and plans:
1. Make it about them, not you. Help your audience envision themselves in the story. Tell it from the perspective of someone who’s similar to them, like Joe, not from your own viewpoint. That will trigger listeners to do two highly desirable things: to understand and care.
2. Have a clear purpose that’s simple and spry. What is the specific idea that you’re trying to help people grasp? How will it change their lives? Keep the story’s essence in mind and resist the urge to incorporate too many lessons into one story. The story should be simple and spry to support your point, not become the point.
3. Trim the fat. Don’t get bogged down in excess details. Your story is a means to the end, not the end itself. Share enough specifics to ignite imaginations, but not so many that your listeners get lost in irrelevant details.
4. Discover the leaks yourself. Shortly after the candidates made Joe a household name, reporters and bloggers discovered a few problems with his Everyman story. His name wasn’t exactly Joe, he wasn’t a licensed plumber and he was delinquent on his taxes. Oops. Say it ain’t so, Joe! The moral of this story: thoroughly research your story’s star so inquiring minds don’t get distracted by side issues and discount you as a result. Today’s audiences can Google topics as you speak and some of them love to challenge you.
5. Relive it as you tell it. When delivering your story, use what I call “planned spontaneity.” Make it real and unrehearsed-sounding so the audience can relate. If you’re presenting to a group, step out from behind the podium and speak conversationally.
I hear you talking back to your computer screen. “But Connie, I’m a bad storyteller,” the voice in your head is saying. You’re not. You just need to approach it from a business viewpoint. So go ahead – tell a story. You’ll help people absorb, retain and repeat your words to reach your business goals.
That’s better than being flushed away, isn’t it?
