The point of the story is the destination. It is important that your story has one clear point (the gift). Define your gift to the audience. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll get lost along the way. Once you have chosen a story to tell, jump immediately to Element Seven, the gift. Once you have defined the one point the story makes and the gift for the listener, you are ready to return to Element One and begin crafting your story.
Element One - Create a vision.
In Element one; create the context (a vision for your listener) for the story. Take your listener to a specific time and place. To do this, close your eyes and allow yourself to go back in time. Visualize the setting. What was the time of day or year? Use all five senses to recall specific details.
Create a tapestry of images and sensations that your listener can relate to. What was going on emotionally, physically or spiritually? This is the first Element in weaving a magical spell that will compel your listener to leave their current reality and enter into your imaginary reality. Write down everything that comes to mind and then edit out that which is non-essential.
Element Two - Introduce the ‘People’ in the story
Help your listener see, feel and relate to the main characters in your story with visual descriptions. Use the information about height, weight, coloring, clothing and age. Mention pertinent details about your relationship. Consider their quirks, habits and behavior. You may wish to add a character voice when describing them or physically mimic their posture or physique. Do this with key characters only. Secondary characters do not require this level of attention. Introduce the characters when they appear in the story.
Element Three – In the beginning
What is the assignment, the goal, the journey? Where do you start? Where do you have to go? Who do you have to connect with? What is the challenge? Examples of journeys are: attending a business meeting in New York; picking your daughter up after hockey practice; running in a 10K race for charity.
Element Four - Encounter the ‘Challenge’
Without a challenge to overcome, there is no story. The challenge creates conflict, friction, comedy and drama. Someone or some thing must get in your way and make the journey interesting. The challenge may be a person, it may be physical or a self-limiting belief. It can be an accident on the way to an appointment or a boss that stands in the way of your success. If your story is an ‘Oh No’ story, exaggerate the obstacle to make it funny. If it is a Crucible Story, develop the drama and go deep to find real emotion.
Element Five - Overcome the Challenge
How did you overcome the challenge? What strength did you have to summon? Was there someone who helped you? Think the thoughts and feel the feeling of that moment in time. Be specific here. Break your solution down into logical a sequence. This is where the learning point or teaching and persuasion occur. Show Up and show how you overcame the obstacle. Re-live it. Also, in Element Five, you "seed" the story with the first mention of the gift.
Element Six – Tie it up!
Tie up any loose ends and make sure your audience knows how everything turned out. What happened to the other people, to your protagonist or helper? Go back over your story for logic and hear it as the listener will hear it.
Element Seven – Give the ‘Gift’
It is important that your story has one clear point (the gift). Too many points confuse the issue. One story, one gift. Be concise. The fewer words you use to make the point, the better. The gift must flow logically and effortlessly from within the story. Write out the gift/point and then memorize it. Make it simple and easy to remember. This is where you introduce your power phrase – here is one you might know as ‘fifteen minutes of fame’.
Element Eight – Make it their story
By asking a question like, "How about you?" or "Has something like that ever happened to you?" Turn the gift into a question. If the point was, "From that experience, I learned to be proactive rather than waiting for things to just happen", you can ask the question, "How about you?" or "Are you proactive or do you wait for things to happen?". Follow that question with another that directly relates to the issue at hand. Be direct and Show Up. This makes your story pertinent to them and their issues. It adds power to gift/point.
Element Nine – The Encore
In Element Seven you make the point by stating what you learned from the experience. In Element Eight you bring your listener in by asking them if they, like you, have experienced similar challenges. As the listener is nodding their head in affirmation, you wrap up the story by giving an encore of your point. This time, however, you state it as a call to action. It is more of a command or forceful suggestion than a revelation. This is where you also re-introduce your power phrase. Don’t add new insights here it is important that your story has one clear point (the gift).
