202: How To Pump Up An Audience

<p>Storytelling by the speaker combined with audience participation is a winner.  We shouldn’t go crazy and over do it of course, but we definitely should use this technique.</p> <p> </p> <p>Whenever I am in the USA, I love watching the different television preachers in action.  I am not looking for salvation particularly, but I am looking for hints on how to work an audience.  Now obviously competing with their promises on how to get to heaven is going to be difficult, but we can see some things that work which we can use in business for ourselves. </p> <p> </p> <p>They are master storytellers, usually using Bible incidents to make a point in the here and now.  The parables in the Bible are all mini-episodes, which teach a point about success.  As speakers, we have a topic to address, a key message we want communicate and the platform to do so.  How can we add stories to our talk which will bolster the point we are making?  The best stories are the ones people can see in their mind’s eye.  It is a bit like reading a novel, after you have seen the video series or the movie based on the book.  You can easily picture the scenes, the situation, the characters, the backdrops, etc.</p> <p> </p> <p>This is what we should be looking to create.  Short descriptions of incidents that inform a certain course of action.  There should be people involved, preferably people they know already.  We want locations they can imagine.  We weave our point into these stories and draw conclusions for the audience on what course they should take. </p> <p> </p> <p>For example, if we wanted people to think about the importance of keeping key staff, we could tell a story like this one: </p> <p>“The “top gun” sales guy gets the call from the big boss and is ushered into the plush Presidential office.  There he encounters the spacious room’s dark paneled walls, the impressive hardbound books on the shelves, the massive mahogany desk, the expensive paintings, the carefully coiffed secretary - all the accoutrements of power and success.  Top gu